No one had ever seen Bonku Babu get cross. To tell the truth, it was difficult to imagine what he might say or do, if one day he did get angry. It was not as if there was never any reason for him to lose his temper. For the last twenty-two years, Bonku Babu had taught geography and Bengali at the Kankurgachhi Village Primary School. Every year, a new batch of students replaced the old one, but old or new, the tradition of teasing poor Bonku Babu continued among all the students. Some drew his cartoon on the blackboard; others put glue on his chair; or, on the night of Kali Puja, they lit a chasingrocket and set it off right behind him. Bonku Babu did not get upset by any of this. Only sometimes, he cleared his throat and said, "Shame on you, boys!" One of the reasons for maintaining his calm was simply that he could not afford to do otherwise. If he did lose his temper and left his job in a fit of pique, he knew how difficult it would then be to find another, at his age. Another reason was that in every class, there were always a few good students, even if the rest of the class was full of pranksters. Teaching this handful of good boys was so rewarding that, to Bonku Babu, that alone made life as a teacher worth living. At times, he invited those boys to his house, offered them snacks and told them tales of foreign lands and exciting adventures. He told them about life in Africa, the discovery of the North Pole, the fish in Brazil that ate human flesh, and about Atlantis, the continent submerged under the sea. He was a good storyteller, he always had his audience enthralled. During the weekend, Bonku Babu went to the lawyer, Sripati Majumdar's house, to spend the evenings with other regulars. On a number of occasions, he had come back thinking "Enough, never again!" The reason was simply that he could put up with the pranks played by the boys in his school, but when grown-ups, even middle-aged men started playing the fool with him, it became too much to bear. At these addas that Sripati Babu hosted in the evenings, nearly everyone poked fun at Bonku Babu, sometimes bringing his endurance almost to breaking point.

Only the other day - less than two months ago - they were talking about ghosts. Usually, Bonku Babu kept his mouth shut. That day, for some unknown reason, he opened it and declared that he was not afraid of ghosts, that was all! But it was enough to offer a golden opportunity to the others. On his way back home later that night, Bonku Babu was attacked by a 'spook'. As he was passing under a tamarind tree, a tall, thin figure leapt down and landed on his back. As it happened, this apparition had smeared black ink all over itself, possibly at the suggestion of someone at the meeting. Bonku Babu was not frightened. But he was injured. For three days, his neck ached. Worst of all - his new kurta was torn and it had black stains all over. What kind of a joke was this? Other 'jokes', less serious in nature, were often played on him. His umbrella or his shoes were often hidden; or else, a paan would be filled with dirt instead of masala and handed over to him. Or everyone would insist that Bonku Babu be forced to sing although he just couldn't. Even so, Bonku Babu had to come to these meetings. If he didn't, what would Sripati Babu think? Not only was he a very important man in the school committee and in the village, but he couldn't do without Bonku Babu. According to Sripati Majumdar, it was essential to have a butt of ridicule in the group, who could provide amusement to all. Otherwise, what was the point in having such get-togethers? So Bonku Babu was fetched, even if he tried to keep away. On one particular day, the topic of conversation was space - in other words, they were talking of spaceships and space-travel. Soon after sunset, a moving point of light had been seen in the northern sky. A similar light was seen three months ago, which had led to much speculation. In the end, it had turned out to be a Russian satellite, called Khotka - or was it Phoska? Anyway, this satellite was supposed to be going round the earth at a height of 400 miles, and providing a lot of valuable information to scientists. That particular evening, Bonku Babu was the first to spot the strange light. Then he called Nidhu Babu and showed it to him. However, when he arrived at the meeting he found that

Nidhu Babu had coolly claimed full credit for being the first person to see it, and was boasting a great deal about it. Bonku Babu said nothing. No one in the group knew much about satellites, but that did not stop them from offering their views. Said Chandi Babu, "You can say what you like, but I don't think we should waste our time worrying about satellites. Somebody sees a point of light in some obscure corner of the sky, and the press gets all excited about it. Then we read a newspaper report, say how clever it all is, have a chat about it in our living rooms while casually chewing a paan, and behave as if we have achieved something. All humbug!" Ramkanai countered this remark. He was still young. "No, it may not any be any of us here, but it is a human achievement, surely? And a great achievement, at that." "Oh, come off it! Of course it's a human achievement... who'd build a satellite except man? You wouldn't expect a bunch of monkeys to do that, would you?" "All right," said Nidhu Babu, "let's not talk of satellites. After all, it's just a machine, going round the earth, they say. No different from a spinning top. A top would start spinning if you got it going, or a fan would start to rotate if you pressed a switch. A satellite's the same. But think of a rocket. That can't be dismissed so easily, can it?" Chandi Babu wrinkled his nose. "A rocket? Why, what good is a rocket? All right, if one was made here in our country, took off from the maidan in Calcutta, and we could all go and buy tickets to watch the show, well then, that would be nice. But .." "You're right," Ramkanai agreed. "A rocket has no meaning for us here, in this village." Bhairav Chakravarty spoke next. "Suppose some creature from a different planet arrived on earth ...?" "So what? Even if it did, you and I would never be able to see it." "Yes, that's true enough." Everyone turned their attention to their cups of tea. There did not seem to be anything left to be said. After a few moments of silence, Bonku Babu cleared his throat and said gently, "Suppose... suppose they came here?" Nidhu Babu feigned total amazement, "Hey, Bunkum wants to say something! What did you

say, Bunkum? Who's going to come here? Where from?" Bonku Babu repeated his words, his tone still gentle: "Suppose someone from a different planet came here?" As he did so often, Bhairav Chakravarty slapped Bonku Babu's back loudly and rudely, grinned and said, "Bravo! What a thing to say! Where is a creature from another planet going to land? Not Moscow, not London, not New York, not even Calcutta, but here? In Kankurgachhi? You do think big, Bunkum, don't you?" Bonku Babu fell silent. But several questions rose in his mind. Was it really impossible? If an alien had to visit the earth, would it really matter where it arrived first? It might not aim to go straight to any other part of the world. All right, it was highly unlikely that such a thing would happen in Kankurgachhi village, but who was to say for sure that it could not happen at all? Sripati Babu was silent so far. Now, as he shifted in his seat, everyone looked at him. He put his cup down and spoke knowledgeably: "Look, if someone from a different planet does come to earth, I can assure you that he will not come to this God-forsaken place. Those aliens are no fools. It is my belief that they are sahibs, and they will land in some western country, where all the sahibs live. Understand?" Everyone agreed, with the sole exception of Bonku Babu. Chandi Babu decided to take things a bit further. He nudged Nidhu Babu silently, pointed at Bonku Babu and spoke innocently: "Why, I think Bonku is quite right. Isn't it natural that aliens should want to come to a place where there's a man like our Bonkubihari? If they wanted to take away a human specimen, could they find anything better?" "No, I don't think so!" Nidhu Babu joined in. "Consider his looks, not to mention his brains... yes, Bunkum would be the ideal specimen!" "Right. Suitable for keeping in a museum. Or a zoo," Ramkanai chipped in. Bonku Babu did not reply, but wondered silently: if anyone were to actually look for a specimen, weren't the others just as suitable? Look at Sripati Babu. His chin was so much like a camel's. And that Bhairav Chakravarty,

his eyes were like the eyes of a tortoise. Nidhu Babu looked like a rat, Ramkanai like a goat, and Chandi Babu like a flittermouse. If a zoo really had to be filled up...! Tears sprang to his eyes. Bonku Babu had come to the meeting hoping, for once, to enjoy himself. That was clearly not to be. He could not stay here any longer. He got up to his feet. "Why, what's the matter, Bonku? Are you leaving already?" Sripati Babu asked, sounding concerned. "Yes, it's getting late." "Late? Pooh, it's not late at all. Anyway, tomorrow is a holiday. Sit down, have some more tea." "No, thank you. I must go. I have some papers to correct. Namaskar." "Take care, Bonkuda," warned Ramkanai, "it's a moonless night, remember. And it's a Saturday. Very auspicious for ghosts and spooks!" Everyone howled with delighted laughter. Bonku Babu saw the light when he was about halfway through the bamboo grove. Poncha Ghosh owned that entire area. Bonku Babu was not carrying a torch or a lantern. There was no need for it. It was too cold for snakes to be out and about, and he knew his way very well. Normally, not many people took this route, but it meant a shortcut for him. In the last few minutes he had become aware of something unusual. At first, he could not put his finger to it. Somehow, things were different tonight. What was wrong? What was missing? Suddenly he realized what it was. The crickets were silent. Not one was chirping. Usually, the crickets sounded louder as he moved deeper into the bamboo grove. Today, there was only an eerie silence. What had happened to all the crickets? Were they all asleep? Puzzled, Bonku Babu walked another twenty yards, and then he suddenly saw the light. At first, he thought that a fire had broken out. Bang in the middle of the bamboo grove, in the clearing near a small pond, quite a large area was glowing pink. A dull light shone on every branch and every leaf. Down below, the ground behind the pond was lit by a much stronger pink light. But it was not a fire, for it was still. Bonku Babu kept moving.

All at once, his ears began ringing. He felt as if someone was humming loudly - a long, steady noise - there was no way he could stop it. Bonku Babu broke out into goose pimples, but an irrepressible curiosity drove him further forward. As he went past a cluster of bamboo stems, an object came into view. It looked like a giant glass bowl turned upside-down, covering the pond completely. It was through its translucent shade that a strong, yet gentle pink light was shining out, to turn the whole area radiant. Not even in his wildest dreams had Bonku Babu witnessed such a strange scene. After staring at it for a few stunned minutes, he realized that although the object was still, it did not appear to be lifeless. There was the odd flicker; and the glass mound was rising and falling, exactly as one's chest heaves while breathing. He took a few steps to get a better look, but suddenly felt as if an electric current had passed through his body. In the next instant, he was rendered completely immobile. His hands and feet were tied with an invisible rope. There was no strength left in his body. He could move neither forward, nor backward. A few moments later, Bonku Babu - still fixed stiffly at the same spot - saw that the object gradually stopped 'breathing'. All at once, his ears ceased ringing and the humming stopped. A second later, a voice spoke, shattering the silence of the night. It sounded human, but was extraordinarily thin. "Milipi-ping kruk! Milipiping kruk!" it said loudly. Bonku Babu jumped a little. What did it mean? What language was this? And where was the speaker? The next words the voice spoke made his heart jump again. "Who are you? Who are you?" Why, these were English words! Was the question addressed to him? Bonku Babu swallowed. "I am Bonkubihari Datta, sir, Bonkubihari Datta," he replied. "Are you English? Are you English?" the voice went on. "No, sir!" Bonku Babu shouted back. "Bengali, sir. A Bengali kayastha." This was followed by a short pause. Then the voice came back, speaking clearly: "Namaskar!" Bonku Babu heaved a sigh of relief and returned the greeting. "Namaskar!"

he said, suddenly realizing that the invisible bonds that were holding him tightly had disappeared. He was free to run away, but he did not. Now his astounded eyes could see that a portion of the glass mound was sliding to one side, opening out like a door. Through that door emerged a head - like a plain, smooth ball - and then the body of a weird creature. Its arms and legs were amazingly thin. With the exception of its head, its whole body was covered by a shiny, pink outfit. Instead of ears, it had tiny holes on each side of its head. On the face were two holes where there should have been a nose, and another gaping hole instead of a mouth. There was no sign of hair anywhere. Its eyes were round and bright yellow. They appeared to be glowing in the dark. The creature walked slowly towards Bonku Babu, and stopped only a few feet away. Then it gave him a steady, unblinking stare. Automatically, Bonku Babu found himself folding his hands. Having stared at him for nearly a minute, it spoke in the same voice that sounded more like a flute than anything else, "Are you human?" "Yes!" "Is this Earth?" "Yes!" "Ah, I thought as much. My instruments are not working properly. I was supposed to go to Pluto. I wasn't sure where I had landed, so I spoke to you first in the language they use on Pluto. When you didn't reply, I could tell I had landed on Earth. A complete waste of time and effort. It happened once before. Instead of going to Mars, I veered off and went to Jupiter. Delayed me by a whole day, it did. Heh heh heh!" Bonku Babu did not know what to say. He was feeling quite uncomfortable, for the creature had reached out and was pressing Bonku Babu's arms and legs with its long, bony fingers. When it finished, it introduced itself. "I am Ang, from the planet Craneus. A far superior being than man." What! This creature, barely four feet tall, with such thin limbs and weird face, was superior to man? Bonku Babu nearly burst out laughing. Ang read his mind immediately. "There's no need to be so sceptical. I can prove it. How

many languages do you know?" Bonku Babu scratched his head. "Bengali, English and? er? Hindi? a little Hindi? I mean?" "You mean two and a half?" "Yes." "I know 14,000. There isn't a single language in your solar system that I do not know. I also know thirty-one languages spoken on planets outside your system. I have been to twenty-five of them. How old are you?" "I am fifty." "I am 833. Do you eat animals?" Bonku Babu had had mutton curry only recently, on the day of Kali Puja. How could he deny it? "We stopped eating meat several centuries ago," Ang informed him. "Before that, we used to eat the flesh of most creatures. I might also have eaten you." Bonku Babu swallowed hard. "Take a look at this!" Ang offered him a small object. It looked like a pebble. Bonku Babu touched it for an instant, and felt the same electric current pass through his body. He withdrew his hand at once. Ang smiled. "A little while ago, you could not move an inch. Do you know why? Only because I had this little thing in my hand. It would stop anyone from getting closer. Nothing can be more effective than this in making an enemy utterly powerless, without actually hurting him physically." Now Bonku Babu was genuinely taken aback. His mind was coming out of its stunned state. Ang said, "Is there any place that you have wished to visit, or a scene that you have longed to see, but never could?" Bonku Babu thought: why, the whole world remained to be seen! He taught geography, but what had he seen except a few villages and towns in Bengal? There was so much in Bengal itself that he had never had the chance to see. The snow-capped Himalayas, the seashore in Digha, the forests in the Sunderbans, or even that famous banyan tree in the Botannical Gardens of Shibpur. However, he mentioned none of these thoughts to Ang. "There is so much I would like to see," he finally admitted, "but most of all think I would like to visit the North Pole. I come from a warm county, you see? so?"

Ang took out a small tube, one end of which was covered by a piece of glass. "Take a look through this!" Ang invited. Bonku Babu peered through the glass, and felt all his hair rise. Could this be true? Could he really believe his eyes? Before him stretched an endless expanse of snow, dotted with large hillocks, also covered with ice and snow. Above him, against a deep blue sky, all the colours of a rainbow were forming different patterns, changing every second. The Aurora Borealis! What was that? An igloo. There was a group of polar bears. Wait, there was another animal. A strange, peculiar creature? Yes! It was a walrus. There were two of them, in fact. And they were fighting. Their tusks were bared - large as radishes - and they were attacking each other. Streams of bright red blood were flowing on the soft white snow... It was December, and Bonku Babu was looking at an area hidden under layers of snow. Still, he broke out into a sweat. "What about Brazil? Don't you wish to go there?" asked Ang. Bonku Babu remembered instantly - piranhas, those deadly carnivorous fish! Amazing. How did this Ang know what he would like to see? Bonku Babu peered through the tube again. He could see a dense forest. Only a little scattered sunlight had crept in through the almost impenetrable foliage. There was a huge tree, and hanging from a branch? what was that? Oh God, he could never even have imagined the size of that snake. Anaconda! The name flashed through his mind. Yes, he had read about it in an old issue of the National Geographic magazine. It was said to be much, much larger than a python. But where was the fish? Oh, here was a canal. Crocodiles lined its banks, sleeping in the sun. One of them moved. It was going to go into the water. Splash! Bonku Babu could almost hear the noise. But ... what was that? The crocodile had jumped out of the water very quickly. Was? could it be the same one that went in only a few seconds ago? With his eyes nearly popping out, Bonku Babu noted that there was virtually no flesh left on the belly of the crocodile, bones were showing through clearly. Attached to the remaining flesh were five fish with amazingly sharp teeth and a monstrous

appetite. Piranhas! Bonku Babu could not bear to watch any more. His limbs were trembling, his head reeled painfully. "Now do you believe that we are superior?" Ang wanted to know. Bonku Babu ran his tongue over his parched lips. "Yes. Oh yes. Certainly. Of course!" he croaked. "Very well. Look, I have been observing you. And I have examined your arms and legs. You belong to a much inferior species. There is no doubt about that. However, as human beings go, you are not too bad. I mean, you are a good man. But you have a major fault. You are much too meek and mild. That is why you have made so little progress in life. You must always speak up against injustice, and protest if anyone hurts or insults you without any provocation. To take things quietly is wrong, not just for man, but for any creature anywhere. Anyway, it was nice to have met you although I wasn't really supposed to be here at this time. There's no point in wasting more time on your Earth. I had better go." "Goodbye, Mr Ang. I am very glad to have made your..." Bonku Babu could not complete his sentence. In less than a second, almost before he could grasp what was happening, Ang had leapt into his spaceship and had risen over Poncha Ghosh's bamboo grove. Then he vanished completely. Bonku Babu realized that the crickets had started chirping again. It was really quite late. Bonku Babu resumed walking towards his home, his mind still in a wondrous haze. Slowly, the full implications of the recent events began to sink in. A man - no, it was not a man, it was an Ang - came here from some unknown planet, who knew if anyone had ever heard its name, and spoken to him. How extraordinary! How completely incredible! There were billions and billions of people in the world. But who got the chance to have this wonderful experience? Bonkubihari Datta, teacher of geography and Bengali in the Kankurgachhi Village Primary School. No one else. From today, at least in this particular matter, he was unique, in the whole wide world. Bonku Babu realized that he was no longer walking. With a spring in every step, he was actually dancing.

The next day was a Sunday. Everyone had turned up for their usual meeting at Sripati Babu's home. There was a report in the local paper about a strange light, but it was only a small report. This light had been seen by a handful of people in only two places in Bengal. It was therefore being put in the same category as sightings of flying saucers. Tonight Poncha Ghosh was also present at the meeting. He was talking about his bamboo grove. All the bamboos around the pond in the middle of the wood had lost all their leaves. It was not unusual for leaves to drop off in winter, but for so many plants to become totally bare overnight was certainly a remarkable occurrence. Everyone was talking about it when suddenly Bhairav Chakravarty said, "Why is Bonku so late today?" Everyone stopped talking. So far, no one had noticed Bonku Babu's absence. "I don't think Bunkum will show his face here today. Didn't he get an earful yesterday when he tried to open his mouth?" said Nidhu Babu. "No, no, no," Sripati Babu sounded concerned, "we must have Bonku. Ramkanai, go and see if you can get hold of him." "OK, I'll go as soon as I've had my tea," replied Ramkanai and was about to take a sip, when Bonku Babu entered the room. No, to say 'entered' would be wrong. It was as if a small hurricane swept inside in the guise of a short, dark man, throwing everyone into stunned silence. Then it swung unto action. Bonku Babu burst into a guffaw, and laughed uproariously for a whole minute, the like of which no one had heard before, not even Bonku Babu himself. When he could finally stop, he cleared his throat and began speaking: "Friends! I have great pleasure in telling you that this is the last time you will see me at your meetings. The only reason I am here today is simply that I would like to tell you a few truths before I go. Number one - this is for all of you - you all speak a great deal of absolute rubbish. Only idiots talk of things they don't know anything about. Number two - this is for Chandi Babu - at your age, hiding other people's shoes and umbrellas is not just childish, but totally stupid and wrong. Kindly return my umbrella and brown canvas shoes to my house tomorrow.

Nidhu Babu, if you call me Bunkum, I shall call you Nitwit, and you must learn to live with that! And Sripati Babu, you are an important man, of course you must have chamchas, sycophants. But let me tell you, from today you can count me out. If you like, I can send my cat to you, it's quite good at licking feet. And... oh, you are here as well, Poncha Babu! Let me inform you and everyone else, that last night, an Ang arrived from the planet Craneus and landed on the pond in your bamboo grove. We had a long chat. The man... sorry, the Ang... was most amiable." Bonku Babu finished his speech and slapped Bhairav Chakravarty's back so hard that he choked. Then he made his exit, striding out with a bounce and a whistle, his eyes sparkling, his head held high. In the same instant, the cup fell from Ramkanai's hand, shattering to pieces, and splattering hot tea on most of the others.