Now a Casabianca in Stephen Court

KOLKATA - Just as the son in the poem “Casabianca” followed his father’s words by not moving from a burning ship, Khusiram Tewary followed his master’s orders to a tee by spending two days in the city’s charred and empty Stephen Court building after an inferno claimed 33 lives.

Khusiram Tewary, in his 50s, went up to his master’s flat on the fifth floor of the century-old building, hours after it was devastated in a blaze Tuesday, and guarded it till Thursday evening.

Giocante in British poet Felicia Dorothea Hemans’ “Casabianca” refused to leave the burning deck of French ship ‘Orient’ without orders from his father in 1798. He perished when the ship caught fire.

“My master had ordered me repeatedly to keep an eye on his belongings. My clothes and other things were also there. So I went up to the flat. It was a great relief to see that the flat was intact and all things were in place,” Khusiram said.

“I stayed there from late Tuesday night to 5 p.m. Thursday, after which I felt lonely,” he added.

Asked how he mustered the courage to spend two nights in the building, where several bodies were buried and not a single living soul was present, Khusiram simply said: “I had to. I am the custodian of my master’s property. I have been working at his house for 10 long years.”

“I did not come out of the flat Wednesday as I was afraid that if seen, the police would bring me down,” he said.

And what did he eat in the flat? “There was enough food for one person. There was water too. I had no problems.”

However, Khusiram’s master Narendra Kumar Sahni denied that he had asked him to stay at the flat after the fire tragedy in the iconic building.

“I never asked him to guard my flat. He had gone there to get his clothes. I don’t know when he came down,” he said.

When pointed out that Khusiram had spent two nights in the flat disregarding the authorities’ decision not to allow anyone in on security grounds, Sahni shot back: “He has done this at his own sweet will. What can I do?”

But Khusiram is unfazed. His only regret is that when he tried to re-enter the building Friday, he was stopped by the police.

The fire in the heart of the city’s happening Park Street broke out Tuesday afternoon and rapidly spread in the residence-cum-office block, trapping scores. It blazed for several hours.

Some of the trapped people died when they jumped from higher floors to escape the leaping flames. Most others were caught in the blaze unable to escape after finding the only fire exit shut and blocked. Several corpses may still be lying in the debris.