The inseparable trio: Raja, Rana and Raju

Our lives got entangled from May, 1965. CAB had organized a cricket coaching camp at Calcutta’s Deshopriyo Park for south Calcutta-based trainees. Three young hopefuls arrived with their heads shaved: after-effects of recent upanayan or mundan ceremony. All three had four-letter names beginning with R: Raja, his twin Rana and Raju. It was a case of instant rapport. An association that only death could tear apart.

The similarities continued in various ways but the contrasts were more apparent. Raja and his twin brother Rana had nothing in common except their dates of birth and upanayan. Raja hated conflicts yet controversies courted him throughout his life. He liked the simple pleasures of life but his life was full of complex issues. He loved to rest and relax but he never got the scope to feel comfortable. His was indeed a very unusual life-style.

When Raja first played for Bengal Schools in 1965 he was primarily a wicket-keeper batsman. Such was his natural talent that he went for the trials of the Indian Schoolboys team as a wicket-keeper. His leg-side gathering was absolutely top quality: safe and delectable. Soft hands and excellent anticipation were his forte.

 His approach to batting was exemplary: cool and confident; superb defensive technique and safe aggression. An ideal opener he was. Men of the vision of Hemu Adhikari, Khandu Rangnekar and Vijay Merchant were extremely impressed by his temperament and technique.

Prior to the England tour with the Indian Schoolboys team in the summer of 1967, at the trials the selectors were so impressed by his batting skills that he was asked to concentrate on his batting and to give up the stumper’s job. In fact when the Indian Schoolboys flew to Heathrow, Raja Mukherji and Syed Kirmani went as batsmen. The wicket-keeper’s slot went to the best of the lot, AAS Asif of Hyderabad (later settled abroad).

After the stupendous success in England of both Raja Mukherjee and his Bengal-mate Dipankar Sarkar, the unorthodox leggie, both were immediately playing first-class cricket for Bengal and East Zone. Both needed jobs and the Indian Railways offered them employment. Thus they departed from east zone to play in the north zone for the combined Indian Railways team based at Delhi.

Raja’s problems began almost immediately. Although he scored two consecutive centuries in the north zone Ranji Trophy ties, he was overlooked for the Duleep Trophy matches. Not used to set-backs, this omission hurt him to such an extent that he decided that he would give up his job and return to the folds of Bengal. He just could not get used to the environment available for the railway lads at Delhi at the time: railway-coach accommodation; meager food rations; squalid surroundings.

Raja was a very soft and sensitive soul.  Lost his armed-forces father early in life to an accident and was brought up by his widowed mother in straitened circumstances at her brothers’ family residence at Gariahat in south Calcutta. Raja never quite had the confidence of youth. Perpetually anxious, he gave every indication of a young man in need of assistance.

After a few seasons with Railways he returned to Bengal but by then the highly talented youngster was in a different world altogether. Our earlier association of school days was missing. Although psychologically close, we hardly met. I was deeply into my studies and Raja joined the Fertilizer Corporation of India at its Calcutta office.

Then in 1972 Raja and I were playing together for Bengal and East Zone. Unfortunately he never received the support he needed around this time from his peers. Some senior players appeared to be distinctly jealous of his early successes. Once when Raja had scored two centuries in successive Ranji Trophy matches and was going for his third, the Bengal innings was declared with Raja stranded at 84. There was no conceivable reason for the declaration. We had already got the 1^st innings lead against a strong Bihar combination and the match was heading for a tame draw. But one could make out that sheer envy was the real and the only reason for the declaration.

On several occasions he was dropped from the XI and Bengal’s reserve stumper was played as an opener instead! Players who were nowhere near him by any yardstick of comparison whether in terms of potential or performance were preferred because they belonged to powerful lobbies. Such instances are very common in India and have been happening for the last 100 plus years.

But not everyone can accept such injustices easily. Raja happened to be one of them. He fell into a nadir of depression. He just could not be brought out of his shell. It was sheer hell for this highly sensitive man. He became over sentimental for no fault of his own. No amount of medication could help him to recover. He seemed to have fallen into a pit of ‘no-return’. The subtle wit of his had evaporated, although the charming smile remained. Our happy times at Shantiniketan with Raja rendering superlative Tagore songs in his soulful voice were gone forever.

The natural talent was nipped in the bud. Men who were supposed to be guiding young hopefuls hardly did justice to their job. He seemed all at sea till a lady from Assam married him and extended the much-needed support. In time their wonderful daughter and her matured husband took complete charge and gave Raja the rest that he deserved. His early life was full of successes; his mid-life crisis extended to old age but thankfully his final years were full of health, happiness and bonhomie with his grand-daughter. He died in the full knowledge that his family members were all safe and sound. He most certainly deserved the grace that God blessed him with in his last years.

Born in May 1951, his early success gave every indication that he was Test match material as an opener. In 1967 in England he scored a superlative century at Birmingham and was promised a financial award by a Bollywood film actor. After the media publicity surrounding the actor’s ‘benevolence’ subsided, the actor most conveniently forgot about the offer! The financial bonanza of a prize – Raja desperately needed it at the time – never did arrive!

Later in 1968 Raja led the Indian Schoolboys to Australia. There he received his compensation thousand times over when Sir Don took time to spend with the Hemu Adhikari-managed kids. The photograph of Raja with the Greatest-Ever is certainly his most prized possession.

One serious misconception needs to be rectified. Sunil Gavaskar and Raja Mukherji never played together for Indian Schoolboys. When Gavaskar played against the London Schoolboys in India, his opening partner was Ramesh Nagdev, a dashing opener, who later settled abroad.

In his last first-class match for Bengal Raja Mukherjee helped my team to win outright against Orissa in a very low-scoring match at his favourite Eden Gardens. Despite a runner he stayed at the crease till the job was complete. He ignored the excruciating pain of a pulled muscle and held on. The selectors decided to rest him for the next match to help him to recover.

Unfortunately his twin brother Rana made some unnecessary caustic remarks against the selectors in the following day’s newspaper. The selectors were livid. Raja was never chosen again. He paid the price for someone else’s over-reaction.

That’s how his life spanned out. His whole life seemed to be guided by others! Lost a real gentleman-friend who was far above all pettiness in life. Even in distress, the handsome face never lost its charming, innocent smile. I know Anandamayi Ma will always be beside my soul-mate.