'John Sir' passes away, Kolkata link snaps forever

One of the last links between Calcutta and the "City of Joy" and its author, Dominique Lapierre, was severed last week when Reginald John, Lapierre's friend and guide, who had taken him through the chaotic lanes and by-lanes of Howrah's Pilkhana and introduced him to its inhabitants, who later shaped many of the characters in his book, died.

The 70-year-old, known to Pilkhana residents as 'John Sir', had been battling cancer. He was the administrative officer of the Seva Sangh Samiti, which is involved in several social activities in Pilkhana. The nickname "Sir" came naturally as he helped establish the school and worked tirelessly to convince parents to send their children to the schools.

John's death last Wednesday also cast a pall over Pilkhana and Watkins Lane in central Howrah, where residents - many of whom still struggle with poverty and impoverishment - said they were orphaned after a 'bade bhai (elder brother) died.  “He was like a bade bhai who was dedicated to serving the local people for more than 50 years,” said Maqtoob Ali, a daily wage earner at Pilkhana. “His passing left us orphans.

In the early 1980s, when Lapierre was scouring Howrah and laying the groundwork for the 'City of Joy', John took him around the various Pilkhana sites. In December last year, after Lapierre died, John told TOI how Lapierre would watch him as he interacted with residents. He later developed several characters for 'City of Joy' from these interactions.

"During one such meeting we met a rickshaw puller who was receiving help from the Seva Sangh Samiti. He offered me tea and began to tell me about his hardships. Lapierre sipped the tea and watched the man carefully. He developed him as the protagonist of 'City of Joy,'" John said, sitting in his home in Salkia.

This rickshaw puller - Hasari Pal - was memorably portrayed by the late Om Puri in Roland Joffe's 1992 film adaptation. Reginald John, friend and guide of Dominique Lapierre, author of 'City of Joy', who took him through the chaotic lanes and by-lanes of Howrah's slums , was born in Pilkhana in 1953 and completed his schooling from St Aloysius Orphanage and Day School. He joined Xavier's College but had to drop out halfway through to take care of his family.

"In the mid-1960s, Francois Laborde's father came to Howrah and started the Seva Sangh Samiti and told my elder brother to join him. Over the next few years, they started a health center in Pilkhana, a crèche for malnourished children among many." another device. Because my brother worked very closely with the local people, they would stop him and offer him tea, sweets and food whenever he went there,” said Terence John, Reginald's younger brother, who is the headmaster of the school.