OATEN BEATEN BLACK AND BLUE

OATEN BEATEN BLACK AND BLUE

Oaten beaten black and blue,
Fell to woe and lived to rue,
Oaten thrashed, sir, through and through.
Darwaan called out, 'Arey sab, othhen, othhen,''
But Oaten grounded, blank gaze drew.

Pommies called for witnesses to glue.
Thrashed and stunned, they whistles blew.
Culprit not traced, nor sign nor clue.
Cops harassed, into rage they flew,
But Sher-e-Bangaal poor Oaten slew.

Composed by Sugata Bose

N.B. It was assumed by the Presidency College authorities that the assault on Professor Edward Farley Oaten was engineered by Subhas Chandra Bose and he was expelled from the college and no other college of Calcutta University allowed him admission for quite a while till the Vice Chancellor's [Sir Ashutosh Mookerjee's] intervention got him admission in Scottish Church College from where he eventually graduated with flying colours as usual.

Bose's complicity in the assault on Professor Oaten could not be proved but his stubborn silence and refusal thereof to identify the person responsible for it made him the scapegoat and he suffered in consequence.

When Professor Oaten wrote his poem reminiscing his student's life and supposed death in the air-crash, he began by asking this question if on that fateful day it was Subhas who had as well assaulted him. The professor could not be sure, hence the question. This is my interpretation of the opening line of the poem which is being given below.

Anyhow, that Subhas had not personally assaulted the professor is now certain from writings on the subject. He had taken upon himself the punishment for the deed to save a fellow student and friend who was directly involved in the incident. He considered it his moral duty and liability as well to court disaster, if need be, on behalf of the group of fellow mates whose leader he was. This was the first instance which set up Bose as the future leader of men, the leader and liberator of his motherland from the thraldom of imperial tyranny.

Professor Oaten's poem reads:

Did I once suffer, Subhas, at your hands?
Your patriot heart is stilled, I would forget!
Let me recall but this, that while as yet
The Majesty that you once challenged in your land
Was mighty; Icarus-like your courage planned
To mount the skies, and storm in battle set
The ramparts of High Heaven, to claim the debt
Of freedom owed, on plain and rude demand.
High Heaven yielded, but in dignity
Like Icarus, you sped towards the sea.
Your wings were melted from you by the sun,
The genial patriot fire, that brightly glowed
In India's mighty heart, and flamed and flowed
Forth from her Army's thousand victories won.

Photo : Professor Edward Farley Oaten

Sugata Bose True it is that he was so, but this was the first major instance that drew the attention of the Raj which he was destined to end in India and, in consequence, in the world. The attention of the day became the alarm of the days to come and he was permanently kept either in prison or in exile to immobilise him and his seditious activity. But such a mover of men could scarce be kept in bars and like the epic hero he broke through all barriers to arrive in Berlin and Tokyo to muster support for his cause of liberation of the motherland. Singapore and Saigon and Rangoon waited on him to offer him hospitality for his cause as he marched through the jungles of Burma and the hills of Manipur to arrive at the gates of India triumphant like an epic hero. That historical imperatives dictated terms otherwise and his army of liberation had to withdraw is the tragedy of our nation but that is the subject of another discussion altogether.

Bhaskar Mukherjee Oaten beaten black & blue..fell to woe & lived to rue.

Sugata Bose Oh, I had forgotten. So, I composed afresh.

Sugata Bose Have you got the original poem?

Bhaskar Mukherjee Sugata Bose I reproduced it as I remember from yr original composition.

Sugata Bose Bhaskar Mukherjee What about the other lines? Can't recall quite?

Bhaskar Mukherjee Sugata Bose those were the only lines I recall.

Sugata Bose Bhaskar Mukherjee Never mind. We'll compose again. It used to be great fun those days. Now nostalgic.

Sugata Bose Bhaskar Mukherjee Bhaya, humour is a quality in crisis nowadays, an attribute in extension !

Bhaskar Mukherjee Subhash never tool the racism of the English lying down. ..’zaalim engrezo ki kaum par woh kaher baan ke chaenge’ goes the song... Jai Hind✌️🇮🇳

Sugata Bose Bhaskar Mukherjee Thanks to your recollection, it is now a double limerick of sorts. Perhaps, the very lines themselves have doubled up in laughter at Oaten's discomfiture.