The blogpost ('Learn about the railways, then discuss Federal Reserve, Pirosh', Dec 28) had apparently elicited furious response from Kolkata.
Women there had been raging all through the day, "how could anything within BT's family pass from generation to generation, it was all prohibited by US law? Kolkata had been especially careful when it came to railroads, so that no one understood the mistake it made in ignoring railroad families, not trying to establish relations with them, and thereby missing out on crucial information."
"It was the 1960s and 70s, DSE had not considered that anyone would want to ride a train, who'd let go of airlines?" others had pointed out.
The 'prohibited by US law' set off controversies elsewhere. What was prohibited, that BT might have a granddaughter? Familial ties? Which legislations were being referred to? Who had agreed to such strictures?
It turned out that Kolkata implied the Americans with Disabilities Act 1990, that it was meant to make sure that Antara would not have any independent investigative responsibilities of her own, "it was like she was a dependent of her classmates at Asansol AG Church, as a weak and pathetic individual. Unless they were assisting her, her allusions work would not be considered, it wouldn't be able to stop the NRIs, they could do whatever they wanted to. The Germans knew all about it."
Antara was immediately asked to find out if ADA, as it was known, had any provision which enabled discrimination against her. From whatever was available online on ADA, it didn't seem to indicate that she was "dependent on the Class of 1995 for even leading her daily life".
However, there seemed to be instances when its provisions had been used to harass Antara and her classmates, both at Asansol AG Church and later at Brabourne. Antara didn't want to share these details right away, without knowing at whose instigation she had been described as a "dependent", that neither did she have any liberties nor was the Class of 1995 particularly free.
The ADA information did reveal the name of Tom Foley, who had been Speaker of the House of Representatives when ADA came about in 1990. Antara's work had earlier stated that Tom Foley was always criticised for ignoring Brussels when it came to American Civil War blackmails, "so Delhi media would always remain in Delhi, because of Foley, it would never get its Brussels offices?"
ii. Why was Kolkata invoking ADA, merely to stop Antara's allusions work? Or was it specifically about Kolkata having no rivalry or competition when it came to railroad blackmails, where Kolkata had done shoddy work?
Several years ago, Antara had been advised to focus on the Wheelus Air Base/Mellaha in Libya. "After all, it was always about Wheelus and American corporations, it was not Antara's burden alone, given documentation had been held back from her."
What could Antara do about Wheelus? "What was being called ADA 1990 was only about Wheelus, to make sure no one could do railroad research while living in a country with extensive railway networks like India. Documents and livelihood would not be available so no way of leaving India, hence railroad research would stop, endless reserve currencies could be floated out of DSE."
What about Antara's allusions work till date? It was done without the assistance of the Class of 1995, Antara always did well at school, no batchmate of her would provide assistance in intellectual matters.
"These were north Kolkata families, so they'd settle in their own way."
In Delhi, when people bought apartments, they often started renovations by boarding up all windows, doors, leaving only a single entrance available.
December 29, 2025.