The discussion of shopkeepers across West Bengal, gathered in some kind of informal trade union, under Bengali businessmen of Kolkata, did not go down well. (The information was shared over an email.)
Bengali shopkeepers seemed hesitant, anxious till 2012, Anjali would often say, "Look at how they conduct their business, they start the day by carrying most of their capital on them."
It was true, even before a single sale, they were loaded with wads of cash, they had got whatever they had.
Later, Antara had thought it was about WWII blackmails (financiers and the fiercest fighting in the 'pockets') but then she remembered seeing the cash kept under plastic sheets as well, on which the shopkeepers were often seated, so not WWII.
"Don't they keep their money in banks?" Antara had asked Anjali.
"Did they look like they had the courage to interact with banks?" Anjali had replied.
The socialist directions of State policy suggested 'last mile banking' as a desired objective, and socialism was far more embedded in the national psyche than merely the Preamble to the Indian Constitution.
The desire to score easy points often got the better of certain individuals.
If the focus of G7 was to force Austrians to own up to the intrigues of the Stamp Act of 1765, then Austrians deserved to know the following.
There was an allusion involving Antara's participation in a short story contest, around 2013-14, Antara's short story did well but someone called Mehsuda won, but the allusion was not enough to be considered seriously.
If there were intrigues at all, let Bengali businessmen take responsibility for Stamp Act 1765, they wanted the British to let go of the American colonies, they were desirous that the United States become a capitalist nation, setting up banks and financial institutions, even organise HIB visas so that Bengalis who desired banking services could immigrate to the US.
Antara didn't desire any proximity to Stamp Act 1765.
For one, Antara had paid too high a price to stay away from Stamp Act 1765.
Ajit obsessed with the Tennessee Valley Authority, established in 1933, important political careers began that year as well, he might not have wanted to connect those political careers to the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Antara got married at a Hindu temple situated near a hydroelectric dam, she knew how Tennessee Valley Authority went about its ways.
And if she remained loyal to her own life, she wouldn't have to worry about which railroad launched Nye Committee/Investigation of Munitions Industry (mid-1930s), or if it blamed the Morgans or Duponts for war-profiteering, "We don't know such things, we didn't use banking facilities in the US and given the Tennessee Valley Authority etc."
Despite the above, in the year 2000, a Bengali male academic from the US turned up at Jadavpur for a seminar. He taught at Boulder, Colorado.
Boulder meant stone.
Colorado or 'Partido Colorado' meant Red Party, a conservative political party founded in Paraguay on Sept 11, 1887.
The Bengali from Boulder, Colorado took an inordinate interest in the spouse, then a university student, wanted the latter to immigrate to Colorado for a teaching job.
(Supriya had said "she couldn't afford it".)
'Partido Colorado' was the only legal party in Paraguay between 1947 and 1962. It controlled the presidency since 1948, except for an interruption between 2008 and 2013, when Antara was working as a journalist in Delhi newsrooms.
There were British-educated surgeons in Asansol who ate nothing but 'para'/peda (a sweet) for dinner.
"What happened, Britain, forgot to share all that Paraguay intelligence with Antara? Decided to try torture instead? At some point, Agency would take the blame for the torture? The dazzle of Digital Humanities made HUMINT look less? Paint Brush Girl had to take the fall?
Or did you not realise that the Treasury didn't do banking in the US, that Antara was free both of American independence blackmails as well as the 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement?
Baranagar and Alipur beckoned, so Ukraine collapsed all over again?"
Now what was a capable military tribunal? One that could explain the intriguing behaviour of the officials of British intelligence?
June 15, 2026.
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