MISSION LIBERIA

The book is a running account of the author's 16 month experience in a small African Country, Liberia. Starting from his career as a soldier in Lalgarh (a Maoist infested area of West Bengal) to the phase of his being selected as contingent commander for the United Nations Peace Keeping Force, he faced numerous challenges. Overcoming those, with unprecedented excitement, he along with his contingent, at last landed in Liberia. Throughout his journey, he came in contact with various races of people of different countries; observed different cultures and customs. Such a wide range of variety married with his inquisitiveness led him to a plateau of intellectual orgasm. He tried mapping Liberia geographically, politically and socially. The backdrop of series of civil wars in Liberia found place in the book aptly. To know and understand the genesis of slavery he went to Ghana and resorted to oral and documented history. Apart from Ghana, descriptions of Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Guatemala cropped up, some as a result of his visual perception and some of narrative accounts. Despite the fact that Liberia is gifted with bountiful natural resources, people suffer from poverty, hunger, lack of education, ill medical facility and poor communication. The reasons are hightlighted in the book. While departing the author was gripped with a sundering feeling for Liberia and its people. He left a long salute for them and brought home a bundle of love, affection and pleasant memories. From the core of the heart, I express my heartfelt gratitude to those who came along and enlightened me in some ways or the other.

My intellectual journey started in the year 2000 when I started capturing my thoughts into poetry. Materialistically the phase was one of the worse ones of my life encircled with full of professional hazards. The wave of poetry silently crept in and flooded my intellectual platform. I am indebted to that patch of my life, full of agony – a real blessing in disguise. I am thankful to Sh. Pradip Bagchi, a teacher by profession for his untiring support by taking pain in translating my original composition Mission Liberia from Bengali to English. Some portions of verse in the travelogue have been translated by my fellow writer and friend Sh. Partha Sarathi Banik who is also a teacher by profession. I will be ever grateful to both of them for their invaluable contributions.

When I was running from pillar to post in search of a good publisher nobody was responding affirmatively to a noncelebrity writer. God sent a person suddenly; my batch-mate Sh. Suresh Kumar Rana. Through him I got acquainted with Dr. Bijender Singh (M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D., UGC-NET, SET, HTET)a renowned English writer, editor, critic and poet. Through their joint efforts; the English version of my book Mission Liberia has seen the light of the day. I am indebted to both of them. I am equally indebted to Mr. Ravish Nijhawan, the Managing Director, Pacific Books International, New Delhi who gave his kind consent to publish the book you have now in your hands.

xvi Mission Liberia

Mr. K. Vijay Kumar, IPS was my Director General. Just like a shepherd who knows his ewe, he knows the talent of his sub-ordinates and appropriately values them. All along my 34 years of service I have not seen any other Director General who had such a keen eye for talents. When I was toiling like anything at Lalgarh to instil confidence among the local people that they deserve a decent life like people from anywhere else, my challenge was to clear the cloud of apprehension and anxiety created by the red ultra that engulfed the whole area. Common people were suffering from insecurity. Along with the troops my sleepless days and nights were spent in the jungles, weeks together rolled into months sometimes. Ultimately, I could succeed. Thanks to my troops of 50 Bn for their unconditional support. Thanks to the local people even, who at one point of time had raised their voices for the withdrawal of joint forces but afterwards started helping us with valuable inputs to nab the Ultras. Sitting at a distance of one thousand five hundred kilometres away, my DG Sh. K. Vijay Kumar, IPS was closely watching my performance. As a reward he opened a door for me with the proud opportunity of a UN deputation. Sh. K. Vijay Kumar's another unfold being that of a powerful writer. His book Veerappan: Chasing The Brigand, is a national best seller. Neither is he in uniform nor am I now. But when I requested him to write Foreword to my book, he instantly agreed. I am indebted to him and will remain forever.

I am thankful to Dr. S. Chelliah (M.A., Ph.D., D.Litt.) Professor, Head and Chairperson, School of English & Foreign Languages, Department of English & Comparative Literature, Madurai Kamaraj University, Tamil Nadu, India. His ornamental word praising my work as “Introduction” is an impetus for this book.

As a father and husband; I remained a failure in many ways. During my Police Career as absentee father and now in the quest of my intellectual pursuit, my off-springs and wife are deprived of my cosy company. But they never ever complained Contents xvii and made my acts of omissions an issue, respecting my passion for writing. I am thankful to their inarticulate tolerance. My special thanks to my son Shubhankar Sengupta; being a writer himself, he guides me in my writing from time to time. I enjoy a rare blend of feeling for him – Pride and Gratitude. Without blessings of my parents; the cycle of my life would have remained incomplete. I dedicate my travelogue Mission Liberia to my heavenly father Late Narendra Nath Sengupta. Had he been alive he would have certainly taken pride of his child's deed. I felt his blessings pouring on me relentlessly from a revered place in the milky way of the Galaxy.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Shankarlal Sengupta was born in 1959 in Malda, West Bengal to his father late Narendra Nath Sengupta and mother Smt Gitarani Sengupta. He started his intellectual journey by writing poems, many of which have been published in Dainik Jagaran. After serving ardently and untiringly for the Central Reserve Police Force, he retired in 2016 as a Commandment after 34 years plus service. He rendered his service mainly in the conflict-ridden zones of North-East; Bastar in Chhattisgarh; Kashmir (J&K); and Lalgarh in West Bengal. He was the 1st Commander along with his troops to land in Cambell Bay, the remotest island of Andaman & Nicobar archipelago to render his service to the victims of Tsunami in 2004. The thrilling experience of his rescue-relief operations which he described as his recollections were later published in various news papers like the DainikJagaran, Tripura Times, Aajkal among others. In 2013, he was selected as contingent commander of the Indian Peace Keeping Force of the United Nations and deployed in Liberia; West Africa. He has travelled extensively in Assam, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, UP including Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, J & K, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and foreign countries like Nepal, Myanmar, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Liberia, Ghana and Ethiopia. His hobies include Travelling, Literary Pursuits, playing sports, and listening to Indian Classical and Semi Classical Music. Football, Cricket, Lawn Tennis and Golf are his favorite Games. He has been invited as a guest at many events and ceremonies and has taken part in All India Radio Programs, DD National (Bangla), and many other private TV Channel Programs.