The Leader of Men

Siddharth Chowdhury (b. 1974), a Patna-born Indian novelist known for his sharp, realistic portraits of small-town north India, uses this story to expose class snobbery and social prejudice. It traces the tragic fate of Roop Singh, an educated and proud man reduced to working as a security guard.

The pride of Roop Singh in a prejudiced complex

The story is set in a Patna apartment complex. The narrator, Ritwik, returns home for the winter vacation and meets Roop Singh, a newly hired security guard. Unlike the other guards, illiterate, poorly dressed and content merely to survive, Roop Singh stands out in glaring contrast. Well-built and 5'10" tall, with a sharp patrician nose, a neatly ironed uniform and an innate pride, he carries himself with unusual dignity.

The confrontation with Mr. Kedia

One evening Ritwik witnesses Mr. Kedia, a wealthy and arrogant resident, giving Roop Singh a harsh dressing-down in the lobby. Kedia is furious because Roop Singh had stopped his guest, Mr. Sharma, at the gate, refusing to let him go upstairs without first confirming over the intercom.

When Kedia shouts at him, Roop Singh defends himself in impeccable English: 'But, it is not my fault sir, I was just doing my duty.' This display of education from a low-paid guard completely stuns Kedia and his friend. Humiliated that a guard spoke English to him, Kedia turns vindictive and threatens to have Roop Singh thrown out of his job.

Roop Singh's tragic past and stoic struggle

Ritwik befriends Roop Singh, sitting with him on the lobby bench in the evenings to discuss books and lending him works by Muktibodh and Dinkar. He discovers that Roop Singh is a highly educated Rajput who had studied up to the Intermediate level but was forced to drop out of college after his father's death, agricultural debt and his sister's wedding expenses.

Roop Singh had worked briefly as a school teacher, but after six months without pay he left for Patna, moving through construction jobs and grocery stores before taking the guard's job for a meagre 600 rupees a month. He lives in extreme poverty, once writing to Ritwik's father to beg a 100-rupee advance because he had not eaten for two days, yet maintains a strict, dignified stoicism and refuses to show any self-pity.

The New Year's Eve humiliation and breakdown

On New Year's Eve a grand terrace party is organised in the building. At 11:30 PM, after the wealthy guests have finished eating, some leftover food is brought down to the guards. As Roop Singh picks up a plate to serve himself, Kedia patronisingly taunts him: 'So Mr. Singh, I hope you are not hungry now... You probably haven't eaten such fabulous food ever in your life, so eat carefully, don't overdo it.'

This cruel, public insult snaps Roop Singh's delicate mental balance. He quietly puts his plate down and walks away into the dark night. Later he suffers a violent mental breakdown, thrashing the lobby and smashing the glass revolving doors, plastic chairs and intercom with his bare fists. When the other guards tie him up with a rubber hose pipe, he is left sitting on the floor with badly smashed hands and blank, expressionless eyes. The story ends on a sombre note: Ritwik's father takes Roop to a nursing home to treat his fractures, while Kedia refuses to show any remorse.