cinema. He rightly says that the atmosphere of any place is the sum total of the character of its occupants. So, the possibility of morality or immorality is the same in a temple, an educational institution and a cinema studio depending on the people who work there.

Abbas was well read and well informed on the themes he choose to write about. He would do a lot of homework to research and find out the background of the stories he took up. One feels surprised the way he could gather such accurate information. At the arrival of Cripps Commission there were no computers and no means of accessing information as we have today. Yet the amount of information that is available in his column “Prelude to Cripps?” shows theresourcefulness of Abbas. His description of Sir Stafford Cripps reminds one of the description of the pilgrims in Chaucer’s Prologue to the Canterbury Tales– full of subtle and mild humor :

Sir Stafford is generally punctual, but one day he hit a new high in punctuality by arriving ten minutes earlier than the time fixed. He generally wore a smile on his face as well as a flower in his button -hole. Also, he wore his (by now) familiar features – a high intellectual forehead, keen eyes behind rimless glasses and yellowing teeth. These last are caused by the solitary vice Sir Stafford allowed himself – smoking. But he is rather promiscuous in the enjoyment of his favorite weed. One day he appeared smoking a proletarian cigarette, on another