were stolen; even his clothes were removed. Finally he was sold as a slave and sent to Africa. There he spent some years slogging hard, undergoing torture, bearing lashes. Somehow one day he could escape that hell and started his journey towards Bethlehem for he still worshipped Jesus. He had hoped that though he could not reach Bethlehem on the day Jesus was born, at least now he could do that. Unfortunately, after going through many ordeals, when he arrived, it was on the very day Jesus was crucified. Instead of being the first disciple of Jesus, he had the misfortune of lowering the Cross on which Jesus was crucified. “I am like that fourth disciple of Jesus. I know I will never get the fruit of my labour and I know it from my childhood,” Sharad had added at the end.’ This feeling that not getting the due credit was part of his destiny was often at the back of Joshi’s mind and at times he used to express it. ‘One day,’ Tony continued, ‘on our way back to our homes, Joshi looked rather uneasy. He was driving silently. I asked what was wrong. After a moment he looked at me and said, “If you do not want people to destroy your home, don’t throw stones at their windows.” He added, “I learned that you are trying to influence some delegates of the Executive Council to oppose the proposal of the Director General to promote someone. Stop doing that, if you don’t want the stones to fall on your head.” I somehow cleared his misunderstanding. He was angry with a particular Director General, who had not given the promotion which Sharad felt was his due. Sharad had even complained about it to the Administrative Tribunal of International Labour Organization where service disputes of various UN bodies were heard. Unfortunately, Sharad lost his case. ‘However, I am sure over the years he would have risen and could have even become Assistant Director General. He could have secured the citizenship which for a UN employee was not Years in Switzerland
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