The result of this agitation was that Mr. James Maclean had to submit an apology and was forced to resign his seat in Parliament.
But all this opened the eyes of the Bureaucratic Government by whom Chitta Ranjan was not considered fit for the Civil Service and though he came out successful in the open competitive examination, his name was chucked off from the list of probationers. Even now in many a table talk he speaks of this event and says with a smile—"I came out first in the unsuccessful list." Chitta Ranjan's near relations were mortified at his failure, for at that time his father was involved in heavy liabilities and was passing his days in mental agony. During Chitta Ranjan's stay in England the whole family were put in such pecuniary embarrassments that for want of proper allowance from home he had to live upon hot water and a piece of bread for a couple of days together. For this reason his well-wishers thought that it would have been a great help to his family if he could secure a lucrative post under Government, on the other hand it required patient waiting even for a brilliant scholar to make a name at the bar. However Chitta Ranjan joined the Inner Temple and was called to the Bar in the early nineties.
It was no doubt a great gain for the country that Chitta Ranjan could not get into the "Heaven-Born service". For once a Civilian, he would have exerted all his powers to reach the highest rung of the ladder and could have found no opportunity of ever mixing with his countrymen and of working for their welfare. Happily, Providence wished it, and mother India was not deprived of the services of a patriotic son who would in future lay his all at her feet.
CHAPTER II.
Choice of profession and career as a lawyer.
In the year 1893 Chitta Ranjan came back to India and joined the Calcutta Bar. The profession of law was not to his taste, for his literary talents dictated him to take up the role of a teacher. But the consideration of the heavy liabilities of his father left him no other alternative. He thought that in the legal profession alone was there any chance of clearing off his paternal debts. To choose a profession is always a perplexing business and it was doubly so in the case of Chitta Ranjan. It is especially perplexing if to choose a profession means to discover one's own capability and to do the work one is fitted to undertake in life. "How unfold one's little bit of talent; and live, and not lie sleeping while it is called To-day." That is the great problem. But it occurs only to those who are troubled with a sense of duty and not to those whose ambition is to "get on". It was therefore no small embarrassment for Chitta Ranjan to choose the legal profession.
Within a short time of his joining the Calcutta Bar, Chitta Ranjan took upon himself the responsibility of all his father's debts; but as a newly enrolled Barrister, he earned very little and therefore could not hope to clear the heavy debts of his father immediately. This forced him at the very commencement of his professional career to join his father in seeking the protection of the Insolvency court. It was not because he wished to get rid of the liabilities but in the absence of any other alternative he declared himself as an Insolvent which act weighed heavily on his mind and was the source of much uneasiness. However it was not only a filial duty, but a point of honour with Chitta Ranjan to share the indignity with his father. This was the first instance of Chitta Ranjan's honesty and uprightness during his professional career.
The first stage of a professional career is very tormenting. There lies all around only palpable darkness where occasionally beams forth the flickering light of hope. At that time the whole future life appears to be a desert where the faint ray of hope glimmers like a mirage. But it is almost unconceivable how tormenting must have been the state of mind when over and above this uncertainty there was the uneasiness arising from heavy liabilities and consequent loss of social prestige. But one thing haunted his mind day and night and caused him the greatest pain. By his insolvency he was very seriously handicapped not only in his professional but also in his public life. But for it, Chitta Ranjan would have long ago thrown himself into all political and patriotic movements of his country and won the position of leadership which has now fallen upon him and to which he was entitled by his capacity, patriotism and uncommon talents.