Calcutta, Nov. 3 :    Calcutta, Nov. 3:  Nothing much was different. Jyoti Basu walked out of Writers' for the last time as chief minister brisk and curt. Perhaps, a little less curt. At times, even apologetic. On June 21, 1977, before stepping into Writers' for the first time as chief minister, he had addressed a meeting organised by government employees in front of the VIP gate. On November 3, 2000, he did the same before stepping out. Nothing much was different. Or, was it? The crowds that had gathered outside for a glimpse of Basu filled the stretch of road in front of Writers'. On June 21, 1977, tens of thousands had taken to the streets in post-Emergency euphoria. The crowds had thinned, as had Jyoti Basu's hair, in the wear and tear of 24 years. Minutes before 11.30 am, Basu's white panjabi, set off by a beige sleeveless jacket, flashed briefly in the corridor of power as he marched into his room, looking straight ahead, just as he has done always. Next to him was chief minister-designate Buddhadev Bhattacharya. 'What's scheduled for today? Hand me the work, it's the last day for me here.' For the next half-hour he cleared files. The last file to bear his signature was on government control over cold storage hiring charges. Bhattacharya and finance minister Asim Dasgupta filed in next. Some more files were brought in. Basu had had enough for his last day. 'No more files for me. Buddha will look after things from next week. Take them to him.' Thus Bhattacharya was initiated into chief ministerial responsibility. Nothing much was different. Reminiscing later before journalists, Basu said: 'Bidhanbabu amay bolechhilen, tomay chairey boshiyei jabo (Bidhan Roy had told me that he would depart after putting me in the chair).' The memory brought a smile to his taciturn face as he autographed a picture of himself with Bidhan Roy in Writers' Buildings. Before that, at 12.35 he had walked out of his office, spending just over an hour, almost half of it taken up in accepting donations to the chief minister's relief fund and in receiving well-wishers. As the visitors placed their bouquets, Radhika Jeevan Dhar, a driver at Writers' for years, presented the chief minister a painting. It was a portrait of Basu done by Dhar's 14-year-old grandson, the background tomato red. Basu's face lit up for a moment. He refused mishti offered to him throughout the day as steadfastly as he said he was retiring for health reasons. 'I cannot carry on as chief minister any more. Please extend your co-operation to the new chief minister.' It was a line that kept coming back through the two hours he stayed at Writers'. Addressing government employees, he said: 'For the past few months, you might have been dissatisfied with my curt answers. What could I do? It was my illness that prevented me from talking at length.' His parting words of apology did not come without a mild rebuke. There were moments when people's needs had been given the go by, he told the gathering of mainly CPM-dominated coordination committee members. Basu did not deny those expecting a touch of self-criticism. 'We have at times drifted from the people. We shall have to strive not to hide anything from the people,' he said, drawing the curtain down on a stage where he occupied the centrepoint for so many years. Some are refusing to look at life without him. Ashok Dogra, who drives his car in Delhi, had come over to see Basu off to retirement. He will not chauffeur any other chief minister. 'Does one ride a smaller animal after riding an elephant?' Dogra is refusing to change. 'Communists are soldiers,' Basu said before stepping down from the dais to cheers of Jyoti Basu lal salam. Someone reminded him that he had walked from Raj Bhavan to Writers' after being sworn in chief minister. 'I was younger then. I prefer to take my car back home this time,' Basu replied. At 1.43 pm, WB-02E 0001 pulled away. After Monday, Jyoti Basu will not be chief minister. But he remains president of the union at British Oxygen, a position he has held for double the number of years he has been chief minister. Today, one of his last acts was to sign an agreement as leader of that union. Nothing much is different.