The latter himself was a keen observer. "At dusk, I used to peep through the windows of the haveli to watch him write till the lantern turned black with soot. He used to shoo us away with laddoos," he recalls. It was only when he took his intermediate examinations that Moorat Ram realised the importance of the man he had watched with such fascination. "I was asked to write a line on Nawab Rai urf Premchand. I could have written a story on him."