You folks remember a recent cartoon picture of mine that I got done? The one that, as the venerable Narayan thought, the artist put the bulb inside my head instead of outside? I am attaching a small version of it here.

Well, I carefully packed that picture in a tube and got it to India. I wanted to give it to my parents. I was hoping they will slide it under that big glass top they have on the study table along with all sorts of other memorabilia – including pictures of me from news paper clippings and other felicitations. You know, I thought it would put a smile on their face every time they saw it. It is a funny picture. And if they cared to think a little more deeply, they should take great satisfaction from the fact that they have raised a son that has no qualms about making fun of himself.

Ah! That is where I went wrong. The wrath of Bengali parents towards anybody who makes fun of their son is writ large in their personas. Even if it means it is their own son making fun of himself!

First I asked my mom if she could recognize the person. Confidently, she replied “Pronob Mukhujje”. I am like “What? For starters, he has hair. Second, why would I carry a Bengali politician’s picture in my suitcase?”. Finally, when I told her, she said that there is nothing funny about how I look and stormed off to the kitchen.

Somewhat deflated, I went to my dad and showed it to him. He kept on thinking for a few minutes but could not come up with anything. So, I told him it is a caricature of my face. His response was “artist-er hathta ekhono paaka hoi ni” (“the artist has not matured yet in his skills”). And by the way, he would have nothing to do with putting that picture anywhere in his house.

Now this poor picture is going to make a long haul back to America with me. I thought about giving it to my sister or sister-in-law. I am sure they will reject it outright out of fear of my parents.

But fret not!! I have my revenge planned out already. You see, every December, I make one of those large photo calendars and send one each to all my relatives – parents, in laws, siblings, brother-in-law etc. Every page has multiple pictures of Sharmila and the daughters and myself. The idea is to remind them about the family far away. I also put every family member’s birthdays and wedding anniversaries – there are about 25 entries or so. The idea is the family members should not forget to wish each other on those special dates.

Well, this time, I am first going to get a few more cartoon pictures of mine drawn. And then, in every page, along with some nice pictures of Sharmila and the kids, I will insert one small cartoon picture of myself. I want to see if they will I put it up on the wall. They will be torn between showing off their family in America to all guests who come by and having to admit that their son looks funny 🙂

Devious enough, huh? Muahahahahah!!!! 🙂

As I narrated in my previous post, my brother and I were desperately searching the internet for Panchgorah school. Which is not an easy feat given that the internet access was dog slow and Panchgorah is not exactly a household name. So, I asked my dad if he remembered how he went to that school those days. He said he got down at Simlagarh station and walked along the station road to the other side of GT Road for about a kilometer.

However, Google maps showed no such road on the other side of GT Road. Totally confused, we decided to go that station anyways. We figured it must be a very small road – too small for Google maps to show. When we reached there, we realized why Google maps did not show such a road. Because there is no such road!!!

My dad was overjoyed that he might see his old school but he was equally adamant that he was sure about the directions. I got down from the car and started making some enquiries. One person seemed to know where Panchgorah was. He asked us to go to Tinna More and take a left turn. Not having anything else to do, that is exactly what we did.

Now, as I was fiddling on my iPhone Google maps to see where that road at Tinna More led to, sure enough, I came across Panchgorah. And there was a landmark for Panchgorah school too!! No wonder we never found it. We were searching for it in the wrong place. By the way, later my dad claimed that he remembered that he used to take a bus from the station to Tinna More.

The road from Tinna More to Panchgorah is hardly a road. It is basically a large collection of potholes held together by slim lines of bricks and asphalt. Have you ever opened up Google Maps on your iPhone and shaken the iPhone? You will notice a popup comes up asking for feedback and such. Well, the road was such that every half a minute Google started asking for feedback. And my dad, was completely convinced we were on the wrong path.

But we did reach there eventually! My dad walked into the school and introduced himself as the principal from 1959-1961. He mentioned a few names of teachers from those days and a few of the staff indeed recognized those names!! He was an instant hero!! All the teachers and the principal came out and introduced themselves. He was ushered into the principal’s office and the two principals – separated by 55 years – chatted about the school endlessly. As you see in the picture, the current principal brought a notebook out and wrote down some of the school’s history as dad related them.

Meanwhile, I had become a small time hero too as I took hundreds of pictures in my camera and iPhone to digitize the memories. All the students thronged around me and were giggling and chatting rapidly. They had never seen a camera that large (I had my 300mm zoom lens on), or such a grown up person wear shorts like them, or somebody who shaved his head. I overheard an older student explaining to a younger one as I snapped a few more shots on my iPhone – “eta notun dhoroner camera” (this is a new style of cameras). He obviously would have been stunned if he saw me making a phone call with that camera 🙂

Eventually, it was time to go. We bade goodbye, walked back to the road and once we reached the car, I asked for a few minutes. There was a beautifully pond and I wanted to take a few shots. I am glad I did. In about three minutes, an auto rickshaw came up, an elderly person jumped out and the following conversation took place:

“Apnar naam Abhay Roy” (“Are you Abhay Roy”?)
“Hnah. Apni ke bolun to?” (“Yes. Who are you?”)
“Haripada, sir. Chintey paarlen?” (“Haripada, sir. Do you recognize me now?”)
“Na to. Apni ki teacher chhilen?” (“Nope. Were you a teacher then?”)
“Na sir. Ami Apnar chhatro!!” (“No, no. I was your student”)

Saying so, he touched my dad’s feet. You can see in the picture my dad putting his hand on his shoulder and wishing him the very best!! Evidently, the news had spread in the village that an old principal called Abhay Roy had come. and this student of my dad happened to still live in the same village. He heard about it and came running along!!

Imagine that! Fifty five years later a student meets his teacher. Outside the same school!!! For a guy like me who focuses on creating intersection points for himself, this was a mega intersection point!!!

My dad was just unbelievably happy at the turn of events! He came back all the way reciting from his memory “Chhatrodol” (“The Students”) by Kalidas Roy. I had never heard this poem before but it seems very well written. I need to look it up.

Fifty five years later, he revisited the temple. A dream fulfilled. While I am no judge of temples, it seemed nice but nothing imposing. But my dad was transfixed. He went in and stood there staring at Kali Ma for over ten minutes. Then he came out and sat down on the veranda.

My sister and mom were visiting other parts of the compound. But my dad just sat there. I gently went up to ask him what was he thinking about. I was not prepared for the answer.

In a low voice, he took me and my brother back to 1959 when he and his family (his mom and brother) struggled mightily due to bad weather. (They were farmers and tilled the land). He rebelled against his family and wanted to leave farming and seek employment somewhere. He had a big fight with his mom and brother. Evidently, that is when he had gone to that temple very frustrated with his inability to get a job and the fact that he had no support from his family.

He narrated how he had heard about the temple from others and came to seek some direction. He went back resolved to fight for a better future. A few months later, he got his first break – as a teacher in Panchgorah school where he eventually became the principal. And from there he got another break to join the Steel Plant that the British were building in Durgapur. He never had to look back after that.

I was aware of the school, his rebelling against family and the Durgapur job. For the first time, I got the chronology in order and details I was not aware of.

He credits that visit to the temple for all his luck. After retirement, when he looked back on his life, one day, he remembered about that temple visit. Ever since, it has been his dream to revisit that temple.

At that point, he went back into his trance thinking about the past.

As you must have guessed, my brother and I immediately started searching for that school on Google maps, Wikipedia and so on.

More adventures awaited us!!

Finally made it to my mom’s sister’s house! I saw her last in 1983!! The first cousin was barely three years old. And I just saw my other cousin for the first time! And she is already 29 years old!!!

By the way, after some point Google maps had to be supplemented by grand old stopping-and-asking-people-for-directions!!

Brother driving. I am sitting next to him. Dad, mom and sister sitting behind. So far all the decibels has been provided by the back seat!

It has been only 25 minutes on the road. Dad has so far given us a running commentary of all the railway stations we will cross. And my sister has called up her husband five times already to give instructions to the house help on what needs to be cooked. She would start saying something like “get five pieces of fish….” and then my mom would jump in arguing “no we need two more”. They would argue with each other for a few minutes while my brother in law, I am sure, waited patiently. My sister would then hang up, promising to call back with better instructions.

My mom and she would argue, settle down on a decision, and then call him back. Then she would start “and take four cups of rice…”, promptly get interrupted by my mom and the whole cycle would start again!!

So far, five phone calls later, we are down with five items on the menu!!!

For the last two years my dad could not get out of his bed. This time, he is in an absolutely great shape. It is like the difference between day and night.

On our way back from his cousin last night, he could not thank me enough. Although it was my brother who did all the hard work, I got all the praise. Our family, that way, is very kind to me 🙂

If any case, my brother asked him what would be next in his wish list. He thought for some time and named a temple (a Kali temple) near Bagila that he had visited only once – in 1959! I was negative seven years in age!!!

But my mom interjected saying that her wishes is next in line. My brother enquired if she had a list herself. She said she wanted to see her sister (the one immediately younger to her) that she has not seen in a long long time. I myself have seen her, I think, last in 1982 or so.

Over drinks last night, we decided that my brother, sister and myself will take our parents to both the places. We need my brother to drive us all over. And we need my sister to keep our parents from fighting with each other. My responsibility was to find the places on the map.

So far, I have found in my Google map a village that seems to match my aunt’s village name. They have no phones or anything for me to confirm. And regarding the temple of my dad, I got nothing!! Following my dad’s memories from 1959, I have so far found a high school on Google maps!

Well, we will figure it out!! We are back on the road…