Memoires of Another Day - VIII - Arun Roy Mukherjee.

VIII : Sejomama (Basudev) and Rangamama’s sacred thread ceremony was a big incident at our Jalpaiguri house. I do not now remember whether it was 1937 or 1938 but Bachchulal was not born yet then. Naturally many of our relatives and family friends arrived. Chitu Da and Nadu Da came and two of my cousin sisters from my paternal side also came. Another gentleman, who a famous musician of those days ( I do nor remember his name) who was a friend of Chitu Da also accompanied Chitu Da by invitation. Chitu Da and Nadu Da both was my mother’s maternal uncle. My mother was the eldest among the siblings. Though Chitu Da was senior to my mother by a few years Nadu Da was younger by about ten/ twelve years. Nadu Da though an uncle, used to address my mother as "Didi". Chitu Da and Nadu Da were also accomplished singers. My mother and my cousin sisters were also good singers. Every evening, so long as the guests remained, a private musical jalsa (soiree) was organized in our house. Finchumama and me used to sit and listen to the music every evening and whether we could enjoy the music in the true sense or not, but never created any problem or any disturbances. Prior to this occasion I used to cry loudly whenever my mother started to sing a song and was thus an embarrassment to my mother in front of relatives and guests. But strangely enough, I stopped crying from then on when my mother sang any song.