Memoires of another day - XIII - Arun Roy Mukherjee

XIII : My sister Bulu was born at Dubrajpur. My Pishima (paternal aunt) came and stayed with us during that period. I was sitting on a wooden cot kept on the ground floor varanda. My father was lazily moving about. It was late in the afternoon and evening was approaching. Then Pishima called out my father’s name and asked him to note down the time. In later years my mother told me that Bulu was born on the same day England declared war against Germany. Some time thereafter, my paternal grand mother (my father’s step mother) expired at our native village at Shibnibas in Nadia District. At that time I learnt that our family is closely related to Maharaja of Krishna Nagar. My father went to Shibnibas to attend the last rites of grandmother. My mother could not go because Bulu was a tiny creature then. I was left to take care of both my mother and my little sister. When my father returned, he brought a shot-gun for me with a box containing hundreds of pellets. A few months thereafter Mejomama and Finchumama also came. Mejomama left after a few days but Finchmama stayed back. My uncle (father’s younger brother) also came and stayed with us for a few days.