Memoires of another day -XIX - Arun Roy Mukherjee

XIX : During this time (though I do not remember the year and month, but most probably sometime in between 1938 and 1941) once we went to Jalpaiguri during the rains and left after the Durga Puja festival was over. In those days the train journay from Calcutta to Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling was different. We boarded the Darjeeling Mail at Sealdah in the evening. The train then moved through Barrackpore, Naihati, Ranaghat and then Darshana, Poradah, Bheramara, Paksi, Iswardi, Natore, Santahar, Parbatipur, Sodepur, Nilfamari (all now in present day Bangladesh) reached Siliguri Town station via Jalpaiguri early nest morning. We crossed the mighty Padma river over a railway bridge known as Sara Bridge in between Bheramara and Paksi. We reached Jalpaiguri station early in the morning. Every morning a big adda was held on the varanda of our kitchen. The morning adda centered around Nanda Buro (father of Jibontosh Banerjee). He was a very old man and short of sight and almost blind. Didima would cook our morning breakfast and prepare tea for all. My mother and uncles called them as Jiban Kaka and Dadu. Every morning one of my uncles or any other local resident would help Nanada Buro to come to our house and the adda would start. In those days the relation between the residents of a locality was like members of the same family and the elders took care of any one young and the young ones paid total respect, honour and submission to all the elders. This was true not only of our Para (locality) alone but of the entire town. Each other knew almost all the residents of the town. Nanda Buro was a very jolly and witty person and therefore many persons, young or old, would just join in the adda on their way to or back from the daily shopping and would also enjoy a cup of tea. My Dadu was then working at the Commissioner’s office. All my uncles were students then. Another adda also took place after the midday meal was over and it was an adda of a card game. Didima, my mother, Jiban Dadu (Jibantosh Banerjee) and some other from the locality would join the game and the game played was known as “29”. In the evening, another adda session started at our “Baro Ghar” which ranged from politics to football and on every other matter on earth.