Barisal.... the town of our dreams
1st April and 2nd April......
The previous evening Didi and I spent a lot of time on the deck of the steamer looking at the water pass by and the distant lights. We were on river Buriganga and would hit Padma soon. Post that it would be Meghna and then Kirtankhola. The cool breeze and the feeling of being in the middle of no where got both us thinking about our childhood. To add here, since we have both seen death very closely life excites us and we live every bit of it.
We reached the steamer ghat at Barisal at 4 am but left the launch on around 7 am. This river Kirtankhola is much cleaner than Buriganga. Hasan Bhai, our driver for the day, was waiting for us.
We checked into Barisal Club, a decent and simple place and were warmly welcomed by the staff with a hearty breakfast. It was going to be a long day and so we got ready fast. Our first destination was B M School. This was where my mamas studied. They were scholars of that time. Infact my Mejomama stood first in Matric Examination in 1947 in undivided Bengal. Ma recalled his name on a plaque.
The school was shut for Easter but the Principal and the peon were kind enough to let us go around. They were very cordial and spoke with us about the different aspects of the school. The plaque, the principal said, had broken down and they did not have enough funds to replace it.
Ma recalled the house she lived in keeping B M School as the base. She could recall that they went right and got into a lane on the left. She also told us that she could hear the bell. We tried with those inputs but soon I had to call my mama, who had visited Barisal a decade earlier.
Ma had become a little girl. We were looking for the house of Dr Sudhanshu Doctor. This was the same house Ma came to play as a child. The lane had changed and all she recalled that it was a single storeyed house and had a field near by. We narrowed down on the single storeyed old houses and asked a lot of people. Soon we had a lot of people following these visitors from India who had come to look for where their mom/mami stayed as a kid. An old lady cameout from a pink , single storeyed old house. I had a feeling this was it. I asked her and yes that was it. Khalamma , as the others called her was also nostalgic. She recalled those days and was happy. So were the others who were looking for the house with us.
Then the house she lived in. It was nearly opposite to this house but since the owner has changed they have renovated the house and has high walls and a gate. ma refused to let me go in .
By then , the neighbours had also come out..... the Dutta Guptas, one of the lone Hindu families who lived there still. We went in to meet the old lady of the house. They were very cordial and offered us lunch. They recalled Mama and mami who had also visited them.
After this we visted B M Crollege where Boromama studied. Here Didi also knew someone from her in laws side who was the Principal there. What stuck us was the amazing behaviour of the people, who were ever ready to help us and always offered us water and food. The Principal was a very traditional looking person who was very amused that one could travel such a distance to look for such things. He offered to take us home for lunch , which of course we declined as by then we were dying to visit Goila, the village where we actually belonged to.
The previous evening Didi and I spent a lot of time on the deck of the steamer looking at the water pass by and the distant lights. We were on river Buriganga and would hit Padma soon. Post that it would be Meghna and then Kirtankhola. The cool breeze and the feeling of being in the middle of no where got both us thinking about our childhood. To add here, since we have both seen death very closely life excites us and we live every bit of it.
We reached the steamer ghat at Barisal at 4 am but left the launch on around 7 am. This river Kirtankhola is much cleaner than Buriganga. Hasan Bhai, our driver for the day, was waiting for us.
We checked into Barisal Club, a decent and simple place and were warmly welcomed by the staff with a hearty breakfast. It was going to be a long day and so we got ready fast. Our first destination was B M School. This was where my mamas studied. They were scholars of that time. Infact my Mejomama stood first in Matric Examination in 1947 in undivided Bengal. Ma recalled his name on a plaque.
The school was shut for Easter but the Principal and the peon were kind enough to let us go around. They were very cordial and spoke with us about the different aspects of the school. The plaque, the principal said, had broken down and they did not have enough funds to replace it.
Ma recalled the house she lived in keeping B M School as the base. She could recall that they went right and got into a lane on the left. She also told us that she could hear the bell. We tried with those inputs but soon I had to call my mama, who had visited Barisal a decade earlier.
Ma had become a little girl. We were looking for the house of Dr Sudhanshu Doctor. This was the same house Ma came to play as a child. The lane had changed and all she recalled that it was a single storeyed house and had a field near by. We narrowed down on the single storeyed old houses and asked a lot of people. Soon we had a lot of people following these visitors from India who had come to look for where their mom/mami stayed as a kid. An old lady cameout from a pink , single storeyed old house. I had a feeling this was it. I asked her and yes that was it. Khalamma , as the others called her was also nostalgic. She recalled those days and was happy. So were the others who were looking for the house with us.
Then the house she lived in. It was nearly opposite to this house but since the owner has changed they have renovated the house and has high walls and a gate. ma refused to let me go in .
By then , the neighbours had also come out..... the Dutta Guptas, one of the lone Hindu families who lived there still. We went in to meet the old lady of the house. They were very cordial and offered us lunch. They recalled Mama and mami who had also visited them.
After this we visted B M Crollege where Boromama studied. Here Didi also knew someone from her in laws side who was the Principal there. What stuck us was the amazing behaviour of the people, who were ever ready to help us and always offered us water and food. The Principal was a very traditional looking person who was very amused that one could travel such a distance to look for such things. He offered to take us home for lunch , which of course we declined as by then we were dying to visit Goila, the village where we actually belonged to.
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