There are people who impact you quite directly with their ideas and teachings. In most cases they are our parents, close relatives, some teachers. It can also be friends, or older siblings/cousins. There are also a kind of people who impact us indirectly. The good thing about them is that, you don't have to share spacetime with them. For me, there have been innumerable people who have shaped my thoughts and plans, dreams and speech, but I have never met them. Like, Rabindranath, through his songs and poems have touched the hearts and minds of every person who loves Bengali. Swami Vivekananda has never ceased to believe in our strength even at times when we doubt ourselves. Netaji has shown how one man can build an army, Nazrul has imbibed in us the will to stand up even when we can't. Saratchandra, Saradindu, Narayan Ganguly, Syed Mujtaba Ali have enriched our lives with stories. Ashapurna has shown us our roots, which for one thing has helped me be even more grateful to Vidyasagar and Rammohan Roy. They have all done their parts, and they have all succeeded in bringing up a generation that put most emphasis on education and chose "plain living and high thinking". Now that generation is no more, the mall going, partying kind of people definitely have forgotten everything they could have been immensely proud of. But I am not writing about them, I am writing about me.
Not a single day goes by where I have not read or thought or talked about these people I just mentioned. They are part of my life, they are part of my thoughts. However, even out of them, there is one family which has helped shape me holistically. That is the family of Upendra Kishore Ray Chaudhuri. Apart from the Tagores, I don't know of any other family where everyone was so talented. By everyone, I really do mean every single person. They could write, sing, paint, excelled in sports and studies, were pioneers in multiple aspects of the society. I think the Tagores were far more philosophical and hard to reach, but the Rays were more approachable, fun, and way more mortal. The best thing about them is probably the fun part, they all seemed to be enjoying life. It would be totally wrong to think that they had perfect lives, Upendra Kishore, Sukumar and quite a few of their relatives had a small lifespan but to think of their lives just as a count of years would be unjust. They gave us centuries of work and ideals even in their short lives. They tried to bring up young kids across Bengal who would be inquisitive, bright and would concentrate on building healthy bodies as well as healthy minds. The children's magazine "Sandesh" (meaning both news and a Bengali sweet) was created from this legendary press U.Ray and Sons that has brought up generations of children quite successfully. The various articles throughout a century have focused on science, literature, animals, history, mythology, biographies, science fiction, detective stories, riddles and puzzles, nonsense rhymes, kids' competitions for writing, painting, and even stories on film making. The able editors have translated many stories from across the world and have introduced Bengali kids to a whole wide world. It is through the pages of Sandesh that I was introduced to scientific articles about the Sun, about Orion, I read Greek and Norse mythology, and have laughed and laughed at the funny antics of Pagla Dashu (crazy Dashu) and his friends. Satyajit Ray introduced us to detective stories, but while telling us about the adventures of Felu-da and Topshe (who we all think of as our cousins) he taught us history, geography and instilled in us good habits of reading about a place before visiting it, of being responsible and not writing about something without doing your due diligence of researching about it, taught us the etymology and right pronunciations of innumerable English words, and has also taught us about strength of character all while engrossing us in those world class stories. Satyajit Ray has also introduced Bengali film to the world audience. His masterpieces - Pather Panchali, Sonar Kella, Joy Baba Felunath, Charulata, Mahanagar, Agantuk, Nayak, are still unparalleled.
Introduction to Satyajit Ray happens at a pretty early age, but I came to know Leela Majumder well in my late teens. She and I share a common bond as we are alumni of the same school. I read her "Kheror khata" and laughed. Even now when I am stuck for ideas to write a humorous speech for Toastmasters, I translate her anecdotes and repeat them. They can, even after decades, very easily make an international audience laugh. I read her cookbook like a fiction and it is hard for me to decide which I enjoy more - cooking, or just reading the book. Her cookbook, dedicated to all the girls of Bengal has been my most favorite cookbook ever. I like her style of writing and her choice of recipes. Same with her autobiographies - "Aar Konokhane" (written mainly for young readers) and "Paakdandi" (for adult readers), those books make me feel like she is sitting right in front of me and telling me those stories. Her writings have made Sukumar Ray (her older cousin, Satyajit Ray's father) take a human form and come alive. I can see Upendra Kishore coming up the stairs with the first copy of Sandesh straight from his press. I see them laughing and singing, Upendra Kishore showing little kids how to watch the moon with a telescope, them making up stories and drawing cartoons.
When I was young, I learned new things from these books. As I am growing older, I feel that they, through their own lives have shown us how to have a close knit family, how to bring up kids who are close to Nature, and how little people need to really have a happy life. It brings me back to Jerome K. Jerome's thought in Three Men in a Boat, that we need to get rid of the lumber of our lives that we pile up our tiny boat with. This family didn't have that lumber, that is why their boat was so easy to pull.
They have faced sorrow, the grave sadness of losing your loved ones at an early age, financial crisis that came with it and their lifelong love, Sandesh being discontinued as their press had to be sold. But they have left a legacy. That legacy lives amongst happy, inquisitive children, children who lose themselves in books, who write weird stories and create impossible experiments, those who love Nature and them who finally grow up to be happy, responsible, global citizens. We have got so much from people who didn't know us but loved us so much that they gave up all their time, money and energy to bring us up right. We just need to be grateful to them and keep the legacy intact.
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Introduction to Satyajit Ray happens at a pretty early age, but I came to know Leela Majumder well in my late teens. She and I share a common bond as we are alumni of the same school. I read her "Kheror khata" and laughed. Even now when I am stuck for ideas to write a humorous speech for Toastmasters, I translate her anecdotes and repeat them. They can, even after decades, very easily make an international audience laugh. I read her cookbook like a fiction and it is hard for me to decide which I enjoy more - cooking, or just reading the book. Her cookbook, dedicated to all the girls of Bengal has been my most favorite cookbook ever. I like her style of writing and her choice of recipes. Same with her autobiographies - "Aar Konokhane" (written mainly for young readers) and "Paakdandi" (for adult readers), those books make me feel like she is sitting right in front of me and telling me those stories. Her writings have made Sukumar Ray (her older cousin, Satyajit Ray's father) take a human form and come alive. I can see Upendra Kishore coming up the stairs with the first copy of Sandesh straight from his press. I see them laughing and singing, Upendra Kishore showing little kids how to watch the moon with a telescope, them making up stories and drawing cartoons.
When I was young, I learned new things from these books. As I am growing older, I feel that they, through their own lives have shown us how to have a close knit family, how to bring up kids who are close to Nature, and how little people need to really have a happy life. It brings me back to Jerome K. Jerome's thought in Three Men in a Boat, that we need to get rid of the lumber of our lives that we pile up our tiny boat with. This family didn't have that lumber, that is why their boat was so easy to pull.
They have faced sorrow, the grave sadness of losing your loved ones at an early age, financial crisis that came with it and their lifelong love, Sandesh being discontinued as their press had to be sold. But they have left a legacy. That legacy lives amongst happy, inquisitive children, children who lose themselves in books, who write weird stories and create impossible experiments, those who love Nature and them who finally grow up to be happy, responsible, global citizens. We have got so much from people who didn't know us but loved us so much that they gave up all their time, money and energy to bring us up right. We just need to be grateful to them and keep the legacy intact.
1 comment:
So well put.
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