A Loyal taxi Driver in Calcutta

It was winter of 2003. We sold out our big ancestral home in posh South Calcutta location due to some unavoidable reasons and purchased two flats in a not-so-posh locality in Calcutta. Understandably we were sad since our distinguished forefathers who were a part of Bengal history enjoyed almost a century of residing in that posh locale. But one incident that happened to me in that time etched a deep memory.

It was a wintry morning. I was going to see our new property. I came out from our three-storied building to the street in front and hailed a cab. The taxi driver looked at me quizzically and then gave a long stare at our ancestral house. The moment I hopped in and told him my destination, he asked me “Is it your house? Does this place belong to you?” while starting his taxi. I was perplexed and became a little uneasy because many-a-times when you sell out a big property a lot of people in locality get to know somehow and become extra-inquisitive about the deal and its paraphernalia. And ours was a disputed property. So I had reasons to be alert. Anyway I said a curt “Yes” and kept mum through rest of the journey except while giving directions. When I reached my destination after half an hour or so I asked him how much should I pay? His reply baffled me more. He said “Babu, I will not take a single penny from you. This ride is for free. Even I can offer you a free ride every time you or your family member boards my taxi. I am forever grateful to your family. My father survived because of your ancestor’s kind refuge”. You do not expect this kind of answer from a cab driver who generally minds business. I was clueless. I asked him the reason for such kindness. Then he told me a true-story that shows loyalty, chivalry and humanity is not all lost in these days of all-pervading consumerism and capitalism. Hold your breath dear readers; I am going back to 1946!

16th August 1946 is a black day in Indian history. On that fateful day Muslim league launched their demand for a separate Islamic nation (Pakistan) strongly across India. Calcutta was the worst hit. History says at least six thousand people were butchered in Calcutta alone due to Hindu-Muslim riot ( Readers may watch a movie ‘Hey Ram’ starred by Kamal Hasan and Rani Mukherji to get a gut-wrenching glimpse of what actually happened on that very day on the streets of Calcutta or read ‘Bangalnama’ by Tapan Raychaudhuri). The said taxi driver is a Hindu whose father was young in 1946. Their family was disturbed in the said riot. Our family with the leadership of late Sri Kushi Prasun Chatterji ( my paternal grandfather’s eldest brother), a noted lawyer and Congress patron of his time in Calcutta offered refuge to many riot-stricken Hindu families including this said taxi driver’s family in our big ancestral mansion. Angered by this the local Muslim league leaders barged in and demanded Kushi babu’s intervention in supporting riot-afflicted Muslim families also. Kushi babu showed exemplary courage that day which is still remembered by old-timers in Bhowanipore locality of Calcutta. He immediately wrote a pact with Muslim league leaders that innocent Muslims will also be given refuge in our home given that they should not fight at any cost with the Hindu refugees. Realizing the graveness of the situation the said leaders signed the pact; the Muslim victims of riot too came in our house. For next seven days or so until the riots and hostilities subsided, until the communal hatred ebbed away the Hindu and Muslim riot-afflicted victims stayed in our house peacefully with their food and shelter completely taken care of by our family. This taxi driver was not even born then, his young father  took our refuge. Then they went back to their own homes after situation improved. And Kushi babu’s benevolence became folklore in Bhowanipore, Calcutta ( Kushi babu’s courageous tale got recounted recently albeit with less details than mine in 2007 by Dhritikanto Lahiri Chowdhuri in Anandabazar Patrika after he received Ananda Puroskar for his book ‘Hatir Boi’).

Now recounting his tale the cab driver told me with tears in his eyes “ Babu, once your forefathers saved mine. And my father always told me showing your house that anybody from that house is my guest and savior. Your house is our temple, babu ! How can I forget that you stay in that house and come from that family which saved our family from perishing for sure? Babu, my father is dead. But as long as I am alive I will follow what he said. I will not take a single penny from you, babu. Please tell this to your family also.” Now my eyes moistened as I heard his story. He left. But he left an indelible impression on me. I understood it is not a building that a man resides makes a man. It is not money that makes a man. It was Kushi Prasun Chatterji’s life-saving measures and good deeds that saved so many families from perishing away. And this extra-ordinary loyalty of an ordinary cab driver restituted my faith in humanity.

More on Bengali humour

I am following by a postscript of my earlier article on bengali humor.

Those who are good speakers are called “Bokta”. Those who speak much without content are “Bokbokta”.

Those who have a loud voice which does not require mic(microphone) are said to have a “Omaik” voice.

The next one is from my friend Harisadhan Dasgupta ( he was the first documentary filmmaker of India; though much older when I met him he became my friend). Two Bengali directors made a film jointly and got it selected for an International film festival. They asked Harisadhan how to have a catchy name for the duo. Harisadhan said “ Please choose the name DUI MAAL”. Readers, please remember Louise Malle was the name of an internationally recognized avant garde filmmaker. Hari dadu made a pun of Louis Malle’s name by DUI MAAL. What an apt nomencletaure.

Another I got from Tapan Raychaudhuri’s Bangalnama. In his younger days elders of the family used to chide the younger unemployed ones by this sentence “ Bari te bos e kichu podyo likhteo to paris . Dekh to Dwiju babu r choto bhai likhe kemon du poisa korche ?” Needless to say Dwiju babu is Dwijendranath Tagore and his choto bhai is Rabindranath Tagore.

My friend was watching a recent bangla movie called Anuranan. He did not like the movie at all. He was pissed off with the story line and acting. When asked for a review he told “ are bhai ota to cinema noi….jeno Sikkim r London er noishorgic drishyer powerpoint presentation”.

Overheard in Gariahat mor....looking at the huge chaos of pedestrians and traffic a bhadralok commented " LIC kore rasta par hote hobe Dekhchi" (Requires an LIC policy to cross the road...such menacing traffic)

MY CINEMAS

NOTE: This article written by me was first published in The Hindu, July 15, 2012.

Best Five

Motorcycle diaries (2004)

As a medical student and restless soul, Che Guevera, the mythic leftist youth icon traveled all along the South American continent in a rundown motorcycle with his biochemist friend Alberto Granado. The tour along the poverty stricken exploited populace of Latin America changed him forever and gave him the mission of his life. Che mixed whole-heartedly with lepers in the leper colony they served and refused to wear gloves while touching the lepers. In the end Che is a transformed character. This movie directed by Walter Salles has beautiful shots of landscape of South America with lilting music by Gustavo Santaollala. It is a must-see for all college students who have heart full of dreams, altruism and purity. The journey, the experiences can put one into introspection and transformation- such is the power of the movie.

There will be blood (2007)

Rise of a ruthless oil-magnate in California during the oil boom at the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century was documented in this movie. Beautifully enacted by Daniel Day Lewis, infuses life into the ruthlessness and avaricious character of the Daniel Plainview. The man utilizes innocence of a child to buy land and arm twists the local church to his monetary gain. At last he is friendless as he disowns his child and he kills the church priest.

Schindler’s list (1993)

Supposedly Spielberg’s best movie which won several Oscars with career-best performance by Liam Neeson as a benevolent German businessman who saved 1200 Jew’s lives during 2^nd world war. Shot in black and white it shows the horror of the Nazis and how Oskar Schindler ( Liam Neeson), a top ranking German businessman gives the Jews jobs in his factories and saves their lives. The scene where a young girl roaming aimlessly with a red rose and the last scene where the Jews presented him with a gold ring touched my heart. World renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman’s solo violin performance written and performed by him brought to life the trauma of gas chamber victims.

Meghe Dhaka Tara (1960)

This is a heart-rending story of an exploited daughter of a refugee family in Bengal. Supriya Chowdhury played the role of Nita, the daughter brilliantly. Everybody of that family rises up with her help forgetting her in the end. In a sanatorium in the end for treatment of TB, she cries from the bottom of the heart ‘Dada ami banchte chai’ ( Brother I want to live) when his brother narrates the story of well being of her family. A Rabindrasangeet ‘Je rat e mor duar guli bhanglo jhor e’ sung by Debabrata Biswas and Gita Ghatak is a brilliant rendition of a song displaying emotions of the central characters in a movie.

Apur Sansar (1959)

A Ray classic, the last part of Apu trilogy which brought Soumitra Chatterjee and Sharmila Tagore into films. A sweet tale of romance of newly weds Apu and Aparna disturbed by sudden death of Aparna (Sharmila). To forget his pains Apu (Soumitra) takes up a job in a coal mine in MP. One of the most memorable scenes in film history is when Apu throws away pages of his autobiographical novel which was supposed to be his dream-work. The floating pages drifting away in wind still bring lumps in my throat. Another poignant scene is at the end when Apu reclaims his son and walks to the new life.

Those five which almost made it

Central do Brasil (1998)

This movie is all about innocence. A disenchanted middle aged single lady, Dora develops a sweet attachment to an innocent 9 year old boy, Josue and goes on a journey of self-discovery to get the boy back to his father he never met. Dora earns by writing letter for illiterates in Rio Di Janeiro’s Central station which she never posts. She meets this boy whose mother accidentally dies in front of the station. She reluctantly takes care of the boy and tries to reunite him with his father who stays away in a small settlement in Brasil. The innocence in the storyline, in the sweet relationship between this lady and the boy tugs your heart-string. In the end she leaves this boy to get back to Rio and both are left alone with memories. This movie by Walter Salles won several awards in Berlin and Golden Globe.

City of God (2002)

City of god is my favorite any day. Reality does not escape from Rocket, the protagonist of City of God. He is a poor slum dog who wants to have a life free from crime and violence inherent in his surroundings. In Rio di Janeiro’s slum ‘City of God’, the natural course of a child’s life will be of drugs, crime and violence. Rocket’s gun-toting friends and siblings do the same thing. But Rocket wants to lead a clean life. Surprisingly, an ordinary camera comes to his rescue and becomes his passport to an honest world. He shoots photographs, not bullets, like gun-carrying friends and one day, his photograph of warring drug-lords of the slum makes front-page of a newspaper of which Rocket is a door-to-door distributor. Images of crimes from that slum are hard to come by; even police are averse to operate in that slum. Rocket knows these criminals from childhood and his proximity to these bad men is a boon. He can take inside images of this slum and those actually make Rocket a high-earning photographer. The escape from poverty through photography seems very much realistic to me. The man is rising above his destiny by hard work; not winning a jackpot through the hands of destiny. He is maintaining a core of honesty though surrounded by drug-dealers, petty snatchers etc. This act of reality attracted me the most. Fernando Mireilles directed this movie and it won 4 nominations in Academy awards though it won none in 2004. Despite that it is considered a world classic.

Nayak (1966)

This is another classic by Ray which portrays trials and tribulations of an amateur theater actor rising to stardom in films. Thought to be far ahead of its time, this movie shows the insecurities of a movie star, a hitherto unexplored theme in Indian films. Ray used the charisma of the matinee idol of Bengali cinema, Uttam Kumar. None other than Uttam Kumar seemed fit enough to portray the emotions of a film actor shown in several dream sequences and flashbacks while he goes to Delhi in a train. The probing questions of a lady journalist attract him towards her.

Fugitive Pieces (2007)

Recently after I saw ‘Fugitive Pieces’ (2007, directed by Jeremy Podeswa based on a eponymous novel by Canadian writer Anne Micheals) in IIT Bombay film club, a movie about Jacob Beer a holocaust survivor trying to coming to terms with his own loss I rediscovered the haunting melody of Beethoven….I realized why they say Beethoven is a timeless classic. Jacob’s sister used to play on piano ‘The Moonlight Sonata’ by Beethoven and Jacob remembers moonlight sonata from his past when they were a happy family of four until the Nazis hounded them in Poland, killed his parents in front of his own eyes and abducted his sister. Jacob survived miraculously with the kind help of a Greek archeologist. But the trauma that incident left behind is difficult to hide. He grows up in Canada, becomes a successful teacher and writer but never away from his past. He is consumed with the obsession of finding holocaust stories and writing them…..his wife Alexi deserts him once she gets to know from his diary how the shameless vitality of her is a distraction for Jacob’s endless pursuit of the past. In these moments and others when Jacob’s sister comes back in his dreams and memories I could identify with Jacob’s sense of loss.

Cairo time (2009)

I liked Cairo Time thoroughly. It is not like Turning 30 which I was suggested and got disappointed. 

Cairo Time essentially captures the love that never happened between two mature individuals 

disparate in their cultural settings. It's slow and long but passionate like smouldering ember. 

So don't see when you are particularly unhappy. But it's like coffee. Once you get into it you c

annot get out. At least I could not....The music, the photography, the moments of subtlety....s

imply touched me. Juliette, a mother of two comes from US to meet his UN official husband in 

Cairo. But her husband is away. In between she is taken care of by Tareq, a handsome Egyptian 

bachelor. Slowly she falls for Tareq over boat cruise on Nile, chess match in local café, a travel

 to the Pyramids and to Alexandria to attend Tareq’s old flame’s daughter’s marriage. 

They almost kiss once and despite that there are no scenes of physical intimacy; but when her 

husband returns after the long wait Juliette understands she has begun to miss Tareq. We get 

that hint by her uncontrollable sob  in her husband’s arm on the way to the Pyramids. A lovely 

ending for a love lost ! A sublime and haunting film on sensuousness embedded in a platonic 

relationship. This movie got an award in Toronto international film festival.

Some examples of sense of humour of the Bengalis

When you have a haircut on pavement sitting on a brick, it is Italian salon ( It is brick in Bengali). When CMDA ( Calcutta Metropolitan Development Authority) started digging the arterial roads of Cal for Metro Rail , Calcuttans said CMDA stands for C(K)atche Mati Dekhbi Aay….Jyoti means light in bengali…When Jyoti babu was CM, there used to be frequent and long powercuts in Cal. Whenever loadshedding will begin, drowning the whole para into darkness Calcuttans will say “ Jyoti gelen”. Arrival of power would be greeted as “ Oi Jyoti elen”……

There are several funny translations which a Bengali would only make and roll on floor laughing. Some examples

Aesop’s fables – Isabgul

Army Rum – Joaner Arak

Ration card – Khyber Pass

Empty Space – Khalistan

* When Obama became US Prez and Mrs. Clinton became Secretary of State, Bengalis said " Ek dike Bama, r ek dike Obama"......

* When commies left and Mamatai came they said " Bam shashon sesh, bama shashon shuru" or "Bam gelo Bama elo"

* When BJP promised Ram rajya Bengalis said " Bam shashon er por ki Ram shashon ?"

Some writings on bus,truck etc….

Jonmo theke jwolchi--------Burning till birth (written over a fuel tank of a truck)

Dekhbi r jwolbi, luchir moto fulbi------Look at me and burn in jealousy, as a puri swells in hot oil

Rupo dilam sankra ke nupur gore dilo, gari dilam driver ke pagol kore dilo------Gave some silver to a jeweler, he returned me an anklet. Gave my car to a driver, he turned me mad.

Often told in a bus

Pichoner dike egiye jan…..progress towards back….said in a minibus by a conductor requesting the passengers to move towards rear end of the bus, how apt in today’s Bengal !!

** A zoology student in an exhibition was asked the scientific name of an animal as exhibit. Promptly he said it is Janina janina…..(I don’t know…I don’t know)……but he said it with an accent as if he was saying a Latin name….you know scientific names are Latin names…….

The Gem ……..Heard this in a movie….. “Apnake Boka bolle Ardhek Bola Hoy”…….

Parody

Hari he Madhabo ar kotokal ekla shobo ?

On the Similar Tune of a Rabindrasangeet and a Nazrulgeeti

Surprisingly a Rabindrasangeet and a Nazrulgeeti has similar tune. Why ? Can anybody let me know ? Are they based on same Raaga of Hindustani classical music ?

Please listen and note the similarity in tune.

Alpo Loia Thaki Tai....a Rabindrasangeet by Subinoy Roy

Shunyo e buke ...a Nazrulgeeti by Dhiren Basu

On telegram's end : link with Beethoven, Ray and the Tagores

Yesterday was the day when telegram service stopped in India. The title of this blog suggests there is a common link between Beethoven’s Fifth symphony, Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali and the Tagores. That link is telegram. Kishore Chatterji, the great western classical music connoisseur suggested me once that the opening movement of Beethoven’s Fifth symphony reminds one of dot-dot-dot-dash, the Morse code. I am attaching the youtube video for your perusal.

Then in Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali, Apu and Durga run in the field to see a rail train for the first time. Before they reach to see the locomotive they are puzzled by the humming of the telegraph post which was so nicely captured by the master. Readers are requested to see the following to realize what am I talking about. Somehow the video could not be uploaded, hence I copy the link here for your perusal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-JWZDALouI

 

Another anecdote is from Ranjan Bandyopadhyay’s article in Robibashoriyo in Ananadabazar Potrika published about a decade ago . Maharshi Debendranath Tagore sent his eldest son Dwijendranath to handle zamindari in Bengal villages. Dwijoo babu got upset by abject poverty of his subjects and thought of helping by money. He sent a telegram to his father “ Send fifty thousand (50,000)”…Understanding his son’s inability to realize ways of the world, Debendranath replied in another telegram “ Come back soon”.

I remember another Bengali movie Dak Diye Jai where the postmaster delivers a telegram declaring a villager’s death. When the family is still mourning another telegram comes wherein it stated that the last telegram be ignored please and the villager is very much alive. This brings joy back to the family.

There will be some more references of telegrams from cinemas of yesteryear. I don’t remember all. Maybe one can be from Postmaster of Ray or Aparajito of Ray. But I don’t recollect these. I wrote about those which I remember quite well about telegrams.

On appreciating music and Ray

A question nags me. When we listen to music what do we listen to ? Does the quality of recorded music playing instrument has any role in liking music ?

We mostly listen to music on our music players – CD player, DVD player, PCs, radio, TV, mobile phone, MP3 player etc. Every morning in Mumbai suburban railways I see people with earplugs enjoying music. These days except attending some musical soirees we rarely listen to songs sung by individual or music made by instruments firsthand. And over the past century music recording industry has grown enormously. Now there are copious choices for a consumer to buy a music player. People vouch for their high quality and many boast owning brands.

To bolster my point that music appreciation doesn’t require hi-fi music systems I recount some anecdotal evidences from the master – Satyajit Ray. Mr. Ray as you are aware created music for his films. Except his initial few films where Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ustad Vilayat Khan directed music, most of his films had music created by Ray. Songs of Gupi Gayen Bagha Bayen and Hirak Rajar Deshe became evergreen. Whole generations of Bengalis grew up with it and still treasure these. After his death HMV released a two cassette album named “Music of Satyajit Ray”. I possess a rare recording of his Calcutta Radio interview called “Music I Live By” wherein he described his inspirations and creativity. And many also may remember his lifelong love for Western Classical Music.

As revealed by Bijoya Ray, his wife, in “Amader Kotha” – an autobiography, the master never owned any hi-fi music player for a significant portion of his life. In the last leg of his life he purchased a hi-fi instrument. Otherwise he was happily listening to world class music in Chandni-made Ahuja speakers. Chandhi chowk is a place in central Calcutta where you get cheap electronic goods. His friend Chidananda Dasgupta told in an interview to Sananda after Ray’s death that Manik listened to the best of music ( he meant Western Classical - Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Gregorian chants etc)  in a ramshackle music player whereas today’s nouveau riche  listen to trash in their costly hi-fi players. This revelation struck a chord in me because I always believe music appreciation does not depend on branded music players. If you have an ear for music, anything is music for your ears.

Ray incidentally liked full-throated singing style (he was particularly fond of Kishore Kumar and Anup Ghosal). He disclosed in an interview to Doordarshan Calcutta after Debabrata Biswas’s death that how he liked George da’s full-throated Rabindrasangeets. The master also lamented in the same interview that with the advent of microphones and loadspeakers singers stylize their voice to suppress the full-throated nature a song demands.