While my earlier four blogs were all about people, who have left us behind and are no more in this world, presently I am writing about someone, who, by the grace of The Almighty, has been spared a little more time, for the sake of all of us and is still going strong. It may be difficult to write about people, personalities who are long gone and deceased. If any information provided about them happens to be flawed, a hornet’s nest will be raised. But it is doubly difficult to write about people, who, instead of being the living legends that they ought to be treated as, prefer to spend their life and time as the unsung heroes of India. Firstly, they know how accurate your description or assessment of them is and, as a result, they can gauge your true feelings and respect for them. Secondly, the risk of ending up with the feeling of letting them down always weighs heavily on your mind. Even then, I have decided to give it a go. I want to write about my second sister, Mrs. Arati Guha, popularly addressed as Mejdi, in the hope that even if I make some mistakes in the description, she will rectify me as is her nature and help me to do a better job of it next time to be a more refined writer.
Arati Bhattacharyya, the second child of Mr and Mrs. J.C.Bhattacharyya, was born on 6th March, 1939. She might not have been as beautiful as her elder sister, Tapati, but her inner grace and charm gets reflected in her outer persona. Upright, outspoken and straight forward from early on in life, she has never hesitated in calling the spade the spade. She was the daughter dearest of Lt.J.C.Bhattacharyya. Meticulously studious and bright, she passed her I.A. with distinction. Her next destination was the Presidency College, Calcutta, arguably the best college in Asia at that time. In 1958, despite all her hard work and academic brilliance, she failed to secure First Class in M.A. in History by a whisker. At a critical juncture of her life, she had to forsake any desire that she might have had of going abroad for further studies as grandfather, Haridas Siddhantabagish, was totally against any female member of the family , staying in close proximity of the nether world. Arati, was therefore, not destined to go abroad for creating ripples there in the academic circles like her younger brother, Debesh, was to do soon afterwards.
She, however, started her professional career next year by joining Darjeeling Government College in West Bengal as a Lecturer. The diligent nature and the principle of simple living and high thinking, ingrained characteristic trade-marks of hers, she might have sharpened up during her long association of 17 years with the people of this hilly town. From Darjeeling, she was transferred to Maulana Azad College, Calcutta and then to her alma mater, Presidency College. But she was in for a rude shock once she got back to the college she had so much prided in. Her righteousness and relentless struggle against injustice and corruption prevailing in the college then proved to be too costly just like it had happened to her father earlier. She found herself in heavy weather in trying to fight single-handedly against some giants of the famed institution, who unfortunately had all the political backing. Subsequently, Arati got transferred to Bethune College and finally retired from Lady Brabourne College, Calcutta as the Head of the Department of History in March, 1997.
Both my parents, Mr.Jogesh Bhattacharyya and Mrs. Bina Devi, were extremely proud and fond of Mejdi, Mrs.Arati Guha. They loved her greatly in their own inimitable ways. While she was baba’s passport to the outside world, later on in his life. Mejdi was more of a friend than a daughter to baba, when in the absence of his eldest son, who was trying to make a footing abroad, what baba needed the most was a close confidant. Mejdi proved to be a tower of strength for baba and provided him every kind of support imaginable, be it moral, intellectual, emotional or financial. Ma, on the other hand, was not so forthcoming in her appraisal of Mejdi. But I have heard her speak often about the hardship that Arati had to go through during her Presidency days. Everyday on getting back home, she would wash her only sari and once dried, she would keep it under the mattress for pressing. The Almighty is very good at the balancing act- if she has got everything one can wish for today, it is because of her untold suffering very early in life. Anyway, Ma must have bared her true feelings for her favourite daughter to her son-in-law, Mr.Barun Guha, a qualified and successful engineer, when ma wrote to him a few years after their marriage: …..You will gradually come to understand and appreciate the priceless gem we have handed over to you and have no occasion to regret..
Mejdi has always been the first to appreciate the good deeds of others. A die-hard admirer of her motherland, Gandhi, Nehru, Allauddin Khilji and Sourav Ganguly, She does not waste much time in writing to them like the time when she wrote to Gorbachev to appreciate their roles in world affairs for the larger benefit of humanity. I cannot resist the temptation of quoting a few lines from her poem (Souravke) from her book of poems, Tomay Boli, dedicated to her brother in law, Lt.Prabha Shankar Bhatta:
Bangla juria kato asha chhilo, shona jabe bohu rab,/ Nagare nagare bol uthe jabe, ”Sourav,Sourav “. I had this great hope of the whole of Bengal reverberating in your glory, town after town resonating with the cry, “Sourav, Sourav”. The poem then goes on to conclude very prophetically with: “udibe sukher surja,/ Bharat juria bajibe abar Sourav-jayturya”. The sun of happiness will arise again; India will praise Sourav to the skies then. ( This poem was written when Sourav Ganguli fell out of favour with the selectors that led to his ouster from the Indian cricket team, after his open criticism of Greg Chappel, the then cricketing coach of India.) Similarly, she is passionate about Khilji and believes that her book on the said ruler cannot go unnoticed for long and will bridge the differences between the Hindus and the Muslim communities in India.
In the course of a very eventful and chequered career, Mejdi has helped umpteen number of people without ever bothering to be acknowledged or expecting anything in return. My Barda, Debesh Bhattacharya, calls her ‘Meghe dhaka tara’, the star behind the clouds. In my humble opinion, the land of Bengal will not get to see the likes of Arati Guha again for a long time to come, if ever.
Some people do not get their due recognition during their life-time. Mejdi at least, will have the satisfaction of being the favourite daughter, dutiful sister, a loving and caring wife and a very, very popular and influential teacher. One who has inspired hundreds of enthusiastic learners to dream big and has been the role-model for many more. History can hardly overlook such a great, secular daughter of India. Wouldn’t it be nice if she gets the accolades she truly deserves during her lifetime?
To be continued …
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