Celebrating my genesis: my Maa
By Avijit Banik Today, as I observe the rituals of fortnight in the memory and peace of my mother's departed soul, I look back and realize what a blissful association I had with her. My Maa was a dignified housewife firmly holding her fort in a joint family in a small town called Bongaon (around 80 km away from Kolkata), to protect us from all the odds through our childhood when my Dad had to stay away for running the business in Kolkata. I was born in that town 38 years back, but even today, whenever I close my eyes, I go back to my childhood as if I lived them yesterday! All those special times spent with my Maa are breezing through my mind afresh today. Worth mentioning, my grandfather with his five more brothers and their family members migrated from the then East Bengal (now Bangladesh) to West Bengal at the time of partition. My Dad was born in India, post-independence. Maa was born in Kolkata and I remember she told me once that she was only 19, running around in a frock, wh...