29 Mahanirban Math Road, Kolkata 700029. I was born in this house on Friday, 13 November 1987, at 9:10 am. I said I was born here, but to be precise, my actual birth took place at Ramakrishna Mission Seva Pratishthan (Shishu Mangal Hospital), located about two kilometres away from the house.
This neighbourhood lies a little away from Gariahat, in South Kolkata, in the Panditiya area. If one comes from Rashbehari Avenue or Kalighat, it is close to the Triangular Park crossing. The road itself is named after the well-known temple, Mahanirban Math—hence Mahanirban Math Road or simply Mahanirban Road.
The house at 29 Mahanirban Math Road was my father's ancestral residence in Kolkata. From what I know, my grandfather, Aditya Chandra Dutta, had built it. That the house is over a century old is beyond doubt, though I do not know the exact year of its construction. The property was sold in 1993 or 1994. Today the house is abandoned and in ruins. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation had long ago declared it a "dangerous, dilapidated building." Bricks and stones fall off now and then. Yet, with that warning still clinging to it, the crumbling house somehow continues to stand amidst the city.
My father, Tarun Dutta, passed away on Monday, 4 May 1998. Even years before his death, since the time the house was sold, our ties with uncles and aunts had broken off. Much information about this old house has thus been lost. Yet, it was in this house that I spent the first five to six years of my life. My earliest memories, dim as they are, still linger. I shall attempt to write down a few of those fragments, especially those connected with my mother, and also gather as many details as I can find. This chapter will therefore be divided into several sections.
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A photograph of my Mother's wedding day (1984).
Taken at the Mahanirban Math Road house.
At the centre, seated in a red saree, is my Mother.
Around her are my aunts, uncles, and other relatives from my father's side.
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About the House
I do not know the exact year of construction of 29 Mahanirban Math Road. But I can state with certainty that the house was built in 1915 or earlier.
My father was born on 4 May 1933. He was the youngest among his siblings. I do not know the precise birth years of all my uncles and aunts, nor of my grandfather and grandmother.
I have obtained copies of the electoral rolls of the Rashbehari Avenue constituency for the years 1956 and 1961. Based on those records, let us try to recover fragments of the past.
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Voter list for the Rashbehari Avenue constituency from 1956.
Please look at Premises number 29 and Serial numbers 424–448. |
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Voter list from 1961. Please note the list for Premises number 29.
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This portion may seem tedious, but digging through such old documents to trace information that goes back 80–100 years is not easy. So I ask for some patience.
My grandfather, Aditya Chandra Dutta, was born in 1890. My grandmother, Himanshubala Dutta, in 1898. My great-grandfather's name was Prafulla Chandra Dutta, though I have no further information about him.
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My grandfather Aditya Chandra Dutta (left), and grandmother Himanshubala Dutta (right)
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My eldest paternal uncle, Arun Kumar Dutta, was born in 1918, a year before the First World War ended. His wife, my eldest aunt Pratima Dutta, was born in 1922.
My second paternal uncle, Kalyan Dutta, was born in 1920. His wife, my second aunt, Pritikana Dutta, in 1927.
My third paternal uncle, Shyamal Kumar Dutta, was born in 1922. He was deeply involved in theatre and cultural activities. In early 1988, he took his own life. Here I must add something personal. I was born on 13 November 1987. My name, Tito, is actually a nickname. My formal name should have been Anirban Dutta. It was my uncle Shyamal who first gave me the nickname Tito. In early 1988, when I was just a few months old, he visited us. Holding me in his arms, he told my Mother, "Swapna, this boy Tito will become someone great one day. I may not be around then, but Tito surely will." My Mother grew uneasy and asked, "Dada, why are you saying you won't be here?" She did not receive an answer that day. Within a week, my uncle hanged himself. It was my father who cut the rope and brought his brother's body down. Since he had given me the name Tito shortly before his death, the nickname became my permanent name. Shyamal Dutta's wife, my aunt Anjali Dutta, was born in 1932.
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Shyamal Dutta. My paternal uncle.
He was the one who named me Tito.
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My fourth paternal uncle, Ashok Kumar Dutta, was born in 1924. He was a journalist, writing under the pen-name Chandashok. He married a courtesan. For that reason, my grandfather disowned him, or at least intended to. His family and personal life were not happy. This was during the 1960s, when Kolkata and Bengali society were far more conservative. A few years after marriage, my aunt disappeared mysteriously, and I have no further trace of her. Her name does not appear in the electoral rolls of 1956 or 1961 either, suggesting she was never recorded at this address. Ashok uncle had a daughter. She also suddenly died of a fever in her early childhood. After that, he renounced worldly life and became a wandering monk. Nobody in the family ever saw him again. All of this happened long before my parents' marriage in 1984. Of all my uncles and aunts, I feel the greatest curiosity about him, but my knowledge is very limited.
My fifth paternal uncle, Tapash Kumar Dutta, was born in 1929, and he married Madhabilata Dutta (born 1939). My sixth paternal uncle, Manash Kumar Dutta, was born in 1932. The youngest was my father, Tarun Dutta, born in 1933.
I had two paternal aunts— Archana Dutta and Sadhana Dutta. Both were born in 1930. The fact that they were born in the same year—there might be a slight inconsistency in this information, but it could also be correct. However, I am following the 1956 voter list. I do not have a more reliable source of information than this. Archana married Rabi Roy, and Sadhana married Chittaranjan Dhar.
Both my grandfather and grandmother had passed away well before my parents married in 1984. When the house was sold in 1993–94, the money was divided among the seven sons. The daughters took no share.
Our financial situation was not good at that time. A large part of the money we received from selling the house went to paying off debts. It was a strange time. I have a faint memory of the families of my paternal uncles leaving the house one by one, buying houses or flats somewhere else. A large family that had lived together for a long time was slowly breaking apart. I remember that every time a relative left the house, my father and mother would become distressed with grief.
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The house at 29 Mahanirban Math Road. Photo taken on 25 June 2014.
A panoramic view showing both sides of the house is attached.
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After the sale, we moved to a rented two-room accomodation at Kayastha Para, Haltu. The buyer of the Mahanirban Math Road house was a promoter named Bahadur Singh. A few years after the purchase, he ran into personal problems and legal complications. Without maintenance, the house began to fall apart. Around 2006–2007, when I visited the area, I saw that it had been officially labelled "dilapidated." It still stands in that same condition today. Owing to legal disputes and heavy arrears of property taxes, no new promoter or buyer has shown interest. Day by day, the house’s skeletal frame is laid increasingly bare.
Thus ends the Seventh Chapter, Part I.
Charaiveti.
স্বপ্না দত্ত, আমার মা (Swapna Dutta, my Mother)
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বাংলায় পড়ুন: প্রথম অধ্যায়, দ্বিতীয় অধ্যায়, তৃতীয় অধ্যায় (সংযোজন), চতুর্থ অধ্যায় (প্রথম পরিচ্ছেদ, দ্বিতীয় পরিচ্ছেদ, তৃতীয় পরিচ্ছেদ), পঞ্চম অধ্যায়, ষষ্ঠ অধ্যায়, সপ্তম অধ্যায় (প্রথম পরিচ্ছেদ)
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Read in English: First Chapter, Second Chapter, Third Chapter (Addendum), Fourth Chapter (Part I, Part II, Part III), Fifth Chapter, Sixth Chapter, Seventh Chapter (Part I)
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