He was the first critic of my Bengali stories

Here is the twenty second unforgettable character in my life …

As I have mentioned earlier, I began to write stories in Bengali. It was a tedious process and a story had to be written and rewritten a number of times to make it presentable to the Editor. I used up sheafs of papers in the process before the final product came out.
I stayed in Nashik and my editors were in Kolkata so I would send my story by post and wait for the complimentary copy to arrive by post. Once it arrived, I would read it, then my wife and then I would take it to my critic.

Criticism helps one to improve. This is true in all walks of life. He was a severe critic of my writings. On Sundays, I would go over to his quarter with my new writings and hand them to him; he would return the manuscripts that I had left with him on the previous occasion. Then, over a cup of tea, he would begin his criticism – I had to clear his doubts; in the bargain, I learnt about the deficiencies in my writings. Occasionally he would add his own thoughts, those were useful and I would weave them into the final piece.
He had two daughters. They were sweet little things bubbling with energy. The elder was a bit on the quiet side while the younger was always busy in her activities including NCC. The parents had high hopes for them. They had even purchased a bungalow knowing fully well that one day they would have to occupy it all by themselves because the daughters would leave them for their in-laws. However, they were not ready for the way things turned out.
The elder one had got a job of sorts after completing her course in computers – she decided to marry one of her colleagues. He was a Punjabi. This came as a shock to my friend and his wife – they were staunch Brahmins! But the girl was adamant –finally, she had her way. It was difficult for my friend to reconcile to this; still he accepted the situation bravely. His wife even went to the extent of dressing in Punjabi style and joining in the bhangra dance.
Then their second daughter decided to tie the knot with a boy from Andhra.
Both the daughters are happily settled in their respective places –the elder in Delhi, the younger one in Bangalore. They have children of their own and my friend visits them regularly in between going to Kolkata and coming back to Nashik. He is now in his late seventies and I met him and his wife recently – they still retain plenty of the old world charms!


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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