CONTINUED FROM MY LAST POST.........
my mother had lost her father when she was very young and my grandmother, a formidable woman, had brought up her four daughters on her job of a nurse. it is not just a commendable effort but also a herculean task as any single mother will attest. the fact that all her daughters grew up to be the women they are today are a testimony to her fortitude and hard work. my mother was the second of the four sisters and the most brilliant of the lot. she was not just good in her studies, but also an accomplished actor and performer. she could well have gone on to the stage were it not for the fact that she just didn't have the drive for it. today when i pride myself in taking part in quite a few stage performances in my time, i know its my mother's genes that i am carrying. people who she dominated in stage competitions and performances in her days in school and college are household names in bengal today, and i sometimes feel that were she born today, she might have gone on to grace the silver screen. she had the sweet beauty of the innocent bengali woman that has all the film industries of the country in a thrall today. in fact, i think that my dad had made quite a catch in her when he married her. she was an eloquent speaker and a great performer, one who has been praised by the likes of Rudra Praasd Bannerjee. today, when i see the likes of Kajal Sur and others rue the fact that she never went on the stage i feel inclined to force her to take up her vocation again. but the fact is, its too late. she had sacrificed her career and her vocation for her children.
my mother didn't go down well with my grandfather. he was a man who never gave an inch, and the fact that my father had married without his consent was unacceptable to him. the rift between my dad and my grandpa was quite evident every time they met. my father had left home because his political ideals never met any favour with my grandfather. yet, it was my grandma who suffered the most in the bargain. she had lost the son who was closest to her and took most care of her. my father the eighth out of nine children. they were five sisters and four brothers. my father being so much younger to his eldest brother was rather the baby of the house. yet, he always held his own in a house with a myriad tensions. it was he who took care of his mother and when he left it was quite a blow to the soft spoken woman. every time when my father returned home, i have seen the joy in her eyes. although, she never said much, it was quite evident that she loved him a lot. after my grandpa's death, she never grieved very loudly. yet, i have seen how sorrow can make a woman go weak. they were an odd couple to start with- she hardly educated and he the same. she preferred to keep quiet and let problems blow away, he preferred to take every problem by the horn. she was considerate and pragmatic, he was tempestuous and hardly pragmatic. he squandered away all his wealth and distributed everything he had among his sons much before he died. the next thing he knew was that all he was left with was his house and no one to take care of him in his old age. ironically, it was his two youngest sons, whom he had ignored in his donation of wealth, who came forward to take care of him.
TO BE CONTINUED...........
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