The World of Elder Care

Born in the pre-independence era, I spent an exciting childhood in Naogaon of Rajshahi district of undivided Bengal. It was by the side of River Yamuna, a tributary of the Ganges, and a developed city with schools and colleges. ...

Born in the pre-independence era, I spent an exciting childhood in Naogaon of Rajshahi district of undivided Bengal. It was by the side of River Yamuna, a tributary of the Ganges, and a developed city with schools and colleges. My maternal uncle’s house was just beside the river. Every monsoon, the overflowing rivers used to inundate the houses and as children we would enjoy it from our first-floor balcony, especially the fish swimming around the courtyard. Another attraction was the big country boats sailed by the boatmen and the melodious tunes of their songs.
In our house, the vegetarian and non-vegetarian kitchens were separated and those were always outside the main building. Electricity was out of the question and so all the children had to study under the light of the hurricane lamp. That was also a lot of fun, as we used to sit in a circle and read aloud together. Sleeping in the same bed, bathing in the river together—all of this forged a strong beyond bond between us. Sometimes we were so engrossed in bathing that we used to forget the time and get late. As a strict rule, the main door closed at a particular time and if we got late, we had to climb the boundary wall and enter through the windows and for that we were strictly punished by the elders.
I remember an incident when I was almost kidnapped by a kabuliwala, as we used to call them at the time. As evident, he hailed from Kabul and I was very fascinated by his large black bag full of dates and the stories of his country. We always wanted to visit his country, so one day he took us with him—a boy from our neighbourhood and me on his bicycle, probably with the bait of taking us to his country. We were very young to understand what was happening and accompanied him. While walking on the railway track, a few village boys noticed us and came shouting and running, and we were saved by the timely intervention.
Then came World War II when we had to shift to our village home, which had been empty for quite a long time. However, it was an interesting house with a secret tunnel that connected to the river. It was told that it was the escape route for the soldiers during the Battle of Plassey.
Another time of year that was very dear to me was Durga Puja. The fields full of flowers, especially the kash phool (white feathery flowers), the smell of naarkel naru, a Bengali delicacy made with coconut and jaggery, just after Durga Puja…everything is fresh in my mind.
I still miss the simple but lovely childhood days.

Our member Ms S. Chakrabarti is an avid traveller. She reminisces one of her favourite dance form of Spain ‘Flamenco’ and shares a brief description of its origin. Spain, formally the Kingdom of Spain is a Democratic Monarchy located ...

Our member Ms S. Chakrabarti is an avid traveller. She reminisces one of her favourite dance form of Spain ‘Flamenco’ and shares a brief description of its origin. Spain, formally the Kingdom of Spain is a Democratic Monarchy located in the southwest side  covering approximately 85% of the total area of Europe. It has been divided into 17 administrative departments all under the autonomous body of Spain. These are also called historical zones or in their language ‘Comunidad autonoma’.
Seville, Andalusian Spanish is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. One of the most important characteristics of Seville is Flamenco dance. Spain is famous for being the Flamenco capital of the world.
The participants of this dance form sing and dance themselves . Flamenco singers can easily convey their emotions to the audience through their drama and passion. These songs are basically folk music and like many other country's folk music, it has a passionate expression of their love and grief. Aptly complemented by the Spanish bass, the performers express their love and emotions through these songs and dances. A deep pathos  can be felt in the music, though it is not that there is always grief associated with it, but there are a gamut of emotions ranging from passion, desire, humour, satire etc that make it a scintillating watch for the audience.
      Flamenco musicians known as ‘Cantor’ are mainly male artist, the girls are called ‘Cantaora’ and the dancers are called the ‘Bailor’. The song and dance are presented mainly with the jingle of guitar and the guitarists are called ‘Tacor’. Every stomp of the dancer’s feet, strum of the musician’s guitar, and clap of the singer’s hands make it a breathtaking performance that regales the audience . Earlier, the dance was performed with songs and making sound on wooden platforms with the pacy beats of clapping hands. At times clapping is replaced by an instrument called ‘Castanets’. The tapping of feet reminds one of “Kathak”, the Indian dance form that also involves hand movements and extensive footwork. The traditional costume of wearing a long skirt with frills and full sleeve top with sometimes a hat have changed a bit with time.. Flamenco dance is said to be originated even before the birth of Muhammad in 570 AD. There are many versions of the origin of the dance of which one attributes it to a tribe named ‘Baijantais’ whose chanting in the Church is very similar to the tune of Flamenco songs, while another traces its origin to Spain. Another version is that the gypsies from Romania travelled through Africa and brought these songs to Spain. The Romanian gypsies who comprised of musicians , dancers, traders and metal workers are nomadic groups who used to travel from one country to another., As a result of that, the dance reflects a mixture of several culture. . It is even said that the stomping of feet is acquired from the Indian culture.
 “Dibe r nibe milabe milibe jabena phire
Ei bharater mahamanaber sagartire”
“Give and take, mingle and get assimilated and none will depart empty handed from the great country called India.”