Just married, our member, Ms K. Banerjee, went to Mumbai with her husband in the late 60s. Her initial fears were soon overcome, thanks to the welcome that other Bengali residents of Mumbai gave her. She was overwhelmed by their hospitality and camaraderie, being asked to stay over for meals when she and her husband visited them; sharing whatever the family was having for meals; nothing elaborate. “We even had bread with mutton jhol! It is their love and affection that I miss the most even today.”
The couple first stayed at Chembur and then shifted to Saat Bangla, a neighbourhood of Versova, Andheri. Saat Bangla probably got its name from its seven bungalows owned by then Maharaja of Gwalior. The sea beach was just a few minutes walk from their house, which they bought later. The beach was not as congested then. They were a few horse-driven carriages, an attraction for tourists, and a few shops.
It was a special locality with Om Puri, Dipti Naval and other film stars as their neighbours. There were other stars and celebrities whom they often met in the shops. She started working at a departmental store as a stock manager. She remembers Tabu visiting the store and a member of the staff staring at the star, instead of helping her with her stock counting. It needed a reprimand from her to get the attention back!
They were the part of one of the oldest Durga pujas at Shivaji Park in Dadar. The pujas outside Kolkata are different. They were not as jazzy as the Kolkata pujas were but the involvement and dedication seemed deeper. “Everyone had a feel of Barir pujo (private Durga puja at one’s home)”. The immersion took place at the Juhu beach, which was very clean then. There were not as many hotels and shops except for the Sun and Sand Hotel, visible from the beach. She also went inside the otherwise protected Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) because they had a relative there. She exclaimed: “Can you imagine, I have seen Gamma Reactor?” They finally returned to Kolkata to settle down here amidst their relatives but still misses Mumbai and the lifestyle there during the sixties and seventies.

Ms R. Saha, our member, then resident of Kharagpur, had a problem with her thyroids for quite some time. She was advised to see an endocrinologist in Kolkata. The Kolkata doctor checked her up. He suspected malignancy and wanted her to go to Mumbai for further investigation. The grim diagnosis, given that she had two young children, saw her world crumbling before her, as she travelled back from Kolkata to Kharagpur.
It was then that she noticed her fellow passengers: a man with his teenaged son, who was asking rather childish questions: “Baba this is a cow, isn’t it? This is called paddy field, is it not? How beautiful these are!” She could not help ask the gentleman about his son. The answer turned her life around.
The boy, from Panskura, had lost his eyesight when he had chicken pox, when only three. The father and son were returning home after a successful Cornea transplant. The boy was excited to see the world in all its beauty. Ms Saha was a little embarrassed but also inspired. The teenager’s innocent questions gave her courage to fight against an undiagnosed disease and unplanned future. His fight and victory against darkness ending with his world all lit up seemed to help her overcome her own fears.
“After that journey, I was never afraid of visiting Mumbai for my treatment. The growth turned out to be benign and I am still fit and fine!”