Born in 1938, our member, Mr D. K. Dasgupta, had a very exciting childhood. He was raised in North Kolkata at a time when the city was in the throes of the freedom movement. The Dasguptas had their ancestral house on Upper Circular Road (now APC Road) just opposite the famous Rammohan Library. Some family members were very close to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Mr Dasgupta studied at the Mitra Institution Main, central Calcutta and played football with his friends at the local Hrishikesh Park. There was an army havildar, who trained them in parades with dummy rifles and taught them the procedure for a Gun Salute. There was more. Mr Dasgupta was trained in body building in the gymnasium of the famous Bishnu Charan Ghosh, popularly known as Bistu Ghosh and, over time, got drawn into the freedom movement as many young people of the times were. In any event, members of his family were deeply involved in the struggle for independence. His maternal uncle was the well-known Bimal Dasgupta, an active member of the then revolutionary organization Bengal Volunteers, led by the famous Dinesh Gupta of Binoy-Badal-Dinesh fame. Bimal Dasgupta was later sentenced to 12 years in the Andaman Cellular Jail because of his revolutionary activities.

Much travelled around the world, the Pauls found themselves tripping on home ground, when Mr S Paul and Ms K. Paul and her friend decided to visit the Balaji temple at Tirupati. A South Kolkata travel agent arranged their trip and they arrived at the Tirupati railway station in the evening. The hotel was at Tirumala and a car was booked to take them to the hotel. It was dark when they set off and it started to drizzle.
The road was absolutely deserted and the vehicle slowed down because the road had turned slippery. Worse, the road was serpentine, making the journey trickier still. It was almost midnight when they reached Tirumala. But where was the hotel? They could not locate the address. The driver, tired and irritated after a long day, threatened to leave them on the deserted road.
They asked a local if he had any idea where the hotel was and fortunately he told them that there was a hotel a few kilometres down the hill. The road looked treacherous for a car and they would perhaps have to walk. They pleaded with the driver to take the risk and drive them to the hotel and he finally took pity.
All’s well that ends well and they could find one hotel with lights on and doors open. Without asking any question, they went in and took the room that the manager offered. The driver was warmly thanked and tipped generously. For the rest, Lord Tirupati ensured a smooth stay.