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Down Memory Lane

At the Table of the Tiger of Bengal

Family stories have a way of keeping the past alive—bridging generations through humour, admiration, and memory. Our member Ms S. Dutta fondly recalls an anecdote passed down in her family about her uncle and a celebrated personality of Bengal.

My mother’s family hails from Jessore district. My maternal uncles were seven brothers—five doctors and two barristers. My Mejomama (middle uncle), who was a barrister at the Kolkata High Court, was a friend of the mathematician, lawyer, jurist, judge, and educator Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee, popularly known by the epithet “Banglar Baagh” (“The Tiger of Bengal”). Whenever Sir Ashutosh hosted a gathering at his house, my Mejomama enjoyed the privilege of being invited.
Since my childhood, I would hear the grownups laugh and titter about how visiting the great man came with a certain punishment in the form of uth-bosh (squats). One day, I finally got to know the story behind the mirth.
Sir Ashutosh was a towering figure in Bengal in those days, and anyone who knew Mejomama angled for a chance to meet him. My uncle was a warm, amiable man with a kind heart and knew almost everyone in his neighbourhood. He was especially close to the youth, many of whom were eager to meet Sir Ashutosh.
One evening, Mejomama was on his way to attend a function at the famous educator’s house, and he told the younger lot they could come along if they wished to meet him. A big group of boys jumped at the chance and tagged along.
When food was being served, Sir Ashutosh walked in to find a huge gang of boys eating heartily. Naturally, seeing so many unfamiliar faces, the Tiger of Bengal enquired, “Who are all of you? Whom have you accompanied here?” Startled, the boys all stood up in unison. Thankfully, at that very moment, Mejomama appeared and took Sir Ashutosh aside to explain the situation. Within a few minutes, everything had been sorted and Mejomama asked everyone to sit down.
All’s well that ends well, one would say, but the story stayed on in our family. The grownups would often recall the incident and jokingly say that one could not come away from a visit to Sir Ashutosh’s house without having done their share of uth-bosh (squats).

(as narrated to Support Elders by our member)
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Shaping Minds, Touching Hearts

On Teachers’ Day, we spoke to our member Ms J. Dutta who reflected on her 34-year teaching career at a state-sponsored girls’ school, recalling the challenges, joys, and lifelong bonds she formed with her students.

I started teaching at a state-sponsored girls’ school in 1975 and taught for 34 years before I retired. Over the years, I taught all classes—from primary to class ten. We would report to school in the morning, and before the children arrived, our principal would assign teachers to classes for the day. We would then teach whichever classes we were allotted.
In the beginning, I taught children from well-to-do families. But in the early 1980s, when the state government stopped the teaching of English in primary classes in state-sponsored schools, the student composition changed. We began receiving children mostly from underprivileged homes and from families of party workers at the grassroots level.
In class, I never picked favourites. On the contrary, I paid more attention to the backbenchers and those who were weak in studies. Many of my students were first-generation learners and had no one at home who could help them. I realised that in a 40-minute class—where my attention had to be divided among 30 students—it was not possible to adequately teach the weaker ones. So, I would keep them back during recess and tutor them instead of letting them go out to play. Back then, many of them thought I was strict—even tyrannical—and were afraid of me. But as they grew older, they understood that I was committed to their learning and had their best interests in mind. Over time, a great rapport developed between us. They used to call me Didi and often dropped in during free periods to chat. It has been many years since I stopped teaching. My students are all grown up now. Most of them have become parents and a few have even married off their children, but they still keep in touch with me over WhatsApp.
It never helps when teachers pick favourites. I believe we do our profession a disservice when we do so. In fact, teachers receive far more love and respect when they treat everyone equally. I never picked favourites, but to many of my students, I was their favourite teacher.

(as narrated to Support Elders by our member)