A Tribute to my Upline – Part II

That first year was a period of adjustment between the young mother, Sova and her new son, Debu. To top it all, Bijoy had been sharing his living quarters with a number of his bachelor friends before he married Sova. When Sova and Debu landed in Yangon, most of these friends found other accommodation for themselves. Only one, Bacchu Kaku (I forget his actual name) stayed on as a paying guest. Sova did not mind as the house was huge and he was a nice chap who would tell interesting stories to Debu.

Initially Debu refused to call Sova, “Ma”. He would call her by tugging her pallu or by pinching her nose if she was asleep. Debu had a permanent limp as he had had polio as a child which the wicked uncle had not treated and Sova’s heart went out to the little child who had known very little affection before she came into his life.

Debu was highly intelligent and he was determined not to let his physical handicap stop him in any way. One afternoon, Sova spent a horrifying time, trying to get him off the ledge of the roof, where he had climbed to fly a kite.

In the meanwhile, Bijoy was rising fast in the Burmese Government and being a workaholic he hardly spent any time at home. After work he had his friends and clubs to go to. Sova was not a woman to complain and she began to devote herself to making a good home for him and his son. She was an excellent cook and finding that Bengali sweets were not readily available in Yangon, would make them herself at home. This earned her the nickname of “Mrs. Chanar Jilipi” (a Bengali sweet) that she made exceptionally well.

She made friends with two of the wives of Bijoy’s friends and so had some social life as well. A year after, Sova Rani became a mother the second time over, when she gave birth to Krishna, a daughter. They say that she was disappointed at not having a son and refused to see her first born when the nurse brought the baby to her. Perhaps she knew that a woman’s lot in life was tough or perhaps she wanted to give a son to her husband.

Later, she grew to love her first born, who was a dark-complexioned, doe eyed little baby. By then, Bijoy had been promoted to a new post in the Burmese Government, “Additional Finance Secretary”. Remember that this was pre-independence, in the year 1939, and it was the British people who were still occupying this part of Asia. Bijoy was highly respected for his financial acumen and he was a helpful soul, who helped any and all Bengalis migrating to Burma. On a daily basis he would get “help me” letters by the dozen asking for money or jobs or just a signature from him.

Sova would have constant guests of Bengali families who had moved to Yangon or were passing through. The house was never empty and despite having two small children, she saw to it that her guests were always properly looked after.

Despite being  a very good student herself, surprisingly Sova refused to send Krishna to school the first ten years of her life. It was Krishna herself who put her foot down and said that she wanted to go to Bengal Academy like her two little friends, Meera and Tultul.

Bijoy took a break from his busy schedule to take Krishna to meet the principal and being a bright kid, she got admitted to Standard V instead of III, which had been her ambition as TulTul studied in that class.

Sova suffered the usual pangs of her baby bird leaving the nest but then resigned herself to it. Debu was also attending school and Bijoy was talking about sending him to Kolkata for higher studies. The two siblings, Krishna and Debu were very close. Krishna worshipped the ground her big brother walked on.

The only mischord in this harmonious setup was that Debu was being influenced against Sova, by an aunt. This lady was married to Bijoy’s cousin and the couple stayed in the same house. Bijoy had arranged for a job for Tola, his cousin brother and Sova did all she could to help his wife, Bela. However, this lady was a poisonous person who created a lot of mischief.

Finally Debu came to Kolkata to study medicine at National Medical College and a few years after, Krishna who copied her brother, also studied two years in Victoria Institution in Kolkata. By then a third child had been born to Bijoy and Sova. Also a daughter, Kaveri Bose was God’s own child. She was a child with special needs but sadly enough her mother was kept too busy by her father to pay much attention to her.

It fell to Krishna, who was ten years older, to look after her baby sister most of the time. The Boses had built a good life in Burma and were a happy family. Would this last or would disaster strike? Find out in my next blog post…

To be Continued…