Ritadi

Sometime in my bstat i came to know her when she shifted to campus. She used to participate in chess, we used to play in a group in boys hostel or rs hostel. V V menon and Ramakrishna were top players. They used to defeat us handsomely. Our performance improved. We used to play for many hours. Tapanda we did not care much. He was never part of us. Ritadi belong to many generation of ISI batches. She was smiling and was generally liked by most. She was my brothers classmate. 

Another of his classmate Kunjooni took lot of fascination in me in my first year. He used to take me out. One day when I was waiting in TT room for a game, he came to fetch me. I wished to play a game. He asked me come to rs hostel where an old TT board was set up recently. We started to play. Chari and few others joined. CRRao walked in and asked Kunjooni what was his class. Then he asked why you are playing with a BSTAT boy? Kunjooni came to me and apologised and left, despite called by Chari to finish the game. I described this to point out there was lot of segregation in ISI. Boys girls senior junior etc. Ritadi did not follow them. VV Menon was another exception. So was Ramkrishna.

Tapan da was a great fan of Chhorda. She was also fond of him. But he sort of avoided her. He got little mad when she and Rahada planned for his marriage. I left ISI but frequently visited kolkata. She visited our house once. I remember introducing her to ma. I said to ma that she wass Chhorda's classmate but my friend. Ritadi was slightly annoyed with this introduction but shrugged.

I remember while I was in ISI she called Stuti and me for dinner. 

After I came back from Bahrain I again resumed my connection with her. I wrote a letter from Bombay when I was moved by violent Arabian sea. I lived 100 yards from Persian gulf for 18 months but never saw any turbulence. I remember I forgot her surname and addressed her Sengupta. But the letter reached her. Shortly afterwards I got married. She attended my marriage. According to her, she was visiting my mother regularly. She was attracted by my mother. Ma was very well read and multi talented.

I was briefly in Kolkata when Chorda was in hospital in 2012. Chhorda waited for my arrival. When I arrived he asked Chhordi to call two persons and inform that he was in hospital. They were Ritadi and Toondloo Misra. His bridge fan. He expected me to be present. He also asked if I would not meet Someshda. To this day I regret not meeting him. I met Tundlu and not Ritadi. Despite Ritadi s objection I went and met her in her house. Tapanda was there but I soon left, when Ritadi was going for buying ticket for Joseph's son marriage.

I resumed contact with her after Tapanda s death. She gracefully recovered from this sadness. But I have not recover from Chhorda's death.

I resumed my connection with her after nearly 5 years recently. She is keeping herself very busy. She has not much time for me. Recently I learnt she was in Madras to visit TK who is very sick. TK I met off and on. But I did not like him very much. He was more than necessary serious. Once when he was in Dean's office he rebuked me unprovoked. He was short tempered and abusive. Once Tapan Panchal asked me to find out about his thesis, he cold shouldered the query. In another time he was very derogatory to Chhorda in public during a cricket match in his absence. He suffered from complex that he belong to superior Tamil Brahmin origin.

I learnt his prostate cancer has spread and he is bedridden with occasional extremely unbearable pain. Sometimes when I used to visit ma, he would come from behind and ask my whereabouts. He was not very happy to know that I was not having stable job. My independence is not compromisable any time and any place - isi, org, ascii, bahrain .. it was impossible to explain to tk.

ritadi told, he did not start treatment in the early stage and it had spread elsewhere. he had strokes of pain. tapanda's cancer it seems spread to brain and he started losing senses. she asked me to make tests. i laughed. i have promised myself to bear unbearable. my independence i cannot abandon in my lifetime.  

tk didn't appreciate my independent nature.

Once I spent a night with Prabhakar in NJ. They fetched me from my sleep at my relative's place. Prabhakar wife was very interested in doing some business in India. After sometime I told her that I have accepted me as a failure. From another room Mrs Iyer rebuked her asking me to go to bed. Ritadi talked about their group conducted by Prabhakar. I am not sure where Prabhakar is. I got a spam email from him at Manila. Later day I found he was in NZ. I am not sure.

I remember Chari. Once in rs hostel common room he asked everyone present there who is younger -me or chhorda. chhorda was six years older than me. his innocence was permanent in his face.