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| L-R: Rustam ji Taraporevala, Julia Dutta, Erica Taraporevala |
The one missing from the picture above is Sengupta aunty.
The beautiful, vivacious, talkative, forgetful but forever young lady, Anima
Sengupta, mother of my school friend Erica Taraporevala just left planet earth
on 7th May, 2015.
The last time, I met her was when I wined and dined with the
entire family at their lovely residence, at Nagar Road, Pune, two years ago. Sengupta aunty and I
engaged with talking about the days, we all lived very happily in the LIC
Colony, Borivali, Mumbai. We recalled, while her daughter and son-in-law went
to bed upstairs, about the times when in that colony was a little town made of
Bengalis who had come to live from different parts of India and of course
Bombay. Did I remember, Bhattarji uncle, and his pure Bangal accent and the way
he made us laugh? Of course I did! When he related the story of the young boys
playing in the football field had gathered with mock show of fearlessness,
rolling up their sleeves and tucking in their lungis (football was played in
lungis, the national dress of Bangladeshi men in the 50s) to fight against
establishment, but no sooner had the police come to lathi charge them, they
fled so hard that some of the boys even went bottomless, because, their lungis
had dropped off and they did not even realize it!? And just as in those days, we
all laughed so much, Sengupta aunty and I cracked the night air with our
giggles.
And of course the time, she went to Juhu beach and the
naughty wave came forcefully in and grabbed her set of Made-in-London dentures,
the whole set, leaving her toothless but not humour deprived. Sengupta aunty
and my maternal aunt, my mashi were very good friends and often when school
broke and I returned home to a snack before dinner, Sengupta aunty was in our
house chatting with my mashi.
“My God, Mrs Shyam, it is late!" She gasped, "Erica must have come home
too. Let me rush back!”
This time too when we met, we talked of the past and
memories filled like never before. Talking to her made me realize that she filled up a void in my heart - when she and I talked, it was just like when I lay on my diwan in the drawing
room and my mashi sat after dinner on the sofa and we chatted about this and
that, people from the past and incidents etched in our minds.
That luxury is now lost. The moments of togetherness as
niece and aunt, are gone forever now. Sengupta aunty was a great story teller,
and so is her daughter, Erica Taraporevala. Like mother ; like daughter.
And I, will always miss the closeness of that hour when we talked,
just like I talked with my aunt, my mashi. The door to that story in my life is
forever closed now.
Goodbye Sengupta Aunty! I know you are having a great time
out there, meeting up and talking about the past on planet earth with all those
who left before you, from Borivali LIC Colony Bongo Samaj!
Ebar janai propam!
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| R-L: Sengupta Aunty, Rustam ji Taraporevala, Persis, Erica, Mrs Freny Ginwala , Natasha. |
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