PULAK DHAR _ RK HALL , Electronics Dept

Pulak was my friend since we became neighbours in 1963. He had a wonderful collection of Rabindrasangeet which he still has with him in Canada.
I came in touch with him , after ages, through internet.... through the letters and jokes which circulate among IITians.
His family's photo graph , taken in november, 2006 is here:





I give below an extract from a letter I wrote to Pulak after my family relocated to Calcutta in December, 2003. A little of reminiscence .... smriticharana. And a little bit of my feelings during relocation. This situation will be known to many of us , who whave relocated after retirement or got themselves transferred during the last leg of working life.Please read on :


"Back to smriticharana. I remember your being fond of Dwijen and Sumitra Sen. In fact, you were the first person I came across who a collection of Sumitra’s songs………… I used to be very fond of Suchitra Mitra’s rendering of ‘Likhon tomar dhulay hoyechhe dhuli’ , did Dwijen also had a record of this song in the ‘60s ? I remember you had a record-player - did I hear Dwijen’s ‘ Ganer jharnatalay’ for the first time in your player ? You will remember – I cannot match your memory regarding IIT hostel days. And – yes , I had a transistor set by GEC . Sound was good. Did you have a good collection of Debabrata ? Akashbhara suryatara and Achhe dukhkha are the two numbers I remember. Esechhile tabu aso nai ? I can still visualise patay patay bindu bindu jhare jal .

Smrti ar bartaman baro jhagra karey.
Bhuleo giyechhi kato katha..
Jegulo mane achhe, segulo bekar .
Majar katha – bartamane ja ja bhuli,
Seguli baroi kajer ar darkari!

Calcutta, like all other metropolitan cities in India, is divided in two sections. Bharat & India.
Indian part is fab. New houses, shopping mall, entertainment ‘system’ , big housing complex -- one section of society will have them. The poorer section will crowd footpaths, jaywalk among honking cars and will shit as close to your ‘castle’ as possible. Bihar and Bangladesh will export their poverty to Calcutta for years to come – to the swelling milieu of “Bharat’."