This was well known in the Kharagpur Railway Colony1 till the late 1970s. You want someone good in drafting? You want help in homeopathy medicine? You want someone to prepare a horoscope chart? You want some consulting? All problems of Railway Colony of Kharagpur had a single solution. Bhowmik babu r kache jan (Go to Bhowmikbabu) Sri Harish Chandra Bhowmik, Retd Head Clerk of Indian Railways Kharagpur was an all-weather friend.
Early Life, ancestry and education:
Harish Chandra was born on 30th June 1920 to Sri Mahendra Bhowmik in Srikantha, Moyna, Midnapore District 2 to a Mahishya Bhuiya 3 family. Medieval Midnapur was part of Kalinga, a large Empire divided into small kingdoms, Moynagarh being one of them. These kingdoms were further divided into smaller federal structures (chiefdom) and was headed by either a governor with the title, Bhuiya or Samanta. They were basically chieftains who ruled cluster of villages under the Moynagarh King.
He lost his mother (whose name is lost in time) when he was 6 month old. A determined yet stubborn kid, he was nicknamed Nagen. After completing his elementary education at the village primary school, he went to Tamluk4 and studied at Peddie School and probably at Hamilton School.
After school, Dadu moved to Contai (a town that was a major nationalistic hub and a cultural center producing magazines like Nihar), and got admitted to Prabhat Kumar College. After his college, he started teaching at a primary school at Paramanandapur (a village in Moyna). This was where he met Dr Hridaynath Pradhan, an LMF (Licentiate in Medicine and Surgery) of Calcutta Medical College as well as DMS from Homepathy Medical College. Dr Pradhan was so impressed by this young man that he decided to get his daughter married to Harish Chandra. Also, he was of the opinion that the young Harish was too good to spend his life working as a village primary school teacher. And he kept on insisting so that he took a better job.
A Teacher and then a Railwayman:
Dadu cleared Railway selection test in first attempt and was offered a position at a railway office in Peshawar. But Peshawar in the north west of India, was near Afghanistan and he was not willing to go that far from home. So he was given a second option at Adra in Purulia on the western border of Bengal. He joined Indian Railways (then a newly nationalized organization) in 1944. But fate had other plans.
Within a few months of joining at Adra, a British Officer was so impressed by his drafting skills that he accepted Harish Chandra’s request for a transfer to a nearer town and so here comes Dadu in Kharagpur. It was 1945. He worked at the Office of SM (W), Drawing Office, KGP Division.
His dedication towards his work brought him a Meritorious Service Award which was awarded to him by the Railways on 26.01.1973.
Personal Life and Ideological Leaning:
Dadu married Mamma (grandmother), daughter of Dr Pradhan in 1947 and Raja Baba (Jethu or my father’s elder brother) was born in 1948. Dadu had 4 children. Next in line was my father, my eldest Pisi, Aunt and my youngest Pisi.
Dadu was a “Hindu” nationalist. The word “Hindu” nationalism did not exist then but Dadu, being a well-read man, was so impressed by Indian traditions that he named his eldest son as Shilabhadra (a Buddhist monk of ancient times) and his youngest as Shibaji (my father after the Maratha King). I heard from my father that Dadu was fascinated by the writings of the then Hindu Mahasabha leaders (a right wing party) and was a subscriber of their Magazine. It was quite a rebellious act in those days. Most people of Bengal either were supporters of the Congress Party or Left inclined. Dadu, though a Congress supporter was a “Hindu” nationalist in his heart (Perhaps a tiny part in his heart remembered the sacrifices of his ancestors when they used to regularly fight Bengal Sultans and later the Bargi or Maratha invaders).
Dadu was a hard worker and with his noting and drafting skills he was always sought after in his office. But at the same time he learned many more things. He learned homeopathy and was trained by his father-in-law. He learned astrology through books and read widely English and Bengali classics – Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Sharat Chandra, Bankim Chandra, Rabindranath, and books by Swami Vivekananda and the Ramkrishna Kathamrita. He was an ardent fan of Ramkrishna Mission and was initiated at Belur Math.
My father’s memories of Dadu:
My father Shibaji Bhowmik, a retired Head Clerk of Midnapore Collectorate, often remembered Dadu as a loving and caring father and a learned man with strong will power. My father was into youth politics in his college days and often some report of student clashes used to reach my grandfather. Those were days of active and sometimes violent student politics in the later 1960s and early 70s.
Baba said that Dadu was a voracious reader and would often buy books of totally unrelated field. Dadu used to prepare horoscope charts according to Eastern tradition and Baba said that Dadu used to even recommend stones in these charts though personally he did not believe in these. He actually mastered the art of horoscope calculation.
My memories of Dadu:
By the time I was old enough to recall, Dadu was partially paralyzed in is right side, but he was a stubborn man, and a patriarch. He never took anyone’s help. He had a black color wooden stick and used to walk in the ground floor of our house. He had a radio where he used to listen to news.
I remember him reading various books, mostly religious. He used to read newspapers. Then after a while I used to read aloud the daily newspaper for him. He used to write postcard letters to his younger brother at our ancestral village. Later I used to write these letters for him.
I still remember he used to teach me English grammar and also Bengali language and grammar. We used to chat a lot about sports, village life, the epic Mahabharata. One particular incident was associated with Mahabharata. I had just completed Chotoder Mahabharat (Mahabharat for the Young) and was asking a lot of questions to him and he was also answering them calmly. He asked me if I had read about Yuyutsu? I said I had not heard his name. Dadu told me that Yuyutsu was a Kaurava and fought the battle for their adversary the Pandavas as he was well aware of Dharma (righteousness) and did not support his own brothers who were flouting it. Dadu told me to remember about Yuyutsu.
I still remember about these moments.
Dadu’s last days:
Dadu passed away on 9th July, 2000. He had been ill for some time and was not able to walk. On 8th evening, I remember, he had a stroke and people from our para or neighbourhood came over to our house. The young men of our para helped us lift him to our car, and accompanied my father and Jethu to the hospital. Next day most of our relatives came to our home. By 3-3.30 news came that Dadu has passed away.
Dadu had lived a full life. He was known to help people. He gave homeopathy medicines to people for free. Even long after Dadu passed away, many people, unaware about his death used to come to our house for medicines.
I once asked Dadu have you passed Homeopathy course? Dadu said, I completed full course and had the option to sit in the eligibility test but chose not to appear in exam. I asked him why. He said knowledge is much more than mere certificates. “I never practiced as a Homeopath doctor, I just gave medicines to people who asked for them, that too for free always, and that helped them a lot. That was my satisfaction.”
Dadu taught me that life was more than degrees and certificates. He was a living example of how traditional landed families who lost their power due to change in nature of governance could rebuild their lives with sheer hard work, dedication and still remain relevant to society. He taught his children and grandchildren to be humble, remain rooted and be a part of society. That’s what great men do.
Abhisek Bhowmik is currently working as a Sr Manager (Finance) at NMDC Ltd (A Govt of India Enterprise) at their Steel Plant in Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh. He completed his schooling from Hijli High School (IIT Kharagpur) and his B.Com (Hons) from Goenka College of Commerce & Business Administration. He is also a Fellow Member (FCMA) of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICMAI) and has also done DISSA (Post Qualification Diploma).from ICMAI.