The Potion
When we were little, my brother and I dreaded falling ill. Not because of the fever that gave us chills or the cough that made our ribs hurt or a million visits to the bathroom that left us dehydrated. … Read the rest
Life in a mine: how a disaster was averted
I joined Eastern Coalfields Ltd (a subsidiary of Coal India Ltd, a government of India enterprise) [note]The coal mines in India were nationalised in 1973 and were placed under the Coal Mines Authority of India. In 1975, Eastern Coalfields
… Read the rest
Of War and Peace: Bangladesh in 1972
Excerpts from an account by an Indian civil servant deputed to oversee rehabilitation of evacuees and distribution of relief materials to the war ravaged, recently independent Bangladesh.
7 p.m., 4th April 1972 at Nawabganj sub-division, Rajshahi district, Bangladesh[note]Sub division,
The Maharaja’s English Connection
My husband Neil C. Duncan’s maternal grandfather was Arthur Ramdin. Neil put together a brief biography of Arthur who clearly had non- English antecedent. The account goes as follows:
The Descendants of Arthur Marius Ramdin (1857-1925) and Rebecca Maria Brown
A Granddaughter’s tribute to the Artist, Sarada Ukil
Sarada Charan Ukil, popularly known as Sarada Ukil, my maternal grandfather is something of a mythical figure to me. What is real are his art works that he left behind, some of the original which I have seen and many
Katrina: A Latvian Tale
My mother, Katrina was barely 10 when she was orphaned, her mother predeceasing her father by a few months. Born in the village of Dunika in western Latvia, she had been a symbol of God’s special favour to her mother … Read the rest
My Grandmother’s Daughter
Till I was sent to a College Hostel in Darjeeling, I had never been away from the family. We lived as a joint family in the foothill town of Siliguri[note]Approximately 65 kilometres south of … Read the rest
Anonyma: A lady on the train
Anonyma: Eine Frau in Berlin (known in the UK as `The downfall of Berlin Anonyma`) is a 2008 German film about an unnamed woman coping with the complex aftermath of the war in 1945. Anonyma is what I choose to
The Guhas of Brooking Street
My great grandfather, Jatindramohan Guha was the first in his village Qutubpur in the district of Faridpur in East Bengal (present Bangladesh) to venture, after completing his studies, as far as Rangoon, the capital of Burma in the 1910s[note]Today’s