Manush manusher jonno (Humanity needs humanity)

  Today this blog will be again another journey to my childhood and to my schooldays, it is not that I don’t have any story in my recent life, there are plenty of them Happy, sad, mesmerising and some of the stories are I am not much proud of. Anyway, today’s topic is not about those, rather our focus will be into something fundamental which we are forgetting nowadays, another way to practice the act of humanity. Even me, who is writing this blog is guilty of the same crime.

starting from a story that began from my home in Assam, for some reason I will be using first characters of those names I am going to introduce to you now.we were and are still living as a traditional joint family for some extent. I am talking about those eras of early ’90s. We always recruit people to have some helping hand for our daily chores .whether it is about gardening or cleaning or cooking. In those days women of the family suppose to get some help from housekeepers. I couldn’t remember how and why she(we call her “Phua”, aunt ) was recruited, My mother told me that she came to our home, with her mother, when she was a teenager and got married few years later. I can recall, she(Chhaya Phua) was staying with her three children *Cn, *Pn and *Sn(looks like elements from the periodic table, but I can’t help it.have to withhold the name unless they provide the permission ), her husband(*Rm) was a fisherman and was staying in a hut nearby the Brahmaputra river. Anyway CN and Pn are older than me and Sn is younger than me. I can remember my family has never had discrimination. I was allowed to play with them and spend time with them as long as I would have my home task completed. They were also studying in some school then. Three of them are now well established, they have their won home, Cn and Pn have their own family and maintaining a modern lifestyle. They are like an older brother to me. So the reason to tell this story is that I want to convey one thing is that, in those days, one family might have extra members those who were not the part of the family but later we would count them as a family member. if they(CN, PN, Sn and their mom) were not staying there in our home, then their life might say some different stories. That time the total member count of my family was around 10. And our family members never had any issue with some extra head-counts, probably in those days, it was so natural to help people in need especially if it was related to someone’s education.

*Cn=Chuni,Pn=Puni & Sn=Sunny(Three brothers)…Rm =Ram lagan (Their father)

The second story took place at Alipurduar.In the year 1995, I moved to Alipurduar, from Dhubri, Assam.I took admission to MC William H.S. School to class 5. I was staying at my maternal uncle’s home,(Mama bari). The family members that time

Were Grandfather, grandmother, maternal uncle, aunt, little cousin sister and two other members who were not family members as such. One person is Shanti Didin(our version of grandma) and another person is Mina Masi(maternal aunt), both belong to Oran Tribe. I can still recall the father of Mina Masi would visit every day and would do some gardening or would have some Adda time with us with tea. And in the evening he would come to watch the news. He was previously working as a labour of some tea garden and was enjoying his retirement. He has two sons Ram and Khudiram other than daughter Mina.Ram mama would visit every day and would do his homework with us. I heard he was supposed to stay there with his sister Mina, but probably because of the restrictions and rule he chose to stay with his parents who were living nearby small PWD quarter(or maybe it was not a quarter, I am not sure ). Mina masi was my friend and elder sister, I could share anything with her, stories, incidents anything. I remember I would like to go to the ration shop with her because I might get to eat some street food. She would know lots of people around the locality, that means lots of stories to listen along the way toward the shop. She was studying in Alipurduar College. after her graduation, a few years later Mina masi got an in Municipality. And only after her marriage she left my maternal Uncle’s home. Actually, grandfather, Subodh Ganguly wanted to educate them by providing shelter, food and creating an environment for study. and Didin(Shanti) was there as a housekeeper, she is still stying there in that 1st floor at the old wooden two-storeyed building. Now, the grandfather and grandmother are no more. Anyway, Ram mama, brother of Mina masi is also doing some government job at Alipurduar.when I moved to Alipurduar in 1995, that time the financial condition of my grandfather from mother side was not that much good, and my Maternal uncle recently had just started his Homeopathy medical practice. But the financial condition did not become a constraint or obstacle for them to help other people.probably in those days it was kind of social norms.

     But Nowadays we seldom see this kind of example to help people. We are too busy to with ourselves, busy earning more and more money for ourselves only and even not thinking about other people who need help.we are living in a nuclear environment, forgetting the advantages of commune system. Yes, the Commune system has its disadvantages but those not as much as the nuclear family system has, and this (nuclear one)system applies only to developed counties.

      So the time has come to think about these things again, the Covid19 has given us a few pointers , few indications, we should use it wisely.