Dus Number

That's where we all grew up. 10 Cantonment Road, Cuttack. It was such a wonderful warm happy place. The house that Jeje built. Today, the address reads, "10, Dr.P.K.Parija Road", stamping official sanction on what we always considered ours.Imagine this...a non-descript village on the Eastern coast of Orissa(undivided Bengal-Bihar-Orissa,known as the Bengal Presidency). A non-descript home in Icchapur.The father a forest ranger posted in remote southern Orissa,mother an uneducated Oriya housewife.And a male child Pranakrishna who showed early determination to rise above his situation.He walked the 36 miles(approximately 60 kilometres)to High School in Cuttack.Lost his mum and Dad very early,but swore to live up to his mother's aspiration.."padhibi lekhibi bada manisa banibi"(I will read write and become famous)was probably his driving mantra.I treasure the book he got as first prize for all-round proficiency in 1904 in his school Ravenshaw Collegiate ."Selections from the writings of James Anthony Froude".Then his journey to Presidency College,Calcutta(where his class-fellows were Meghnad Saha,Satyen Bose,Sir J.C.Ghosh etc) ; Cambridge(where he did his Tripos in Natural Science and experimented and collaborated with Blackman and gave us the Parija-Blackman theory, beame President of the Indian Majlis)Ravenshaw College,Cuttack(Professor Botany,Warden and then Principal)Utkal University(first Vice-Chancellor).In short THE modern Oriya legend.Internationally known but at heart the true son of the soil.He married Sundaramani, rebellious and free-spirited daughter of landed Oriya gentry.They were an apparently incongruous couple...he the brown sahib who would sit and eat his meals on the dining table,with knifeand fork,while she would eat from a brass bowl and plate sitting on the floor.He would attend important meetings and participate in the nation-building process while she would network extensively and be the quintessential LadyBoss!The children,3 boys and 2 girls, were all very well educated and went on to be successful professionals and home-makers.We... G,SeniorA,myself,JuniorA and BabyA..are the grandchildren on the distaff side. (On the enate, its PApa,BBhai,B and C.)I ofcourse grew up and lived continuously in Dus-number till my marriage as did BabyA and PApa and BBhai.The others all came during holidays and other occasions.Breakfast was sharp at 8am while Lunch would be on the table between 12.30 and 1pm.A gong would be sounded at mealtimes to summon the family to meals.If you were late, your food would be placed in a casserole for you to eat in isolation.This was meals with the patriarch. If you chose to eat with SMP it would be really "desi"...on the floor, hot steaming boiled-rice,piping hot lentil,really yummy side dishes and also stuff like dried-fish, mutton-kassa,banana flower vadas, hand-picked mushrooms cooked with mustard,slurrp! The grounds around the house were extensive and we had four distinct gardens(bari,in our language). In the front was Burunda-bari on the left and the Kua-bari on the right.Behind was the paccha-bari, the pond and then the phala-bagicha(orchard). There were a large number of coconut palms, date palms, mango trees, sapota, karamanga,jamun,mulberry, sour-berry(bar-koli)bel,rose-apple(jamuroll),grape-vines,banana plants(green,yellow and even red),camphor trees, sandalwood trees, a huge Flame of the Forest tree and we used to have endless fun climbing trees, emulating monkeys! The pond was very well stocked with fish and almost every week there used to be an almost ceremonial casting of nets.Fresh carp, rohu,clownfish,perch and catfish. We even had an USArmyDisposal canvas rowboat to take a ride around the pond....BBhai was a great shot and he used to practise shooting at the perch and catfish with his 12 bore gun.The paccha-bari in the west, adjacent to the mosque had a menagerie.Rabbits, guinea-pigs,peacocks,budgerigars,cockatoo,parrots, mynahs and the munias. Here too was the cow-shed where PKP's favourite "Gelhhi"(loved one) was housed.Gelhhi was a beautiful black and white cow who, believe me, used to stand by PKP in the dining-room and feed on special tidbits.That was a sight to remember and recount!(as I am doing now).Gelhhi the cow on one side and on the other it used to be our Tom(Alsation+StreetPie) and Bhalu(pure mongrel).Peaceful co-existence.When PKP used to reach for the finger-bowl and fold his serviette back, these 3 would understand that it was time for them to leave the room!Many years later Tom and Bhalu were replaced byRitty, Dicky abd Blackie(daschunds) Jim(Alsation) and Kitty(Tom's family!).SMP and her batallion of servants used to make the most delicious pickles and preserves, both desi and exotic.The kitchen block was connected to the dining room via a covered aisle. The main cook was Gauranga.He had able assistants in Murali,Ghanna,Satrughana etc.The breakfast kitchen was separate and here Gorachand was the cook....Beyond the pond, on the eastern boundary, were a row of rooms which had been rented out to various shops.The Cuttack-famous Health Stores and Rangoon-stores, Gupta Sports,an artificial limbs store, a saloon,a homeopath and a car upholstery workshop.Very early I discovered that PKP used to have a credit-account with Health Stores for general provisons and he used to send little chits of paper saying "M/S Health Stores...Please Supply...with an itemised list of things to be sent over and then signed PKP" Very early too I had discovered that I could do a "mean" imitation of the signature!!Being the "brain" of our 'group of four' it took us little or no time to have an almost endless stock of Cadbury Chocolates and Milkmaid Condensed Milk..!Ditto with Gupta Sports for table-tennis balls, raquets and carrom-dots.Much later I understood that PKP knew exactly what I was upto but chose not to upbraid me..after all I was the apple-of-his-eye, his "Dholi".Dussera was the major festival for us.All our retainers would be given new clothes and bakseesh and the family too.We G.A.M.A.(Group of Four)used to look forward to the special festival food.For Diwali the anars and talphatakas were procured from Padmapur(a village on the outskirts known for its firecrackers) and SMP would engage her batallion to roll cloth wicks for the earthern lamps which were then filled with sesame-seed oil and used to illuminate Dus-Number.On Kartik Purnima day, we would be woken up at the crack of dawn to accompany SMP to the river bank to set afloat our little paper and cork boats in a symbolic replay of the Bali-Yatra when the sailors of yore in Kalinga used to set sail for Bali to trade.For me, the lone girl, SMP had special plans. Khudurkuni Puja, a month of Sundays dedicated to Maa Mangala(for the well-being of brothers), had to be observed,as was Kumar Purnima(obeisance to the Sun God to get a young handsome groom!) and then Rajo(a harvest/fertility rite)...get up early have a bath using turmeric paste and chandan, wear new clothes,and sit piously through the rituals performed with absolute dedication by SMP....It is said that in Orissa there are 13 festivals in 12 months...we in Dus-number will vouch for that and many more!!
I have a reached a point where I need a break to remember and you need a break too....so more later.Bye for now.