Crumbling grandeur of the ‘first family’

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">The smallish shop dealing in cassettes and snacks at the Sakherbazar crossing or the cramped medicine shop behind it stand in sharp contrast to the stark grandeur of the pillars of the Aatchala Natmandap jutting into the sky at Sabarnapara. The pillars remind one of the Stonehenge in England. An ironical coincidence since it is with the British heritage of Kolkata that the Sabarna Roy Chowdhurys of Behala are locked in a legal battle.But that is a different story.<br />The cassette and the medicine shops belong to Durga Ray Chowdhury and his brother, two members of the Sabarna family. In fact, most of the members of the extended family are either into small business, or jobs. And that bit of information presents another contrast.<br />“Roy Lakshmikanta Majumdar Chowdhury of our family had an income of Rs 8 lakhs in the 16th century. And his income depended solely on zamindari. Our forefathers had never been into any kind of business,� says Devarshi Roy Chowdhury, who himself is selfemployed and creator of the website on the Sabarna Roy Chowdhury family.<br />But that does not take away the romance from the family. The Burma teak furniture and the Belgian glass mirrors are still intact. The huge Ming vases though lie neglected on the passageway to Srikumar Roy Chowdhury’s house. “They are so old that we don’t even remember when they came,� explained Srikumar, hurriedly adding, “but we try our best to maintain these heirlooms.� Durga Ray Chowdhury adds, “We also lay a lot of stress on our family rites.�<br />Thus the 397-year-old Durga Puja of the Barisha Sanjer Aatchala still sacrifices 13 goats and one buffalo over the three festive days. What about animal rights activists? “They have not intruded yet into our family rites,� says Ratikanta Roy Chowdhury, who is 78 and prides himself on seeing it all “for so many days�.<br />But then, the younger generation is not quite ready to accept the rites involving animal sacrifice without raising a question. “This year, they raised the sacrifice issue in the committee meeting,� adds Durga.<br />His daughter, Payel, who studies in Class 12 at Jogomaya Devi College, agrees. “We don’t like this at all,� she says. But there are other things that still sustain the family. “The heirlooms continuously remind us of a carefully developed culture. After all, we were the first to introduce the concept of idols of Durga with her family. And then, there is this place and all the members who are trying continuously to sustain the history of the family,� adds Devarshi.<br />For the time being, the 5,000 odd family members await the High Court verdict on the city’s inheritance. <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">sudip.ghosh@timesgroup.com</span></div> </div>