Friends remember 'chiro sokha'

KOLKATA: The left-hand corner of the lower tier of College Street Coffee House seemed to haunt everyone as the eternal Tagore favourite 'Ebaar nirob kore dao he tomar mukhor kabi-re' played in the background. The tearful violin and esraj reminded everyone that Sunil Gangopadhyay, a regular fixture of that corner from the 1950s through the '70s, is no more.
The Publishers and Booksellers Guild chose it as the venue for a remembrance on Sunday afternoon. The life-size picture of the poet in the background and his famous lines, 'Amar Bhalobashar Kono Jonmo Hoe Na, Mrityu Hoe Na', kept reminding the sombre gathering that you don't talk about death and endings when the person in question is Sunil Gangopadhyay, for he lived life with a zest that defies death.
His friends and admirers described Gangopadhyay's exit as that of a king's, as grand as the existence was. "He did not believe in afterlife… But since we do, it gives us so much comfort to think that he is there, seeing all of this," said poet Bithi Chattopadhyay.
Among the others present were writers Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay and Diptendu Chakraborty, theatre personality Soumitro Mitra, renowned artist from Bangladesh Qayuum Chowdhury, deputy high commissioner of Bangladesh, Abida Islam, and actress Chaiti Ghoshal.
Mukhopadhyay's association with Gangopadhyay goes back to over five decades, half of which were spent as newspaper colleagues. "The Coffee House brings back rushes of memories. This place during our time was incomplete without Sunil and Shakti. The latter left us long back and now Sunil is no more... How can I describe the heart wrench and the emptiness?" said an emotional Mukhopadhyay.
He described Gangopadhyay as large hearted, someone who did not think twice before giving away his wealth and creations to anyone who asked for them. "He lived life to the fullest, something that made him such a multi-faceted writer," Mukhopadhyay said, adding anecdotes like how Gangopadhyay would sing tunefully after he got drunk.
Travel writer Diptendu Chakraborty, one of Gangopadhyay's closest aides for three decades, and one who was with him in his final hour, broke down while recounting his life with "boss". Whenever Gangopadhyay and his wife travelled abroad, Diptendu, a resident of Toronto, would be with them. He has even filmed many of these travels and is preparing a DVD on them.
Gangopadhyay and Diptendu had planned a trip to Dooars in October this time, he recounted. "The day before he died, he asked me to get him some machher tel, quite surprising since he wasn't being able to eat much. On his last night, he asked me to stay over; perhaps he had a premonition…" Diptendu said. Soumitro Mitro spoke about how Gangopadhyay bailed out Nandikar once and about his recent trip to Kanha with the writer.
Writer and Guild secretary Tridib Chattopadhyay reminisced the discussions he had with Gangopadhyay on their literary trips abroad. "We hate to think he is no more. Our eternal friend (chiro shokha) lives on...forever."