Kolkata: Relatives yet to break news of Soumitra Chatterjee’s demise to grandson

KOLKATA: On Tuesday, a very small and private meeting will be held for Soumitra Chatterjee at a prayer hall in the city. This ritual will just be for the immediate family comprising the actor’s wife, son, daughter, grandchildren and the members of his brothers’ and sister’s families. The date for the other memorial service by the members of theatre group ‘Mukhomukhi’ that is run by his daughter, Poulami Bose, will be decided at a meeting on Wednesday.
Chatterjee’s 9, Golf Green Road residence wore an empty look barely 24 hours after the demise of the legend.The crowd fizzled out and no more calls needed to be made to the hospital. His belongings were still strewn all over the house. “It is actually hitting me today that I will never see him again. I no longer need to worry about when the call will need to be made to the hospital and when I will have to go. I am not being able to be very strong today,” said Bose, breaking down in tears.

There have been very few visitors at home. Sometimes, the mobile phone rang. And then, it was back to the emptiness. “My father never believed in rituals. But sometimes, ceremonial rituals have to be conducted to respect the sentiments of others. That’s why I am doing this prayer-meeting on Tuesday,” said Bose, looking forward to organizing a memorial service where songs he loved will be played and his favourite poems recited. “I will get someone to sing the songs he loved or organize an adda. Basically, it will be about remembering him, his way.”
Chatterjee’s grandson, Ronodeep, who is recovering from a brain injury after an accident, hasn’t yet been told about the loss though he was never kept in the dark about his grandfather’s medical condition. “Bhaitu (Ronodeep) can’t speak but is very sharp and sensitive. I think he can sense something. When he looks at me, I feel he is waiting for me to break the news. But I don’t have the guts to break the news. I can’t face him and I don't know how he will react to the final outcome and how I will be able to help him then,” said Poulami.
A doting grandfather, Chatterjee loved his grandchildren very much. “Bapi literally worshipped the ground my kids walked on. He spent the entire day with us on the ground floor. Every 5-10 minutes, he would walk into the room and see if Bhaitu had eaten his meal.”
Immediately after waking up, he would first come down to check out on his grandson and lovingly address him as “Gopal” and “Amar Sonar Gouranga”. Once as a kid, his granddaughter Mekhola had told him that if he addressed her brother as Gopal, she should be called Gopali. “Since then, Bapi used to call her Gopali,” Bose said.
Now there is nobody to call them by those names. The silence is unbearable at times. “Bapi was not just my father. He was a wall between me and the other things in life. He would guard me not in an obvious way. Now, I realize that all my guards are gone,” Poulami said. “In front of a sea of people, you need to maintain your dignity and poise. You have to remember so many things. Today, I am missing my father so much.”