Star siblings share their fondest memories

Growing up pangs are never felt as strongly as with a devilish sibling by your side. Their mischiefs, throwing their weight around you and you fighting with them like sworn enemies make for memories of a lifetime. CT speaks to Kolkata’s favourite sibling duos to dig out some funny incidents from their childhood. Incidentally, Siblings Day is celebrated in some parts of the world today.

‘Dada is a huge movie buff since childhood’
We didn’t have many friends during our childhood days. It was mostly dada (Prosenjit Chatterjee) and I, along with our cousins, having fun inside the house. We had a joint family back then. I was the gunda and he the obedient child. Our mother followed a thumb rule that if either of us were up to some mischief, both would be punished. So, we would stop each other from doing anything wrong. Also, dada is a huge movie buff since childhood. We were allowed to go for movies after our homework but only if we went together. So, often after seeking permission I would say I’m not going just to spite him. One thing we maintain till today is that no matter what, we are fiercely protective about each other.
— Pallavi Chatterjee on brother Prosenjit
‘Sourav bunked school to watch me practice’
Sourav was a nice guy always, but naughty in his childhood days. I remember one very funny incident from our growing-up years. I was only 11 years old and Sourav was all of six. I was practising for Bengal Under-13 team at Eden Gardens. Sourav would usually sit outside the boundary line to watch me practice. On one such Saturday, which was a school day for him because St Xavier’s had Thursdays and Sundays as holidays, Sourav bunked school to watch me practice. In his school diary, where the teacher mentioned homework and signed it, Sourav managed to find a gap above the signature and wrote, ‘Tomorrow is a holiday’. Our mother went by that. But later she realised otherwise when a neighbourhood boy, who went to school with Sourav, enquired about him. Sourav got a spanking and was promptly sent to school.
— Snehasish Ganguly on brother Sourav

‘Jush was called Fido after the character Fido Dido’
Jush (Jisshu Sengupta) is younger to me by six years, but he behaves like he is my father. He used to address me as ‘didibhai’, but one fine morning, when he was in Class XI, he came home and declared that he will call me by my name. He felt I am not old enough to be addressed as didibhai! Not many know that Jush was called Fido (after the character Fido Dido) in our para as he was a lanky kid. Another secret about my brother is that he develops a phobia when he sees stick-on bindis stuck on the mirror. During our childhood, I received the most scolding from our parents for all our misdeeds. Jush planned all the wrongdoings and just like a fool, I would execute them!
— Rai Sengupta on brother Jisshu

‘Rishi was the laziest person on earth when we were young’
I am older to Rishi (Arjun Chakrabarty) by three years. The number of spectacles we broke because of our massive fights is just unimaginable. We broke the bed too, courtesy our wrestling. Rishi used to just beat me up like anything and then complain to ma (Mithu Chakrabarty) that I had started the fight. I was the one being hauled up always. Most fights were about getting the computer to oneself for a longer time. Invariably, Rishi would win as he was addicted to the games. Rishi is a gym freak now but no one will believe that he was the laziest person on earth when we were young. Once we went on a holiday to a jungle and had to walk for three kilometres to reach the tower and spot the animals. Rishi just went back to the hotel! He had a mature voice always and people thought it was baba (Sabyasachi Chakrabarty) talking over the phone.
— Gaurav Chakrabarty on brother Arjun

‘We fought over Pele and Maradona during the US trip’
We have been thick as brothers from our childhood days. But that didn’t mean we wouldn’t fight. There was a certain competition about who gets the bigger share of mutton curry cooked at home. This would happen during Poila Baisakh celebrations. I would pronounce it as Koila Baisakh and dada (Suman Mukhopadhyay) would correct me. Once we went to the US for a vacation in 1980s. I was six years old and dada was 14. I supported Pele (Brazil) and he supported Maradona (Argentina). I remember we fought over this on the road in front of the White House. Elder family members had to intervene to stop me from getting beaten up by him.
— Sujan Mukhopadhyay on brother Suman