i went to kolkata for 5 days last week. lets be frank i absolutely hate going there especially when my brothers are not with me. i know it's kiddish but to not have some one to hang out with in a strange place i know so little about is not only dull and boring but extremely frustrating. but this time as i lay couped up in the apartment watching the sun go down at 4 pm i felt a new sensation.
it was fear. the fear of watching my grandma struggle, struggle against the odds, struggling to survive in a city that she called home as a refugee.born in an affluent family in east pakistan now bangladesh then india she saw what partition could do to families. when she came to calcutta after her marriage she was merely one of the many bangladeshis in calcutta looking to start her life afresh and now she lies in the same city struggling to overcome the doctors predictions.
and i know she will win as she always does. just as she was able to build a life for herself in a strange new city she will fight and once again emerge.
my didbhai my strength i will never forget this trip to calcutta for this was the first time i didn't want to come back, i didn't want to leave you because i was afraid. afraid that i will never again be able to call you didibhai.
