My Thatha did not expect Mother Teresa to write him at all. But after two weeks or so, once he was transferred to Madras, he received a signed letter by Mother Teresa at his office. The letter conveyed gratitude and how his contribution helped several children at the Missionaries of Charity.

The Uruli as a vessel was popularly used for cooking over wood-burning stoves in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Nearly 100 years old today, this Uruli was used to make payasam, vadaam maavu, sweets, kozhakattais, murukku and fried snacks. Patti recalls the way the flames from the wood burning stove would envelope this grand vessel as her mother deftly prepared the food and kindled the fire all at once.

I was at my maternal home in Ajitgill village, Faridkot, looking through old things when I saw my nani’s sandook in the corner. It wasn’t locked so out of curiosity, I looked inside. It was like opening a pandora box. All of her things were still in there. Her clothes – she would wear men style kurtas with a collar and pockets on both sides, with a ghaghra – her trinkets, handwritten notes, and photographs. It was then that I felt closer to her than ever before.

Debaprasad Chatterjee’s British Indian passport was issued on 30th June, 1927. His national status is ‘British subject by birth’, and although the passport does not specify a space for ‘caste’, it is mentioned nevertheless as ‘Hindu-Brahmin’.

Always having been a practical woman, Didimoni read the situation [in what was now East Pakistan] and slowly began to realize that they wouldn’t be able to stay in Khurshimul forever. So she decided to begin transporting some valuables to Kolkata, to my grandfather. Making several trips, Didimoni singlehandedly began taking these pujo utensils from Khurshimul to Kolkata.