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.
What however caught my particular attention was the reference made to a 5-page prayer handwritten by my forefather that was included in one of the volumes. I was able to make out the invocation at the start of the text which said Ya Rab, Mushkil Kusha (O Lord, Remover of Difficulties) which certainly sounded like a universal and enduring entreaty, and the right note on which to start this voyage of discovery.
During the 1947 Partition, Thaakuma had to make her journey across the border to Kolkata alone. While she couldn’t carry much, a few Chhaanch made this perilous journey with her. Though they may be a bit rough around the edges due to the passage of time, they are still in a pristine condition to leave their mark.
The magazine is an edition of a publication of a Bengali magazine ‘Robi’, translated from Bengali as ‘The Sun’ dated January 1930.
This clock became a witness for the life and times of the Malkani family when it was acquired by them in 1945. Its time-keeping began in Karachi, Sindh (present-day Pakistan) where my grandfather, Arjun Malkani, fifth among his ten siblings, lived.
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