MONDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2010
Dr. A.K.Bandyopadhyah Phd from Bengal
D.O.B: 29th July, 1925
Place of Birth: Janai, Hooghly District, West Bengal
Father: P.Bannerjee
Mother : Shanti Devi
Siblings: 3 brothers, 2 sisiters
Family Life
My father was an orphan. He was brought up by his maternal grandparents. He was a very good student and later worked for the Calcutta Municipal Corporation. The tradition of Government service was in our family. My maternal grandfather was a Deputy Magistrate. He built a house in Chinsura in Hooghly District in the 1930's.
Education:
My school “Metropolitan Institution” was started by Ishwar Chandra Vidyagsagar.
My college was Fort William College later known as Government Sanskrit College. My teachers were excellent and many taught in the University at the Post graduate level. I studied Sanskrit but did not want to become a Pandit so I changed to the Christian Missionary College. It had good facilities. I had also read an advertisement in the newspapers that teachers were required for History and Economics and Communications.I did not want to depend on my father so that was another reason for my shift. My teachers were from all over India, including Kerala and Orissa. We benefited from their knowledge. My professor C.S.Milford was British. My friend (who was studying for English Honours ) and I competed for "Stephanous Nirnalendu Scholarship" and I won it. My college education was free up to my Law degree. I graduated in 1945, completed my post graduation in 1947 and got a lectureship in a Ladies College founded by Keshab Chandra Sen of the Brahmo Samaj. The pay was however very low. I then took the I.A.S and Civil Services Examination and became a Deputy Collector of Howrah District.
1942 was the "Quit India " movement against the British when I saw unarmed college students being fired upon in the university area called College Street, Kolkatta.
A sad memory is of 1943 the Great Bengal famine. People from villages would come and beg for rice water. So many people died. This was a man-made famine. Grains were taken for the military for World War 2. Poverty in rural areas was abysmal.
The communal riots between Hindus and Muslims led to trouble and tension in the city of Kolkatta. I had to pass through a Muslim area to go to college and my Father used to be worried. I had many Muslim friends and British friends. We students had no communal feelings.
Our family faced a personal tragedy in the Calcutta riots on 31st August 1946. It was raining that day. My younger brother who was 16 years old went out. He never returned..
I remember dead bodies being picked up from the streets by military trucks during the riots.
In Belliaghata in the Eastern part of Calcutta there were attacks against Muslims. Gandhiji came to Calcutta and asked for peace. He was heckled. The people thought he was Pro Muslim.
Refugees started moving across the border. I saw them in the Sealdhah Railway Station. The refugees in the North of India were rehabilitated. This was not done for East Bengal refugees.
Subash Chandra Bose was our hero. I had seen him. He was a dedicated patriot. We found the way he escaped from India very romantic. Another hero with high ideals was Rabindranath Tagore. He had got eminent teachers in Vishwa Bharati University.
15th August 1947
People forgot their communal differences. The very people who were fighting to death now celebrated. The streets were lit up. We heard Jawaharlal Nehru's speech on the radio.
Independent India
We have got jobs and positions after the British left India. People have become millionaires, but our villages are still poor. Corruption has become widespread. I was posted to so many cities in India. Cochin, Shillong, Delhi among them. This gave me an opportunity of knowing our culture. We became true Indians.
Integration is necessary. We should not be parochial. We need to develop a sense of "Indianness"
This interview was conducted at Ms.Bandyopadhyay's daughters home.
Dr. A.K.Bandyopadhyah Phd from Bengal
D.O.B: 29th July, 1925
Place of Birth: Janai, Hooghly District, West Bengal
Father: P.Bannerjee
Mother : Shanti Devi
Siblings: 3 brothers, 2 sisiters
Family Life
My father was an orphan. He was brought up by his maternal grandparents. He was a very good student and later worked for the Calcutta Municipal Corporation. The tradition of Government service was in our family. My maternal grandfather was a Deputy Magistrate. He built a house in Chinsura in Hooghly District in the 1930's.
Education:
My school “Metropolitan Institution” was started by Ishwar Chandra Vidyagsagar.
My college was Fort William College later known as Government Sanskrit College. My teachers were excellent and many taught in the University at the Post graduate level. I studied Sanskrit but did not want to become a Pandit so I changed to the Christian Missionary College. It had good facilities. I had also read an advertisement in the newspapers that teachers were required for History and Economics and Communications.I did not want to depend on my father so that was another reason for my shift. My teachers were from all over India, including Kerala and Orissa. We benefited from their knowledge. My professor C.S.Milford was British. My friend (who was studying for English Honours ) and I competed for "Stephanous Nirnalendu Scholarship" and I won it. My college education was free up to my Law degree. I graduated in 1945, completed my post graduation in 1947 and got a lectureship in a Ladies College founded by Keshab Chandra Sen of the Brahmo Samaj. The pay was however very low. I then took the I.A.S and Civil Services Examination and became a Deputy Collector of Howrah District.
1942 was the "Quit India " movement against the British when I saw unarmed college students being fired upon in the university area called College Street, Kolkatta.
A sad memory is of 1943 the Great Bengal famine. People from villages would come and beg for rice water. So many people died. This was a man-made famine. Grains were taken for the military for World War 2. Poverty in rural areas was abysmal.
The communal riots between Hindus and Muslims led to trouble and tension in the city of Kolkatta. I had to pass through a Muslim area to go to college and my Father used to be worried. I had many Muslim friends and British friends. We students had no communal feelings.
Our family faced a personal tragedy in the Calcutta riots on 31st August 1946. It was raining that day. My younger brother who was 16 years old went out. He never returned..
I remember dead bodies being picked up from the streets by military trucks during the riots.
In Belliaghata in the Eastern part of Calcutta there were attacks against Muslims. Gandhiji came to Calcutta and asked for peace. He was heckled. The people thought he was Pro Muslim.
Refugees started moving across the border. I saw them in the Sealdhah Railway Station. The refugees in the North of India were rehabilitated. This was not done for East Bengal refugees.
Subash Chandra Bose was our hero. I had seen him. He was a dedicated patriot. We found the way he escaped from India very romantic. Another hero with high ideals was Rabindranath Tagore. He had got eminent teachers in Vishwa Bharati University.
15th August 1947
People forgot their communal differences. The very people who were fighting to death now celebrated. The streets were lit up. We heard Jawaharlal Nehru's speech on the radio.
Independent India
We have got jobs and positions after the British left India. People have become millionaires, but our villages are still poor. Corruption has become widespread. I was posted to so many cities in India. Cochin, Shillong, Delhi among them. This gave me an opportunity of knowing our culture. We became true Indians.
Integration is necessary. We should not be parochial. We need to develop a sense of "Indianness"
This interview was conducted at Ms.Bandyopadhyay's daughters home.
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