What was it about Minati that left anyone who came across her instantly mesmerised? Was it that warm, dazzling smile that greeted one as a long-lost friend, no matter that neither had ever met before? Were it her eyes that lit up with such unalloyed happiness every time she met someone she saw every day, no matter whether the person was a domestic help, a caregiver, or an employee of one of the many institutions she oversaw as an educationist and advisor to social-service organizations? Yes, it could have been that—or it may have been the fact that she simply radiated such an aura of love, peace, and happiness that no one in her presence was left untouched.
Minati Chaudhury, Minoo, left so many of us forlorn with her demise on August 15 this year. Yet, for her legion of admirers, this desolate feeling could just as well turn into a moment of quiet joy with the recall of a single meeting at a cultural event that she so unfailingly attended—or the warm memories of a long, cherished association as colleagues and friends.
Minati was a tall persona in more ways than one. Her height gave her a natural advantage—so much so that in her college-going days, it alone drew the instant attention of a league of male admirers. She, however, was won over by an equally tall personality, her beloved Ramesh Chaudhury, who was to sweep her off her feet in quite a dramatic fashion, leading to a marriage made in heaven. Ramesh Chaudhury went on to carve out a successful career for himself as an acclaimed engineer and technopreneur of repute. Minati, while standing by his side as a homemaker and mother to his three children, rose above her domesticity to emerge as an independent personality in her chosen area of public service.
She revelled in her role as an educationist above all, emerging as the force behind the setting up of schools, particularly for the girl child, and institutes of higher learning such as the K.C. Das College of Commerce, where she served as Principal and later continued on the Governing Board. Among the institutions that benefited greatly from her involvement, particularly in their early years, were the Eastern India Women’s Society and the Assam Chapter of the Indian Red Cross, of which she rose to be Chairperson.
Now that this towering figure is no longer with us, there is one lasting image that will always come to mind when imagining Minati Chaudhury: a Woman of Substance, draped in her immaculate saree, the ultimate Lady of Grace with that bewitching smile.
Rest in peace, Minati. The heavens will be proud to have you in their midst.
— A heartfelt tribute by J.K. Sarma
Also read: A Tribute to Minati Chaudhury: Social Worker & Family Matriarch
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