Heart rending documentary on old couple turns blissful for duo
A Correspondent
Silchar, May 12: There are human stories which leave no dry eyes. There are people who have been left on the roadside to survive and sustain the harsh realities of life. Yet their indomitable will and unconquerable determination to go and grow through life makes them one in a billion. One such couple, Paresh Chandra Mazumdar and Pratima Rani Mazumdar, have been living by the roadside for a long time. There are people who leave no stones unturned to make such stories public through their efforts. Their story would not have surfaced if two formers students of the Department of Mass Communication, Assam University, Silchar, Abhishek Roy and Pompy Paul, had not come up with a heart rending 8 minutes 22 seconds documentary on them.
Paresh is a Silchar based watchmaker who has been repairing watches sitting under a shed near the main gate of Silchar Medical College and Hospital for the last 25 years. The documentary, already released in YouTube has garnered a lot of love and affection from the viewers. It is an inspiring story of unusual grit and affection where hope ascends struggle. Devoid of any kind of help, Paresh and his wife struggle with their lives every day. The only thing that keeps them going is hope and love. Abhishek and Pompy have tried to bring this story into light, tried their best to put forward the very version of ruthless reality that these two people endure each and every day.
The very idea behind this film is to make their voices heard, so that people can actually reach out to them and do whatever little help they can. The documentary focuses on the watchmaker Paresh, and his wife Pratima who was a journalist at one of the widely circulated Bengali dailies of Silchar, Dainik Sonar Cachar. It is a pity that now she has to survive on alms. Paresh who is in his mid sixties, arrives at his temporary shop at about 1 pm and leaves by evening. He has to look after his ailing wife who suffered an accident and unfortunately did not get any kind of help from the civil and medical authorities.
Pratima was hit by a scooter and since then has been taking the help of a wheel chair. The couple was turned away many a times. Their two daughters, both graduates, have been married off. Pratima’s life is solely dependent on her husband who looks after his crippled wife like a dutiful spouse for more than 12 years now. Paresh laments the loss of humanity and says that there is nobody except God to look after him. He sits under a shed waiting for customers. Watch making used to be one of the most lucrative jobs. However digitalization, advancement of science and technology and the coming of cell phones have lessened the number of people wearing watches. This has hit Paresh’s business very badly. The video, when uploaded and posted on social media, generated interest and curiosity among the viewers. The filmmakers tried to tell the story with a purpose to help the couple. They are amazed to see that a large number of people, organizations and NGOs came forward to keep the couple in every way possible.