Barun Dasgupta: A tribute

Barun Dasgupta, one of the seniormost scribe of Assam and the northeast and who happened to be a family friend of ours since long was born in Sidpur, West Bengal to Khitish Dasgupta who was running an ashram under the aegis of Mahatma Gandhi. Dasgupta uncle did not have any formal education. My earliest remembrances of my acquaintance with him by dint of my father, in the late 70s when as a small kid I used to accompany my father to his Assam-type part accommodation at C K Agarwalla Road, where his aged parents live. I still remember those days when a daily telephonic conversation between him and my father around 9 pm was a must like any of the other daily routines. That time he was working for The Patriot, and his friendship with my father penetrated deep into our entire family tree and our other friend circles. He left Assam in 1981, but we often kept meeting him during our visits to the then Calcutta.

His second stint in Assam started in 1994 with a new assignment that of a special correspondent for The Hindu, and we arranged accommodation for him in the Happy Villa locality, though later he shifted to Goswami Service station, Silpukhuri. Our mutual relationship took one step further only to make it more smoother and stronger. Finally, he left for Kolkata in 2004 after serving our State for a decade for his post-retirement life at his newly purchased flat in Salt Lake. But even after that till his last days, our mutual communication was like a daily bread and I took it as a responsibility to take care of him ever since he lost his wife almost five years back.

He was not keeping good for the past several months, and that his days were coming near was almost a foregone conclusion. He has gone, but we have lost a true family friend. Adieu Dasgupta uncle!

Dibyendu Goswami (Bablu)

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