Sikdar Still Looking For His Father’s Friend
Is the Ghosh family still in Bangladesh… in Dhaka or somewhere else… or they, along with their family members and business, have moved to India or elsewhere? “I went to Dhaka with my father. We stayed at the residence of ‘Ghosh uncle’ and had our meals there,” said Mohammad Kanchan Sikdar, a resident of Pirojpur District within the Barisal Division of Bangladesh. Ranjit Ghosh was a business partner of Kanchan’s father Abdul Khaleq.
Talking to a Kolkata-based media outlet, Kanchan recently said that although the memory of Ghosh uncle has faded in the past 30 years, he still recognises the residence and the wholesale depot of the Ghosh family in Old Dhaka. Kanchan, currently in his mid-40s, is trying hard to find Ranjeet Ghosh as he wants to repay his father’s debts. His only resources are the emotional connections between the two families and his father’s genuine sense of gratitude. When Khaleq was on his deathbed, Kanchan promised his father that he would free his family from the double debt owed to Ghosh uncle.
There are thousands of boundaries between good and bad, based on religion, caste and socio-political beliefs. Standing outside that circle, an anxious Kanchan stressed: “My father used to take fresh vegetables, green coconuts, coconuts, bananas, guavas and hog plums to the Ghosh family’s trading depot in Dhaka. It was a long-standing business relationship. The money had been taken by my father as an advance. We, too, knew about it.” However, Khaleq was unable to repay the loan due to his sudden illness and financial hardship. Hence, Kanchan started looking for Ghosh uncle after his father’s demise. He stated: “We can settle the amount now. I want to pay it off at the current market price.“
So far, Kanchan has failed to trace the Ghosh family as he has no idea about their current location. Reflecting on his father’s relationship with the Ghosh family, Kanchan – a trader of bananas and milk – has recalled that they used to visit Dhaka and stay at the residence of Ghosh uncle. Ghosh uncle, too, visited their place in Pirojpur for business purposes. “My father borrowed money from Ghosh uncle as a part of business dealings. Now, I want to pay off the debt left behind by my father,” stressed Kanchan.
He still remembers visiting Dhaka with his father as a teenager. “We spent a whole day on a launch with raw materials and travelled to Dhaka. Ghosh uncle’s business establishment, M/S Pradip Bhandar, was located on Ahsan Ullah Road in the Wiseghat area near Ahsan Manzil in Dhaka,” he told the press. Someone mentioned that the Ghosh family might own a gold shop at the Rajdhani Super Market in Tikatuli, while another person informed Kanchan that he had met one of the brothers of Ghosh uncle a few years ago. Kanchan has made inquiries in Dhaka and learnt that there are mosques, temples in that particular area, but the homes of many, like Ghosh uncle‘s, have undergone radical transformations.
After an extensive search, Kanchan’s nephew, Mahmud Hasan Raju, has brought the Sikdar family‘s wishes to Bangabhita, a Facebook page dedicated to helping families in Bangladesh and neighbouring Indian Province of West Bengal locate their ancestral roots and reconnect with long-lost relatives. Saiful Islam, the administrator of the Facebook page, has said: “So many traps are laid all around to catch even the slightest lapse! Yet, the Sikdars have set an exceptional example, placing the entire society in their debt.“
Meanwhile,
Boundless Ocean of Politics on Facebook
Boundless Ocean of Politics on Twitter
Boundless Ocean of Politics on Linkedin
Contact us: kousdas@gmail.com
ISMC
