Wednesday 3 October 2018

Fury, frustration and family heirloom - The Eastern Eye: Column by Dr.Utpal K Banerjee


When the curtain opens, there is a splendid disarray of furniture, bedsteads, upholstery, almirahs and what not, lying in decrepitude for last thirty years or so, when the father died in relative penury.  In this milieu, gradually gathers a motley crowd, each with his or her own agenda. First to arrive is a police sergeant, approaching his fiftieth birthday and heading for retirement. Although a bright student, he had given up going to college to support his father and had often gone through very hard days to eke out an existence, often unable to eat two square meals a day. After 30 years, he has returned to sell his parents’ estate and looks forward to coming to examine the root causes as to why he had to put up with his life-long sacrifice. His wife, a fairly self-effacing house-maker, is still frustrated why her husband had to be so supportive of his self-willed father and would not mind seeing the end of their lowly standard of life. Then there is the elder brother, a successful doctor, who deserted the family quite early in life in quest of greener pastures and never bothered to support the parents thereafter -- to whom the younger sibling had not spoken in years. Finally, there is the wily antique dealer, an octogenarian, who has come to bid for the property in his own crafty terms. 

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