Manashi Chakrabarti: a tribute
Born as the first child to Ganendranath Chakrabarti and Uma Devi in 1939, Manashi was very special to her parents. When only a few days old, Manashi developed an acute illness and all the eminent doctors in Kolkata had given up hope. While all in the family were sinking in grief and despair, Manashi made a miraculous recovery, which belied all conventional wisdom.
Her father, an eminent pathologist, noted some rare talents in the young girl – a mind that could play with numbers at ease and rarely forgot a thing she had read even once. Defying all the reservations existing in the society at that time, Ganendranath, himself being a keen student of literature, encouraged her daughter to read all possible literature in both Bengali and English. By her late teens, Manashi had devoured all the classical and contemporary literature in both languages basking in the pride of the new and independent ‘India’. The baffling memory and magical grasp on numbers were there for her to travel down any path of her choice.
As is the story of many such families of her time, Manashi’s talents were suffocated by the existent social wisdom. She was not allowed to pursue her education in a co-education college by the family elders. Ganendranath possibly failed her special child at that point, but he was not to give up. He tutored Manashi at home and she appeared for graduation exams as a private candidate. That she succeeded was not surprising given her talents, but this was enough to irk the elders who had censored her further education.
At the age of 20, Manashi got married to Bimalangshu. Bimalangshu hailed from a family in Rajshahi, currently in Bangladesh. His father was a doctor, who spent most of his wealth and time in bringing up a large joint family and the freedom struggle. Bimalangshu had moved to Kolkata in the turbulent times of 1947 with his sister, Geeta and both studied on scholarships and earnings from private tuitions. Bimalangshu earned a civil engineering degree from Jadavpur University and his sister, Geeta successfully completed the Masters degree in history.
Manashi adapted to living in a large joint family, but, the promise and talents were submerged in her duties as a housewife. Very few got a glimpse of her talents other than her husband and their only son, Suparno. She taught her son all the values she acquired from her father and the world literature. Being a Brahmin, by caste, it was unthinkable in the early 70s, that one would not perform the sacred thread ceremony (polite) for her only son. Suparno, by then, had learned from her parents and all the readings and the changing world in front of him, that human beings cannot be discriminated against by caste, color, or creed. He was adamant not to be sworn in as a Brahmin, encouraged by his mother and father as well, against the wishes of other family members. Manashi had now made a statement to the elders, who prevented her from pursuing higher education.
Ganendranath had retired as a frustrated academic pathologist, getting little recognition for his brilliance, and had dreamt of tutoring his grandson to grow up as a mathematician, a brilliance which was natural to Manashi, but never fulfilled. He opened his library to his grandson and told him stories of his mother’s brilliance. Ganendranath had also told him about Manshi’s musical skills with both vocal and in playing the Sitar; all of which she had given up after marriage. Suparno could not hide his frustrations at her mother being so quiet and passive about her talents. He insisted his mother show her brilliance to everyone. Manashi, instead, gently told him to become a successful doctor and help the poor and the needy. Suparno promised his mother that he will never let her down.
Suparno went abroad to earn further expertise in medicine, promising to come back to her side and fulfill her dreams. With time, Manashi became very quiet and withdrawn. The last time one saw any glitter in her eyes, was when her son told her about a hospital being planned in Phuleshawar, near Kolkata, aiming to help the poor.
On 13th June 2005, Bimalangshu was admitted to the hospital intensive care with a chest infection. Manashi embraced death as quietly as she lived, 3 days later, on 16th June, one, she had smilingly defeated when only a few days old, to grace this world with all her talents and wisdom. Bimalangshu passed away 7 days later without regaining consciousness oblivious of his wife’s death.
Death could not have taken Manashi’s legacy away from us. It will live on with this charity founded in her memory to promote health and women’s education in India. Her favorite lines from this verse might sum up her last thoughts:
‘It’s time to say good-bye
But, please don’t cry.
When I have left for a different shore,
Just gently shut the door.
Yet let the memories stay,
Bright as the sunshine may.
Then, every drop of rain you’ll find,
Leaves a rainbow behind.’
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