87 – The First Olympic swimmer of British India was an unacknowledged man
Nalin Malik with my father and me. Calcutta, West Bengal. December, 1950
Image and Text contributed by Abhijit Das Gupta, Kolkata
This image was photographed in Calcutta (Now Kolkata) in 1950. I was about four years old. My Father used to take me to the swimming club in Dhakuria lake (now Rabindra Sarovar). The pool in the club doesn’t exist any more.
Our trainer at the time was a man called Nalin Malik. What is not known well is that Nalin Malik represented the British India in the 1932 Olympics held in Los Angeles, USA . He never had any formal training, in fact he was so poor that he could not even afford full meals.
From what I know, my uncle, Pankaj Gupta, also a sports legend spotted Nalin Da swimming in the Ganges. Pankaj Gupta was a sports administrator and he too began his career with the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. He was a manager and coach to the Indian contingent and managed several sports events across Europe and the USA. Nalin Malik stood fourth in the 400 Meters Swimming Heat 4. He swam without even a proper swimming costume.
People used to say Nalin Malik did not swim – he mowed the water apart. The unfortunate part is that he remained an unacknowledged, secluded, and a very lonely man whom no one remembered or paid tribute to. I however, have fond memories of him. He was a very tough trainer. On this day in a cold December in 1950, he made me cross the lake. The return was on his back.
In the picture, Nalin Malik is on the left. Behind us swims my father.
75 – In love till their last day, they passed away within three months of each other
My maternal grandparents, Kali Pada & Sukriti Chakrabertti with their daughters, son and several nephews & nieces. Calcutta, West Bengal. 1970
Image and Text contributed by Anupam Mukerji
This picture was photographed on March 9, 1970 on the occasion of my maternal grandparents Kali Pada and Sukriti Chakrabertti’s 25th marriage anniversary (seated middle), at their home, 63, PG Hossain Shah Road, Jadavpur, Calcutta (now Kolkata). Here, they are with their daughters Sarbari, Bansari and Kajori, their son Sovan, and several nephews and nieces.
After graduating from school with a gold medal in East Bengal‘s Dhaka Bickrampore Bhagyakul district, the young teenager, Kali Pada Chakraberti moved to Calcutta. He began working while continuing his education in an evening college. The office he worked at was also his shelter for the night. Desperate for money to pay his college examination fees, he went to a pawn-shop in Calcutta’s Bow Bazaar to sell his gold medal.
The pawn broker at the shop however was a gentle and generous elderly man. He lent my grandfather the money without mortgaging the gold medal. Years later when my grandfather went back to the shop to return the money, he found that his benefactor had passed away and his son refused to accept the money stating he couldn’t, because his father had left no records of that loan. My grandfather then established a Trust with that money to help underprivileged students with their education.
Bhai, as all his grandchildren fondly called him, graduated from college with distinction and built a successful career in the field of Insurance. He rose to a senior position in a public sector insurance company. He also bought a plot of land in Jadavpur and built the house of his dreams where this photograph was taken. Post partition of Bengal, many of his family members moved to Calcutta and everyone found food on the table and a roof over their heads at his house. Over time, many of them moved out and made their own homes, but 63 PGHS remained the place where everyone congregated for festivals and special occasions.
Sukriti Chakrabertti, my grandmother, was fondly known as Hashu Di. She was raised in Shanti Niketan and learnt Arts & Dance under the guidance of Gurudev Rabindra Nath Tagore and Nandlal Bose. She was part of the first batch of students of Shanti Niketan’s Kala Bhavan and went on to make a name for herself in various classical dance forms.
In love with each other till their last day, they passed away in 2000 and 2001, within three months of each other.
71 – He began as a Trainee and went on to acquire the company he began at.
My grandfather, Satya Deo Singh at the Director's Bungalow of Octavius Steel Company Ltd. Dhanbad, (then Bihar) 1960
Image and text contributed by Raj Rajendra Singh
My grandfather Mr. Satya Deo Singh graduated in B.Sc and thereafter joined the Engineering College at Jadavpur University, Calcutta. As a student, he actively participated in activities of Student Congress and his ability to organise and rally students attracted the attention of the Bihar president of Student Congress, Late. Shri Ambika Saran Singh, a noted freedom fighter who later served as State Minister of Bihar.
However, his interest in mining attracted him to the coal capital of India – Dhanbad (Previously in Bihar, now Jharkhand) and he joined Octavious Steel Company Limited as a trainee. His managerial skills, cool competence and tact in handling industrial workers found him at the helm of the coal-mining industry and within a few years, his knowledge and efficient handling of the industrial management paid him rich dividends when he become one of the top three coal managers of Eastern India. Here he stands in front of the Director’s bunglow of Octavius Steel Company Limited with his car, a Chrysler Dodge Kingsway (1955). A company where he began working at as a trainee & then commanded as Director.
68 – The day my father committed to marrying my mother
My father, Ranjan Sarkar, Västerås, Sweden, 1970
Image and text contributed by Jaydeep Sarkar, Mumbai
56 – They seem like wings at either ends and they both became pilots
My father's family. The Datta family. Delhi. Circa 1940
Image and Text contributed by Saugato Datta, London
This photograph of my father’s family was taken in the courtyard of my grandfather’s government house on Irwin Road (now Baba Kharak Singh Marg,Delhi).
Seated in the middle are my grandparents, Sailendraprasad Datta (1898-1956) and Bibhabati Datta (1906-1977). My grandfather was a civil servant and moved to New Delhi from Calcutta in the early 1920s. My grandmother was a housewife. She grew up in Muzaffarpur, Bihar.
To the left of my grandfather is their eldest child, my aunt Uma Datta Roy Choudhury (1926-2009). She was a statistician, joining the Indian Statistical Service when it was founded after Independence, which was also the year she got her MA from St. Stephen’s College. She later consulted for UNDP and lived for many years in the then Czechoslovakia (Now Czech Republic and Slovakia) and later in Zimbabwe. To the right of the my grandmother, is my oldest uncle, Kalyan Kumar Datta (1928-1998). He was a pilot for Indian Airlines and lived in Calcutta.
The little boy on the left is my father, Kamal Kumar Datta (born 1938). He studied Physics at Presidency College, Calcutta and Brandeis University in the US, and was a professor of Physics at Delhi University till he retired earlier this decade. The other kid on the right is his brother, Saroj Kumar Datta, (born 1936) who was also a Stephanian. He worked for many years in Air India, and has been with Jet Airways since it was founded. he currently works as Jet’s Executive Director. He’s still working, though he recently turned 75.
The two youngest kids are apparently beaming because they were given books to entice them to sit still for the photographer – or so I’ve heard. The others seem to have taken the whole “look serious for the camera” injunction very literally. People didn’t normally smile for photos back in the day, did they? I guess it was considered a formal affair, having a photographer over and all.
30 – A picture of elegance
Kamala Brahmachari, my paternal aunt, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh 1937
Image and Text contributed by Mallika Ganguly.
Kamala was my father’s older sister. She grew up in Allahabad and Calcutta, married Dr. S.L Brahmachari, a psycho analyst and later moved to the UK, USA and Canada. She was an extremely elegant and sophisticated woman. A wonderful raconteur, she was worldy, well travelled and witty. She died in 2010 shortly after her 96th birthday .
28 – An art directed image of three close friends
My mother Chandan Patel (middle), with her friends, one of whom is Manixi Bhakta (right), Calcutta, West Bengal. 1970
Image and Text contributed by Mitul Patel, Texas
This picture was taken on a school trip to Calcutta in 1970. My mother Chandan Patel’s best friend Manixi (right) suffered cancer and passed away in Memphis a few years ago. My father, mother and I now live in Rockdale, Texas. We now run and own a hotel, Best Western – Rockdale Inn. My mother is the Vice President, my father, Jawahar Patel is the CEO, and I am Director of Operations.
26 – A blind date
My wedding, Calcutta, West Bengal. 1969
Image and text contributed by Lata Bhasin, New Delhi
I met my husband Anil Bhasin, a business man, on a Blind date in 1966. We got married three years later.
We lived in Calcutta a while, had two daughters and then moved to Delhi in 1985. ‘Bouffants’ hair dos were in great style then, and all of us friends would keep up with trends. Most of our friends moved to other countries, after their respective marriages.
8 – 8.5 months pregnant and bringing in the New Year
My parents photographed on New Year's Eve. Calcutta, West Bengal. 1958
My father worked for a company called Metal Box in Calcutta. In this image, my mother, an Obstetrician, is 8.5 months pregnant with my elder brother, who was born 18 days after this picture was taken.
3 – The seven brothers in order of height
My paternal grandparents with their seven sons. Shyambajar, Calcutta, West Bengal. 1943
Image and text contributed by Shubhodeep Das.
“This photograph was taken by a hired photographer on the terrace of the house, which was probably 100 years old at that time. The arrangement of all the boys in a descending order of height has always amused me. They were a family of seven brothers.
Brothers -Left to Right – Late Sri Prithwish Kumar Das, studied engineering and design in Glasgow and settled in Calgary, Canada. Sri Pijush Kumar Das, studied and ventured into the banking sector. He is retired now and settled in Kolkata. Dr. Priyotosh Das studied medicines in Kolkata and later settled in UK. Till date he visits Kolkata every year. Dr. Prodosh Das worked for the West Bengal Government and is now retired and settled in Kolkata. Late Sri Pronobesh Kumar Das went on to become a painter, he never married and lived all his life in Kolkata. Prof. Prabir Kumar Das still teaches engineering as a part time lecturer in Kolkata. My father, Sri Pradip Kumar Das, served in the Indian Ariforce from 1961 till 89, retired and settled in Kolkata.
Till date, all the remaining brothers are in touch, they get together and do travel and have fun at least once a year.”
2 – Rabindranath Tagore composed the dance-drama ‘Mayar Khela’ at her request
My great-great grandparents, Sarala and Dr. PK Roy. Calcutta, West Bengal. Circa 1880
Image contributed by Chetan Roy
This photo was used by Kodak India for an Ad campaign in the early 1980s.
Sarala Roy was an educationist and is remembered as the founder of the Gokhale Memorial School at Calcutta (now Kolkata), West Bengal. She belonged to the famous Das family of Telirbagh, Dhaka, now in Bangladesh. She was also a member of Calcutta University’s senate and also one of the leaders of the All-India Women’s Conference. The conference was founded in 1927 under the leadership of Margaret Cousins but was soon completely run by Indian women. It was the most important women’s organisation of its time.
