My Adolescence

I am the son of a Tailor and part-time cultivator of East Hurua, Dharmanagar of North Tripura District. I am so lucky that both of my parents are alive today. Mother used to do her handloom work, and for a long time, she also participated in cultivation. Nowadays by the blessings of God both of my parents give up their hard physical work. They only participate in simple domestic work only. At that time, my mother used to feed me Panta Vat (the previous day’s cold rice simply taken with water and salt) from a pot, leaving me at the house with my Grandfather and going to the paddy field to do various agricultural work. In 1997 I was in the third year of BA (Hons). My parents had very little income. As my luck was not favoring me at that time, my father needed an urgent ear operation. We managed it somehow with the help of my uncle, who was a driver in Tripura Police.
I have completed my Graduation with Philosophy Honours under financial hardness. Finally, I came back to my house in Dharmangar. I had to send money to my parents sometimes from my tuition classes. After coming back to my home I have the all financial responsibility. But it was very tough for me as I had just come back from Agartala. Today somehow I managed all the responsibilities.

But I want to tell you the stories of my adolescence when I was appearing for my secondary examination. At that time I had to take partial financial responsibilities as my father had a hearing problem, and customers did not want to come to him for stitching anything. I used to take tuition for lower classes; I earned five to six hundred per month. It was a good share of our family income. One day my father said, "Go to the ration shop and bring five kilograms of rice." That rice will last us a month. The next morning, before going to tuition, I saw that my mother had fried rice. She put the fried rice, flour bread, and red tea in a plastic bottle and covered it with a towel. And she gave me flour bread and red tea. At noon, I saw only dry rice, salt, and only a green chilly. I took it gladly. There was no curry at night either. Dangha one of our neighbors and grandfather in far of my maternal relation called me and gave me a piece of pumpkin and some potatoes. We all became glad after getting vegetables in our time of need. My sisters and I used to read by the light of a kerosine lamp. Mother used to prepare the lamp beforehand. When the oil ran out, we stopped our studies. In our village, there was only a shop owned by Kajal Chakroborty. The shopkeeper did not want to give us commodities in credit.

After passing the Secondary Examination in the third division, I take admitted to Kalacharra H.S. School with arts subjects. Mother was very happy. Then HS registration was going on. I need Rs 120 immodestly Mother handed me a Rs 20 red note and tearfully said, 'No one has lent me, Baba.' I borrowed from one of my teachers Dr. Sita Chakraborty and paid the registration fee. She gives me free coaching in her house. Sometime days I used to know there was no rice in the house. My mother spent a lot of time eating only tapioca and bananas. I passed my H.S in Second Division and got an opportunity to study at M.B.B. College, Agartala which was the best college in Tripura. My parents were so happy! But as the admission time approached, the mother's face looked grimmer. There was a big question about how the family will serve and from where I get the money to complete my study. One of my uncle’s friends Gopi Sinha and my uncle came one evening with a police Jeep to bring me to Agartala. I picked all my things and moved to Agartala to study at M.B.B. College. I used to do tuition in that locality. Many mornings I could not even have breakfast due to lack of money. I could never buy a new dress for Durga Puja. I never gave up my studies in my worst conditions also to date I am a student. I love knowledge and believe that with knowledge anyone can achieve up to a specific level. Of course, there is a word 'Luck' and it is mysterious.