A young boy from Balubari, Dinajpur

We used to live in a district town, Dinajpur, now in Bangladesh. This is a historical town. It had a Rajbari (King's Palace), although the 'king' was more a feudal Hindu lord. The town of Dinajpur, inhibited by his subjects, grew a couple of miles away from the Palace. The town was on the bank of a river, Gharghara, flowing along its southern part, protecting the town. Our home was on other bank of the river, now dried up. Our place had a very romantic name, 'Balubari (i.e. the house of sand). I love this name and I am too proud of it.

The town till now has a biweekly 'Haat' (where the traders meet with their merchandise), popularly known as 'Barobandarer Haat ( i.e. the wholesale market at the big port), nobody knows when this actually started. The town was known for its 'Maharaja School (Emperor's School), Baromaath (the Big Field), Baptist Mission (founded by William Carey) and Goodri Bazar (retail market).

Later at various stages came up the Town Club on Baromaath, Railway station, connecting eastern and western India, Zilla School (government's school), Court, Lily Talkies (a cinema theatre), Dramatic Club, Jail etc.

After the partition till the sixties came up Modern Cinema Hall, Boostan Cinema Hall, Refugee Market, Bus stands connecting the capital, Dhaka, the district police station etc.

The present scenario I am not aware of since I fled the city in 1962, on my own, at the age of 17 leaving my home and family behind.