Stage 1 – 1930’s
My cousin grandfather was working as lineman in Dumdum
airport, Kolkata (now Netaji Subhash Chandra bose airport). He was from the 2nd
batch of Indians hired to do grounds work at Rs.30/month. This is something he
told me two decades back… now he is dead; I don’t know where he is buried but
the story he told me then got embedded in my memory and gives me some sense of
pride which is easy to carry but hard to share if you know what I mean.
He was a bachelor then came from his native place to work in
Calcutta taking a loan of Rs. 50-60 from my grandfather (his brother). Life had
just started for him in the new city but was going smooth he used to send half
his salary back home (half the sum to his parents and half to my grandfather to
clear his debt) remaining he used for his boarding and lodging in Calcutta and
still saving a bit for his pending marriage. That was life in beautiful India
then under British rule.
