On Sundays, the streets of Calcutta were vacant and quiet, and the shops and offices closed, looking mysterious and even a little beautiful with their doors and windows shut, such shabby, reposeful doors and windows, the large signs - DATTA BROS., K. SINGH AND SONS - reflecting the sunlight. The house would reverberate with familiar voices. Sandeep's uncle, whom he called Chhotomama (which meant 'Junior Uncle'), was at home. Chhordimoni, Sandeep's greataunt, and Shonamana, his eldest uncle, had also decided to spend the day here. If you overheard them from a distance - Sandeep's uncle, his mother, his aunt, Chhordimoni and Shonamama, all managing to speak at the top of their voices without ever making a moment of sense - you would think they were having a violent brawl, or quarrelling vehemently about the inheritance of some tract of land which they were not prepared to share. And, indeed, they were engaged in an endless argument (about what, they did not know) beneath which ran a glowing undercurrent of agreement in which they silently said 'yes' to each other.

LRB 5 May 1988 | PDF Download