JOIN USThe winds of the East
The Majumder family, who celebrated ten years in the City recently, say that their journey over the years has only been memorable.
Hailing from Agartala, Tripura, they are Bengalis at heart. “Tripura has produced many singing idols, RD Burman being one of them,” says Rajarshi with pride. A senior manager for business operations in IBM, his wife Chumki is an HR professional with GE. The couple also has two cute daughters — 13-year-old Genevra and little Tiara, who is two-and-a-half.
“Our elder daughter was born in Kolkata while the younger one was born here. So our house is always divided into two. While Genevra thinks she is a complete Bengali, Tiara takes to South Indian food like fish to water,” he laughs. Rajarshi was working in Kolkata and Chumki joined him after marriage in 2000. After staying in Kolkata for a few years, the family shifted to Bengaluru when he got a job in Alcatel. Since he had been to the City before, he was more than excited.
“I used to work for GE in Kolkata and the headquarters are in Bengaluru. So I would often come here for annual meetings and stay at the Golden Enclave on Old Airport Road Even when I was in college in the late 90s, I had come here once. The weather and the beautiful roads with green canopies really amazed me. Though now the greenery has reduced, the City is still beautiful,” he says. Even now, the family lives near Old Airport Road and Rajarshi is very attached to the old airport.
“Since I used to come to the City during those days via the old airport, I have great memories attached to it. It was cosy and warm and even now, if there is any aero event happening there, we can see it from our house.” The similarities in the weather made their stay all the more pleasant. “The weather here is just like how it is back home in Agartala. The mornings are lazy and green,” he says.
Chumki feels that everything is available here when it comes to food. “Initially, we were both concerned about each other’s food preferences,” she says.
“In fact, the other day, my daughter told the cook to stuff sausages in the dosa!” she laughs. Ask them if they miss anything about home and they say, nothing! “Even Durga Puja is celebrated in a grand way here. Whenever I mention Durga Puja to my children, they don’t think of Kolkata. They think of the celebrations in Indiranagar and Koramangala,” she says to which Rajarshi adds, “We usually hang out with Sarjapur Outer Ring Road Bengali Association (SORRBA) during that time.” During weekends, the family likes to explore different restaurants in the City, like Toit and The Fatty Bao. “We try and visit a new restaurant as often as we can,” says Rajarshi.
The City has also offered him a chance to develop his photography skills. “Bengaluru is strategically placed. With its proximity to natural places like Bandipur and Kabini and historical ones like Hampi, there are many chances for one to travel and click great photographs. Also, any place that you go to in the City, you find people with DSLRs,”
he says.
Even some of the NGOs like Sparsh and Kadesh are close to his heart. “In fact, a committee in IBM released an album in association with Sa Re Ga Ma Pa to build classrooms for these NGOs. I took pictures for the project and have kept in touch with the kids post that too,” he reminisces.
The only problem in the City is traffic, they feel. “However, we as citizens have to take small steps like carpooling to make a larger difference,” he notes.
The children have also embraced the City with open arms. While Tiara joined a playschool recently, Genevra, a big fan of boyband ‘One Direction’ exclaims, “If ‘One Direction’ ever comes to India, Bengaluru is the City that they will perform in!”