I have known the gentleman since I was 6, he is 89 years young now and bubbling with life. We were neighbours aeons ago, his daughter a school friend.
I met him after almost 30 years. His home is just the same as I must have seen it decades ago, impeccably maintained, with the same familiar furniture and painted artworks of his late wife. Pictures of dear Aunty in every nook and corner speak how fond he must have been of her.
Uncle stays with his brothers and sisters who are all by the way 70 plus. So we talked about his zest for life, he told me about the 4 destitute children he has brought up and made them into able self-reliant human beings. Then he spoke of a Peahen who had once walked into their Kailash Colony Home compound and laid five eggs, the chicks hatched and the Peahen could be seen strutting around their compound every day.
The Big bird and her chicks were much talked about in this Bengali household… one day the Peahen vanished and has been dearly missed ever since.
I told him about how I came to be a Mosaic Artist, and he was quick to request me to make him a Mosaic Peacock for his home exterior. The bird I call Piku flew home today to the home of Gp Capt (Retd) Ashok Ray! @ Kailash Colony
