Jyoti Brata Roychowdhury: an obituary

Our beloved Mr. J B Roychowdhury recently left for his heavenly abode. He was a much respected person and a true blue Dunlopian and in touch with many through social media until his last breath. We would like to pay homage to this towering personality by sharing his own words. May his soul rest in peace.

Here are some of his Facebook posts

On the photo above

Boro meye r abdar - amar Jonmodine ekta bhalo Seiko wrist watch pathiyeche San Jose theke - oke ghorita pore chobi tule pathate hobe. Wife ke Nursing Home dekhte jabar samoy Nathbou gari te chobita tuleche - meye ke FB te pathiye diyeche . Ebar hath rohoshya uddhar holo?

 On Jha Jha Singh’s hotel

To all my Dunlop descendants let me share with u our first experience of famous Jha Jha Singh.

1970 September - We were a decade old Dunlopians but brand new entrants to Dunlop Sahaganj Compound, occupants of Old Block ghost flat H on the second floor which had a small beautiful terrace attached overlooking the river. Eldest daughter Milly was 8 (now 53) & twins Pompi / Shompi 5 (50 now). Ages declared only to establish it was a 45 year old narration when perhaps many of you were not born even.

Veer Sagar invited us one evening to Sahaganj's Grand Hotel (as he described it, famous for his wits). That was our first ever visit to a Sardarji's Dhaba. In those days, Tarka / Roti used to be served in 'chil ke otha kolai kora sada plate e'. Rita was hesitating (later converted into Dhaba food lover). I still recall late Monu Puranesh / Nikhil Mukherjee's loud calls "Hari " who was Jha Jha's Cook cum serving Bearer.

We all including some expatriates became so fond of Jha Jha Singh food that the Dhaba became part of our evening life of Sahaganj. We used to visit Jha Jha Singh even at 1 am in the night after some party quite often. During my two phases of Dunlop Sahaganj life (1970 - 82 & 1988 - 93) Rita & I had possibly visited the Dhaba with different crowds at least 1000 times. After retirement while visiting the Dhaba few times I never got that old feeling back though a lot of cosmetic changes including cutlery/crockery had taken place. Even now we recall our memory of old Jha Jha Singh with nostalgic warmth.

On Tapan Mukherjee’s post on Flat 189

Dear Tapan - appreciate your superb story telling skill. Truly "our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thoughts". Like ' Quiet flows the Don', quiet flows our Ganga, silent witness of centuries Rise & Fall of Empires, Kingdoms & heritage institutions, on her banks - recent one being Dunlop Sahaganj, India's first Automotive Tyre plant . Compliment you once again for your commendable writing.

On the 30^th Dec 2017 meet that he ultimately could not meet

Dear Tapan - my heartfelt thanks for this memorable "Journey Down the Memory Lane". Amader Dunlop next generation - Mumma/Munia (Basab-Karobi), Mahasweta (Bijon), Ashok-Tutu Das Gupta r boro chele, Debu Gupta r chele o aro onek e mile amader 'fele asha dinguli' r smriti bachiye rakhbar ek sundor prochesta korche year-end Get Together er madhyam e. Ami Mahasweta ke bolbo tomai contact korte Tomar sundor lekha r jonno. Valo theme. Likhe jao.

On his humanitarian side

Brojo : This is the same Zamindar, who said to Brojo in May 1984 that till such time he gets an alternative job/assignment, the family of 4 members of Brojo, would be looked after by this JBda, the great heart and soul - my sincere gratitude
and good wishes goes to him.

JB : Hi Brojo, my highly misunderstood but always well-intentioned & never shrunk to call a spade a spade in public, that valiant fighter has at long last cooled down & now spending a pleasant holiday with his darling daughter Tuli & family at California. I'm missing his oft quoted smiling request after a heated Institute meeting "JB da cholo Club e jai ". Dear Brojo - so happy to see u r spending Quality Family Time in rainy cold climate of California. God bless u all.

And the homages keep pouring in . .

Aniruddha Sen - we were very close in my Sahaganj days. Even before that when he was in Purchasing and I was in Technical, we attended the Technical/Purchasing Liaison Committee meetings every quarter. He was a great organiser. I feel sad for the crumbling Sahaganj edifice. Most stalwarts are gone

Naveen Jain - An era has come to end. He was a great friend and colleague. Always ready to help.

Sourav Ghosh - Was deeply grieved yesterday morning when heard the sad news. JBda was a towering personality and socially was in touch with so many of Dunlop Family member. He was also an inspiration to the next generation of Dunlopians. Yes, he will be missed by all. We convey our deep condolence for the bereaved family. Pray that his soul rests in peace

Kripal Gill - JB sir loved addressing me as SON. Miss him extremely

Tridib Biswas - Very sad to hear the news. End of an era. What a dynamic person he was, earned the respect of so many people for his simple person to person contact beyond his official capacity. Lot of memories are there and I believe al the Dunlopians will feel a vacuum into the core of their hearts. My heartiest homage.

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