In Memoriam

It started on June 15th,2010... continued till January 16th,2011.

The book ended for Nitin Ganguly...the book had 56 chapters... a chapter is a year.... Ups n downs, shallow and depth, love and hate.... but all in all a very positive life..

Indeed he made his book "King Size".

I think im gonna describe those 8months... how we felt, how he felt, how he coped up, how we coped with the situation.

May 2010.

We celebrated Rabindra Jayanti..my dad was hail and hearty.

June 2010.

He was due a hernia operation;prior to that his left arm inflated like a balloon which got as hard as a brick as well. Heaps of tests n blood works directed the result towards the Grand Disease -- Cancer.

It was spotted that his left lung n some lymph nodes were affected, it was stage 3B.

July 2010.

After a tussle about where to start n carry on with his prognosis we had to settle to his terms. He started his doses of Chemotherapy in Kolkata. He was doing great with the first 3 chemos. He even joined office.

The symptoms or rather the side-effects of chemo had him bed ridden. He had lots of cramps..n muscle sprains n tremendous body ache.

After the 3rd chemo....he started loosing his hair...his eyebrows...

His appearance did change...but we thought he was getting better...n He ws the only person i hve ever seen so eager to take chemos! thts my dad...always had this funny bone in him!!

August 2010.

His health started to deteriorate... he become lean n thin...

I remember of an incident; where he had to alter his trousers, so he went to his tailor. This tailor person usually took more than 3weeks to deliver anything..no matter wht he was given to sew or cut.

So my dad...went n said...."Dekho Master amar cancer hoeyche...tai ektu taratari diyo nahole office jete parbona...lungi pore jete hobe..ar writer's e ja checking hocche amaye moabadi bhable ar dhukteo debena."

After this incident, Master did give him his altered trousers in a day... My dad said "O bhablo canshaar (cancer) hoeyche maal tar...age diyei di..kobe potol tule boshbe, tai ar deri na kore diyei dilo"

September 2010

The CT Scan report showed that the chemo worked. So the 4th chemo was on its way. Oh by the way! did i mention he loved his rooms in the Woodburn ward (the v.i.p ward in PG Hospital) n he used to ask everyone to come n not visit him but look at his room which ws huge n spacious!

October 2010

The Festive season was his favorite, only this time he couldnt visit the pandals. He was home n thanks to the hyper reality of the media...he was almost there in each n every pandal through Television..lol!! Thn the 5th chemo.... Another significant change that happnd durin this month was the death of my jethi [dad's boudi], who ws suffering from breast cancer as well. My dad dint take it easily...he was associating himself with jethi.

November 2010

His last chemo...the 6th. Health was pretty much deteriorated. He couldnt eat nything, he was getting agitated n irritated on mom n me... he was going into denial...

December 2010

The CT reports showed 'Clinical Deterioration'. His stage had spreaded to 4. Both lungs got infected n the lymph nodes were swelled like tennis balls. Docs said the last 3 chemo dint work.

A second line of treatment had to be followed now.

Along with these he started hyperventilating, he got a chest infection n breathing obstruction started. We had to admit him to the hospital.

There he was given blood, plasma n other stuffs.

25th Dec he returned home. I baked him a cake...his favorite...Chocolate Cake....he Loved it. My dad was a sweet-tooth person.

NEW YEAR Celebration was awesome! mom cooked his favorite dinner...n i made his favorite dessert.

January 2011

He was apparently recovering. But somehow i never had my hopes high.

One of the incidents i remember was that...he was forced fed by me. So it happnd like this that.... i was feeding him his lunch..n he was like "ami khabo na!!!!!" just like a tantrum child; so whnever he used to say 'khabo NA' i used to put a spoonful of mushed food in his mouth...n that used to infuriate him!

It was 5th Jan...around 6.30pm. My dad n ma were sitting n watching some bangla programme n my dad was criticizing the singers, who sing with a fake accent with their jaws clamped together specially while singing the Rabindrasangeet. Nywy, my mom saw his eyes getting all blank n his face contorted. My mom did understand it was some kind of stroke but she went into denial. She called me up around 7pm n i almost rushed home.

When i saw my dad his face was twisted, left lower lip hung n he lost his voice. He had to be immediately admitted to the ICU. He kept on deteriorating,he spent 8days unconscious or mostly semiconscious.

On 16th Jan, a single call at 16.30pm from the hospital gave us the news. My dad expired at 16.15pm.

So this was the medical journey which he took... we were with him...sometimes we got agitated, sometimes sad, sometimes cherishing his jokes n other times caring n nursing him like a child.

My dad was the cultural hub...an almost living legend... a very Positive person and the Best Irrational, Haphazard sweetheart. He had the best PR abilities(public relations). I would love to follow his footsteps...

We all miss u..

Love you...