Growing up with BOITHOKI.

BOITHOKI. The mere mention of this word conjures up images of good food.For those who don't know it's a club,of Bengali's in Pune, who met up every 3 weeks for good fun and without doubt, good food. There used to be some 35 odd members who started this group in the late 60's. My parents were part of it. As i was born in '73 I automatically grew up among these people. Surprisingly , a number of it's members had children in the same year. So In 1973 Boithok's strenght grew as it started accommodating new members. Looking back, I can safely say Boithoki was a major influence in my life. Some of my best and closest friends are still from this group. Boithoki has always given me a sense of 'belonging'.

There were five major groups in Boithoki. The father's sat together in the same room with the mother's but somehow there used to be a clear demarcation in territory. Next came older sibling group .All of us had older brother's or sister's. They kind of looked down their noses at us and we were seldom allowed to be in their group. The next was my group. We were the 'chillerpatti', if u know what I mean. But that changed as time went by. Some of the younger couples now had children and suddenly we were promoted.The toddlers now became the 'chillerpatti'.

We celebrated all the festivals in the Hindu calender and never missed the opportunity to celebrate New Year together. My best picnics have been with this group.The father's cooked (for a change) and the mother's sat back relaxing and enjoying the day. The picnics always ended with a game.I can still see all of us sitting under trees with a scrap of paper, cancelling the numbers being called out, hoping to win the,'jaldi five' or 'first row'. We have taken part in plays and dance dramas, performed in front of huge audiences and won accolades for the performance. Even our parents have put up grand shows and there was a time when all the Bengali's in Pune who attended the Congress Bhawan Durga Puja (and I am sure many more)knew Boithoki.Such was it's fame.

I could go on writing forever but duty calls , so I end this with a hope that somehow,someday I am able to provide my daughter with the same sense of 'belonging'.