The unfolding of a man's character depends to a great extent on the
atmosphere created by his family. Brought up by an ideal mother Chitta
Ranjan came to regard his country as the other self of his mother. The
sweet remembrance of his dear mother brings tears to his eyes and
gives him strength to suffer for his country. His mother was a noble
lady whose sense of duty was exceptional, whose piety exemplary and
fortitude unique. During the evil days of her husband when she could
not even meet her house-hold expenses and had no servants to wait on
her, she did every house-hold work with her own hands and prepared the
meals of her husband and children and other members of the house,
while she herself had to fast now and then for want of food; but all
this time a sweet smile played on her lips. Of her generosity and
liberality we shall here cite an instance. In her house at that time
there lived a poor relation of her husband. This man was a habituated
drunkard. Almost every day whenever he lost his sobriety he used
abusive language to Chitta Ranjan's mother. Bhuban Babu was much
annoyed and wanted to turn him out of the house, but his wife
prevented him by saying that the poor man would then die of starvation
and as for herself she did never mind the man's conduct. She was an
incarnation as it were of sincerity and generosity, to her could
justly be applied the maxim of "weeping with them that weep." In fact
the knowledge of other men's distress drew a flood of tears to her
eyes. She was a fountain of affection which was not reserved only for
her children. One of her husband's friends lost his wife on
child-birth. Chitta Ranjan's mother took charge of the newly-born baby
but unfortunately it did not live long. A few months before her death
at Purulia a poor maid servant of her house fell seriously ill and was
dying for want of diet, she arranged everything for the proper
treatment of the servant and saved the life of the poor woman. She was
always at the bed-side of the poor, was ready to give a helping hand
to the needy and tried her utmost to allay the distress of the
afflicted. No beggar went away disappointed from her door. She never
desired for luxury. She gladly parted with all her ornaments to repay
her husband's debts.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account