Kolkata :

He was born the same year America released its first 12-reel film, ‘The Birth of a Nation’ and Ranajit Roychowdhury celebrated his 100th birthday on November 6. The former freedom-fighter is embarrassed that Karolbagh Bangiya Samsad, the club he founded in Delhi in 1958, has planned a grand felicitation to mark his “100 fruitful years” at Tapan Theatre come Sunday.

“I guess my birthday was just another day. By living life, we are only going through the motions. I am happy that I’m still active at 100,” the centenarian said.

Roychowdhury was an engineer with CPWD, which he joined in 1942 and was sacked by his Colonial bosses for his political involvement. “In those days everyone was a Gandhian. Though I spinned the charkha, I had met Bapu only once,” he recalls.

He believed the Partition was but a “temporary affair” and the sub-continent would be one again. “Instead, we had to free East Pakistan,” the lean frame, striding along a Salt Lake road, shrugged.

A look at his life shows how much can happen in a century. If Roychowdhury’s infant years were marked by WWI, his youth went through the tumultuous WWII, when Indian soldiers fought on behalf of the British. He talked of these matter-of-factly, even while treasuring his photograph with Nehru.

The former freedom fighter’s nonchalance about the burning political issues is intriguing. “The same intolerance was there earlie. At least, the society is more stable now and India has moved forward,” he said. said the CPWD chief engineer who retired in 1974 (he had been reappointed in 1946).

His reactions to inflation is no different. “When I was born, 38kg of rice cost Rs 2.50 at Narail (his hometown in Bangladesh). My first pay was Rs 150. So what?”

Roychowdhury credits his longevity to a disciplined lifestyle, frugal meals and good sleep. “The secret to a healthy life is not just good diet but nurturing positive thoug-hts,” Roychowdhury said, adding, “I have never thought ill of anyone.”

He loved playing the flute, but gave it up when he lost his wife, Kamala. “I was 80 then. She had been bed-ridden for 20 years. Thanks to my fitness, I could look after her till the end,” he added. sighed, looking out of the window of his neatly laid out living room on the ground floor of his AC block residence.

The rest of his schedule has remained more or less constant: regular exercise, eating fruits and vegetables and making sure he doesn’t consume plant and animal protein together. His English and Bengali dailies have remained unchanged. He does know about whatsapp, but doesn’t care to use his cell phone. “I am not tuned to mobile sets. For me, the landline works better,” said Roychowdhury, recalling the pre- Sam Pitroda era when the telephone couldn’t be taken for granted. “The life we lead now is better,” he mused, referring to his daily conversations with his eldest (71-year-old) daughter in Mumbai. Three of his five daughters live in the US, and son, Bikramjit, a retired IIT engineer, is on the first floor.

And There is one passion Roychowdhury has stuck to: writing. The best of his published works are his autobiographies on the three stages of his life. “Can’t concentrate enough to wrap up the fourth: ‘Shesh Prahar’ (the last hour)”, I don’t think it’ll be printed,” he laughed.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Kolkata / by Ajanta Chakraborty, TNN / November 20th, 2015