Satyajit Ray: as I remember him
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Supurna Sinha
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I had got to know Satyajit Ray through my parents. He had come to our house 
as a guest one evening when I was about six or seven years old. I don't remember that
evening very well. All I remember is that, our visitor was a tall gentleman and that 
our pet kitten had climbed on to his shoulder and had seated herself there throughout the 
evening! I did not go very near him as I used to be quite shy as a little girl.

Later on, when I was about ten or eleven years old I had once gone to Satyajit Ray's place 
with my mother. I had taken my drawing book along. He was seated on a chair in one corner of 
his enormous living room. As he leafed through my drawing book he remarked : 
``The drawings are rather mature!''At one point he stopped and asked 
``How have you made this one ?''I said ``I used a light shade of pastel, 
then I covered it with a coating of a darker shade pastel and then
I scratched the upper layer with a paper pin.'' He said ``Great ! I learnt a new technique 
from you.''

Our family then moved to Santiniketan and we spent a few years there. My father Surajit 
Sinha was the Vice Chancellor of Visva Bharati at that time. Satyajit Ray, Bala Saraswati
and Mother Teresa received the Deshikottama one year. Satyajit Ray and Bala Saraswati 
had come to our place at that time. My father and Ray had studied in the same school - 
``Ballygunj Government School''. Ray told us many humourous anecdotes from his school days.
He was a very simple man. However, there was something serious about his personality - one
felt a bit awkward being very close to him.

When I was about fourteen, my father's books ``Tribes and Indian Civilization'' and 
``Ascetics of Kashi (written with Baidyanath Saraswati) '' were about to come out. 
My mother and I decided to design the book jackets. I composed the drawings, 
colour schemes and layouts and my mother finalized 
the drawings. The book jacket for ``Tribes and Indian Civilization'' worked out as planned. 
However, when the book ``Ascetics of Kashi''came out we found that our design had been put 
on the back jacket and the front jacket had been designed by someone else in a completely 
different style ! We were rather taken aback. We went to Ray's place to show him the 
jacket designs. He  appreciated the jacket design of ``Tribes and Indian Civilization''. 
When we handed over the book `` Ascetics of Kashi'' we showed him
the design on the back jacket that my mother and I had made. He said `` This is great!''
Then he looked at the front jacket and exclaimed ``But what is this?'' Although I was his 
daughter's age, he used to treat me as his equal. Now I realise how much fuller my
life has been after interacting with him. In later years I have studied Physics- but `Art'
has always attracted me and the appreciation and encouragement I have got from this great
man has been a constant source of inspiration.

A few years later when `Hirok Rajar Deshe' was released I liked the music in that film
very much. In that context I had sent Satyajit Ray a letter about the background music
in his films. Here I have included Ray's  response to my letter. ( Ray has used my pet 
name Tultul to address me in the letter). We again notice the respect and care with which
he had replied - that too, in the midst of a very busy schedule. It was around the time 
when ``Piku'' and ``Sadgati'' were about to get released.

I had once gone to Satyajit Ray's place with my parents to show him photographs of 
sculptures made by the daily wage labourer artist Jeeban Dolui. He was composing the script
of ``Ghare Baire'' at that time. Some firm had made a special stand for him to work on,
as he was suffering from backache at that time. He showed us how the stand worked with
a childlike enthusiasm. I noticed the intricate details of the drawings next to words in
his script notebook ! He looked at the photographs of Jeebon Dolui's sculptures and said
``Exquisite! This is certainly not conventional folk art. What amazing creations- every
sculpture has a distinct expression ! Even to this day when I take a piece of paper I have
a hard time coming up with a theme to draw !'' Then he went on to say ``As an art student in
Kala Bhavan in Santiniketan, once I had come across a painting 
of a bison from the Altamira caves. What power there is in that bison's posture ! 
That day I made up my mind never to take up art as a 
profession. If one could create such a great painting so many thousand years back, there is 
no way that I can create anything comparable so many years later ! '' Those of you who have
seen Ray's ``Agantuk ( The Stranger)'' may have noticed that Ray had said exactly these 
words through the character of the stranger played by Utpal Dutt. Satyajit Ray used to 
talk about the primitive tribes with my anthropologist father - in fact I see some of my
father in the character of the stranger.

Ray's door used to carry the sign ``Please do not disturb''. That may have given some people
the misleading impression that he didn't like to get too close to people - perhaps he was a 
bit snobbish. In fact, once the famous artist Gopal Ghose told us `` Manik has written -
Do not enter (!) - It won't be possible for me to put up a sign like that !'' However,
I have never felt that Satyajit Ray was snobbish. He was certainly aware of his talents
and his honesty as an artist. He didn't waste any time. That's why he has been able
to leave behind so many beautiful creations for us to enjoy!