Suman Sengupta

---

I met Suman Sengupta for the first time in the year 2009. We were part of Bratya Basu's theatre group called BRATYOJON. We were staging the play RUDDHASANGEET at that time. The play was a huge success and every where we went with it, all our shows were performed in front of full houses. We performed at most of the theatre halls in Calcutta. Also went to other places in Bengal to perform. We also went to Bhopal and New Delhi. In Bhopal we performed at the Rang Mahotsav Festival and in New Delhi we performed at the National School of Drama.

Then after some time Suman left the group. I also left the group eventually. We went in different directions but our friendship remained intact. We kept in touch over phone and kept on meeting each other from time to time. Our favourite hang out street was obviously Park Street. We used to meet up at Music World, Olypub, Trincas, Some-Place-Else etc. We also used to meet at Nandan during the Calcutta Film Festival every year. He was a big movie buff. He used to watch as many films as possible. We used to discuss about movies all the time. Not only Indian films, we both used to watch a lot of international cinema also.  

On 31st December 2015 I went to his house in Salt Lake for the New Year Party. It was a nice house party organised by him. The food was tasty and there was no shortage of alcohol. We partied till around 3 a.m. Then from his house some of us went to another friend's house which was nearby to have tequila shots. We came back to Suman's house after more than an hour. That night I did not come back to my home and I slept in Suman's house. The next morning I met his dog. The dog really liked me a lot and I played with the dog on the terrace. Then me and Suman had a lovely breakfast and adda. 

Once I took Suman to the Royal Calcutta Turf Club. It was his first time at RCTC. Another friend also joined us there. Suman always wanted to see live horse racing but never had the opportunity. He was really thrilled to be there. He also put some bets on the horses and also made a small profit. It was a lovely day at the races.

A few years back he started working at an event management company. His office was inside Karnani Mansion at Park Street. I used to visit him regularly. After office hours we used to meet up regularly at the bars and pubs in Park Street. Sometimes I used to go to Apeejay House for my own office work. Then I would tell him in advance that I was going there and then we would meet for lunch.

During Durga Puja 2018, on Saptami I went to Suman's house with another friend. From there we went to the newly opened Jaisalmer restaurant at Sector Five in Salt Lake. We had a yummilicious lunch there. After lunch we went for pandal hopping. We went to all the major puja pandals in Salt Lake including FD Block. That year FD Block had a Jurassic Park themed pandal. It was amazing.

Today afternoon a friend called me twice. I was sleeping at that time. I woke up in the evening and called him back. He informed me that Suman has passed away in the morning. I was shocked due to this news. He told me that Suman was infected with corona virus and he was hospitalised for the last few days. But his fight with death ended today morning. I called up some of our other mutual friends and they also confirmed this news. Suman was around 42 years old. May His soul rest in peace. 

---