Bobby Chakraborty, who is a senior and popular actor/activist/acting coach from Kolkata, lost his father Dr.Nityananda Chakraborty on 31st May 2024,due to severe cardio-respiratory failure at the age of 79.
Bobby shared an open letter with us, which he has written to his beloved father, who is his guardian angel,up in the heaven.
“My dearest Baba…my life comes to full circle of irony, as I held you in my lap, tightly in my arms as you breathed your last, ironically similar to the instance of you being the 1st person to take me on your lap,after my birth!
People who have known you and me will vouch for the fact that I am a carbon copy of you as as person. Right from childhood I have been overwhelmed by your simplicity, honesty, affection, discipline, punctuality, commitment , hardwork and practicality. No wonder did I imbibe the same from you with all my pleasure, satisfaction and pride.
You had always supported my artistic yet risky decision of leaving a marine engineer’s profession and jump into an insecured profession of an actor, much to the dismay of Ma. Perhaps because you yourself were an actor in your youth, hence you could rightly understand my passion of being one myself. This photo of yours in our drawing room,taken during the screen test of the Bollywood movie ‘April Fool’ has always transported me to a world of dreams. You were my biggest fan as well as the harshest critic of my acting.
The way I drew the character of the upright and honest ‘Tridib’ in my mind…as I heard the first narration for Mr. Ravi Ojha’s popular daily soap ‘Shokhi’ …was very much with the reflection of you as a person on the canvass…Simple…Uncomplicated…Honest to the core … Loyal… Protective… Loving… Affectionate…and a man of Principles! I am proud to play you onscreen!
You were the first person I would forward any and every press article to my credit. You were the only person to read every word of it and give an honest, unbiased feedback.
You were the biggest supporter of My Anti Addiction Campaign and were the proudest for my fight for the youth against addiction.
I don’t have anyone else with whom I can analyze Uttam Kumar and his films over our dinner together.
I don’t have anyone else who will keep on messaging me if I am late or caught up somewhere.
Me and Ma are still processing your absence. We are still in a denial mode of your physical disappearance from our lives.
I can feel you all around me. I am waking up in the middle of the night,hearing you calling me. I am hearing the metallic sound of your walking stick. I can smell your perfume. I can still feel your warm soft hands. I am trying not to cry but my eyes are watering involuntary. There is a heaviness in my chest which isn’t subsiding. An eerie silence is present between me and Ma, as we are totally in a journey down the memory lane with you Baba.
Rest in Peace wherever you are. Keep blessing, keep guiding, keep protecting us as you always have. I am happy that I could take good care of you till your last moment. I am proud to be your son.”