Ganapati's father

Ganapati’s father was extremely well-respected in the village where he lived. When he retired from his job as chief inspector of the Assam-Bengal railway line, he opened up a bank in Chittagong. The bank was inside a very grand and beautiful building. The name of this bank was “Griha Lakshmi,” which means “House of Lakshmi.”

Ganapati’s father worked at the bank, along with Ganapati’s maternal uncle and Ganapati’s brother Ananta. The bank had four or five small extra rooms where they used to sleep overnight during the week. Ganapati’s cousin, Suren, who was about fifteen or twenty years older than Ganapati, would also sleep at the bank. Then, on the weekend, they would return to their family in the village by boat.