Netaji’s acquaintance in Kurseong on her deathbed without govt recognition

Pramod Giri, HT, 24 Nov 2016, GIDDHA PAHAR (KURSEONG): Moti Maya Lepcha, who is now in her late 80s and among the few surviving acquaintances of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, is bedridden for months. A large section of Hill residents believes that the Lepcha family’s contribution to the freedom struggle will be forgotten unless the government recognises her role.

Moti Maya was nine years old when Netaji was placed under house arrest by the British government in 1936 at Giddha Pahar in the house owned by his elder brother Sarat Chandra Bose. She has many memories of Netaji who she used to call Kaka Babu.

She was appointed as a gardener by the Left Front government when the house was converted into Netaji Museum and Centre for Studies in Himalayan Languages, Society and Culture in 2000. Moti Maya’s father, Kalu Singh Lepcha, was the chowkidar (caretaker) of the house long before Sarat Bose bought it from a British family. After the house was purchased by the Bose family, Kalu Singh’s family became friends with the owners.

Netaji stayed in this house for the six months he was under house arrest and had written his speech for the Haripura Congress meeting here. Netaji was the Congress president in 1938-1939.

Though Kalu Singh, who was Netaji’s confidante, regularly helped him carry out his work and acted as his informer, it was Moti Maya Lepcha who selflessly continued taking care of the house and properties of the Bose family.

Her neighbours said that the grand old lady is counting her days while she has been left unattended by those in power and the authorities. Her health deteriorated after she fractured her hip in 2014.

Moti Maya, who can hardly speak now, said, “The pain is unbearable.”

She still remembers the days when the Bose family used to send them Rs 50 per month or the times she used to play hide and seek with Netaji. She also recollects her association not just with the freedom fighter but his nieces Mira, Gita, Roma and Chitra. Some of the Bose family members visit her occasionally.

She received some recognition in 1996 during Netaji’s birth centenary celebrations. She was felicitated in different places and in Siliguri she was even driven around the town in a chariot.

Though Moti Maya’s daughter-in-law helps her carry out her work as a gardener, the family is left without any land. They have no title right on the land and house in which Moti Maya and her family live near the museum.

Moti Maya’s daughter Pramila Lepcha, who is a graduate and teaches in a private English school, said, “Though my grandfather and mother served the Netaji family, protected their properties and carried out important tasks during the freedom struggle, their selfless contributions have not been recognised.”

Ganesh Pradhan, the officerin-charge of Netaji Museum, agrees that Moti Maya and her family deserve recognition.