Nobel laureate's mother welcomes son home!

Nirmala Banerjee is elated that her Nobel laureate son, Abhijit, is coming home. But she’s not too happy with the attention the visit is garnering. “My son is coming home to meet his mother and that too for just a day. I don’t even know how long he’ll be able to stay home, as I have no idea about his schedule. So, what’s all this fuss about? There are people waiting in front of our house.

I’m getting an unending number of calls. I’m a very private person and find all this attention unnecessary. He’s been keeping so busy that all I could ask him till now was whether he needs the car to pick him up from the airport. He said, ‘Gaadi pathiyo na, Ma’ and added that it has been taken care of,” she told us.

It took a lot of prodding before she opened up about her plans for her son and daughter-in-law. “He had asked me, ‘Bhalo cha kine diyo’. So, I’ve bought a pack of good Darjeeling tea for him. As for Esther, I’m gifting her the beautiful pink Baluchari sari that CM Mamata Banerjee gave me when she came home recently,” she said, adding that dinner will comprise Abhijit’s favourite dishes. “The menu for tonight’s dinner is bhaat, kebabs, rui maachher kalia, muri ghonto, chutney and payesh. Ilish ta kal dupure hobey,” she signed off.

Brothers catch up

Despite his brother’s packed schedule, Aniruddha Banerjee has managed to spend some quality time with Abhijit ever since he landed in New Delhi. “We had a lot to catch up on. From our relatives, friends to the experience of winning the Nobel Prize — we discussed it all. He was jetlagged when he reached and has a sore throat too, thanks to all the talking he has been doing lately. But I got to meet him at dinner parties hosted by friends. Apart from the regular sibling banter, we also discussed about our upcoming trip to Phuket for New Year’s,” he told CT. Aniruddha, who rang in his birthday on October 8, was also delighted to receive a gift that Abhijit brought for him.