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| Illustration: Sumitro Basak | |
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Rukmini Saha
Age: 13
Block: CG
I will gift my brother: My 12-year-old cousin Rishav Mukherjee likes cricket so maybe I’ll give him a cricket game on PlayStation.
I hope my brother gives me: It’s too much to ask for but I wish he could give me an all expense-paid ticket to Paris.
I fear my brother will give me: A pink teddy bear. I’m really not into girly things and I’m not a kid anymore either. If he gives me a teddy I’ll cancel his PlayStation game and give him a packet of ketchup instead.
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Debadrita Bhowmick
Age: 16 years
Block: EE
I will gift my brother: A box of chocolates or a pen.
I hope my brother gives me: A phuchka treat. But then generally I don’t have any expectations from him.
I fear my brother will give me: Chocolates. I neither eat nor like them.
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Indrani Acharyya
Age: 48 years
Block: Sourav Abasan, ED Block
I will gift my brothers: T-shirts, panjabis and an old laminated family photograph.
I hope my brothers give me: A purse. But I’ll be happy with whatever they give me.
I fear my brothers will give me: Junk jewellery. I’ve got plenty of that already and due to sentimental reasons, I would have to wear what they gift me the next time I visit them.
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Rahul Dutta
Age: 55 years
Block: CA
I will gift my sisters: A sari each
I hope my sisters give me: Quality time together. It is their presence that I look forward to on Bhai Phota.
I fear my sisters will give me: Shirt piece or pant piece as then I’ll have to get them stitched at the tailor’s, shelling out money from my own pocket.
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Arka Bose
Age: 21 years
Block: Purbachal 4R
I will gift my sisters: Money because this year I’m down with Hepatitis A and won’t be able to go get gifts for them.
I hope my sisters give me: An external hard drive as my laptop is running out of space.
I fear my sisters will give me: A football as I own plenty of them.
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Moumita Paul
Age: 36 years
Block: AC
I will gift my brothers: Formal shirts
I hope my brothers give me: The privilege to give them a phota as everyone is very busy nowadays. I’ll be happy with whatever I get.
I fear my brothers will give me: Cosmetics or perfumes as all cosmetics do not suit my skin and I may not like the perfume. So I’ll have to accept the gifts without being able to use them.
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Gouri Saha
Age: 70
Block: CG
I will gift my brothers: I have three brothers and I usually gift them as well as their wives. This year it will be aftershave for the men and body spray for the ladies.
I hope my brothers give me: I just want them to be healthy and happy.
I fear my brothers will give me: Showpieces. I’m so tired of receiving showpieces that I have forbidden my relatives and friends from giving me any. In fact, a few years ago I had to invite all my relatives to come and take home any showpiece they liked from my ever-increasing collection.
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Tirthakamal Mitra
Age: 60 years
Block: AE
I will gift my sister: An embroidered sari
I hope my sister gives me: Home-cooked food as she is an excellent cook
I fear my sister will give me: Clothes. Who knows if the material and fitting would suit me or not?
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Prithwiraj Biswas
Age: 42 years
Block: AJ
I will gift my sister: Formal clothes apart from lots of love.
I hope my sister gives me: Her prayers and good wishes.
I fear my sister will give me: A black T-shirt. I’ve lost count of black T-shirts in my wardrobe.
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Chitra Chakraborty
Age: 49 years
Block: Labony Estate
I will gift my brother: A T-shirt
I hope my brother gives me: Good books on Bengali literature
I fear my brother will give me: Expensive jewellery because I won’t be able to wear them regularly. I don’t have a fascination for them either.
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Souvik Ghosh
Age: 28 years
Block: Karunamoyee
I will gift my sisters: Everything from Barbies to mobile phones, depending on their age.
I hope my sisters give me: Love and blessings apart from sweets as I’ve a sweet-tooth.
I fear my sisters will give me: Rabindrasangeet CDs. I’m not really into that kind of music.
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Rajarshi Majumder
Age: 32 years
Block: AJ
I will gift my sister: Novels on relationships
I hope my sister gives me: Perfumes or books
I fear my sister will give me: A showpiece as I feel it is a gift for the house and not for me.
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Tathagata Mukherjee
Age: 42 years
Block: EE
I will gift my sisters: Contemporary fiction titles.
I hope my sisters give me: Comfortable T-shirts.
I fear my sisters will give me: Music CDs. I might not like the music. Pant pieces are a terrible idea too. Only the other day, I went to the tailor to give my measurements for a pair for trousers, the material for which I was gifted 12 years back.
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Arun Kumar Dutta
Age: 65 years
Block: AC Block, New Town
I will gift my sister: A handloom (tant) sari. There are no good sari shops in New Town so we’ll go to College Street to pick it up. My wife will help me make the choice.
I hope my sister gives me: Just her love.
I fear my sister will give me: Dress material for trousers. I know this is the most popular gift among Bengalis but I got about five or six of them for the Puja and am yet to get any tailored.
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Indranil Bagchi
Age: 23 years
Block: AH
I will gift my sister: A box of chocolates.
I hope my sister gives me: Love and support through the year.
I fear my sister will give me: Edibles as they last only till they are consumed.
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Soham Chakraborty
Age: 27
Block: ED
What I will gift my sister: I want to gift a bottle of wine as being a research scholar she is the studious sort and I want her to open up.
I hope my siblings give me: As I am immersed in work all the time and don’t get the time to socialise much I want her to find me my soulmate.
I fear my sister will give me: A book. I would hate getting one as a gift on Bhai Phota.
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Amrita Chakraborty
Age: 31
Block: ED
What I will gift my brother: A bottle of perfume, possibly Calvin Klein Man.
I hope my brother gives me: A nicely designed sari.
I fear my sister will give me: A bunch of flowers as I am allergic to pollen and I don’t want to end up sneezing throughout the day.
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Somashree Ghatak
Age: 27
Block: Purbachal Cluster XI
What I will gift my brother: My brother likes to collect timepieces and I will give him a trendy watch this year.
I hope my brother gives me: A pair of pearl earrings.
I fear my brother will give me: A box of chocolates. I can afford chocolates myself so I want something better from him.
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Saptarshi Ghatak
Age: 25
Block: Purbachal Cluster 11
What I will gift my sister: Like every year, I will give my sister some cash so that she can buy anything she wants to. She is choosy and I don’t want to take the risk of giving her a “bad” gift. Who knows she might set my hair on fire if she doesn’t like it!
I hope my sister gives me: Some cash. I want to splurge it on a new pair of shoes.
I fear my sister will give me: A pen. I have at least 10 pens that I got as gifts — all lying unused.
Inputs from Aniket Sil
