Sudipta Bhawmik

This week one of our very close friends, Siddharta Dutta, passed away.
Siddharta-da, popularly known as Ashi-da, was one of the most culturally and socially active Bengalees of this region. Many of us have seen him perform on stage, sometimes as an actor, sometimes as a singer and sometimes both. His performances in plays like Chhutir-Phande, Byapika Biday, Antony Phiringi, Tulkalam, Kenaram Becharam will be remembered by many theater lovers. He was a multi-talented person who, besides acting and singing, was also an excellent writer of short stories, essays and plays. His wide knowledge base and refined taste in the arts was always reflected in his work.

My acquaintance with Ashi-da was primarily through theater. We did several plays together, plays like Ferari Fouz, Tul-Kalam, Kenaram Becharam and few others. He was one of the most sincere actors that I have worked with in this country. He always arrived on time at the rehearsals, and he was always the first to memorize his lines, when we all were struggling. A great team player, Ashi-da never grudged to work under the direction of his juniors and gave his best for the success of the project. And his wit and sense of humour was something to be experienced. It was people like Ashi-da, from whom I derived the inspiration to survive culturally in this country. He demonstrated that creative people can find their stage anywhere in the world, all you need is few like minded friends.

We all will be missing Ashi-da. On behalf of all of us, I’d like to extend our deepest condolences to Banani-di and the rest of Ashi-da’s family. I pray that his soul rests in peace.