TRIPTY BHATTACHARYYA MEMORIAL TRUST

The trust was conceptualized by Mr. Arnab Bhattacharyya (Founder) and Dr. Pallab Kumar Bhattacharyya after they lost their mother, Mrs. Tripty Bhattacharyya, to Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Late Tripty Bhattacharyya had planted the seeds of love, ethics and principles in her sons, which motivated the formation of the trust.  

An affectionate mother with high intellectual ability in the field of Bengali literature, Tripty Bhattacharyya was an avid Tagore scholar, who penned three books containing essays and short poems. However, the wrath of AD resulted in her severe cognitive decline and memory loss. She gradually lost her physical mobility, control of urine and bowel functions and ability to swallow, and eventually she exhaled her last breath.

Arnab Bhattacharyya, the elder son, dedicated all his time in providing loving and devoted care to his mother. Especially during the Covid period, he was the sole caregiver for more than 2 years. He was there every step of the way with his mother and witnessed firsthand the phases of this debilitating neurodegenerative disease. He saw how his mother’s whole existence became dependent on him and how she gradually became like a child with no thought-process of her own. Despite his constant interactions and involvement with her, she eventually entered a phase of not even recognizing her own son.

Pallab Bhattacharyya, the younger son residing in the USA, realized during his daily telephone calls to his mother how over time, the voice on the other side of the phone changed from some meaningless but complete sentences to meaningless incomplete sentences to incoherent words to total silence.

Every step of the way, the sons felt the silent grief of their father, Mr. Sanat Kumar Bhattacharyya, who was witnessing his companion of about 60 years gradually entering into a world of hollowness. He saw his companion, who had the patience and courage of pursuing and obtaining Master of Arts in Bengali at the age of 50, who was an avid crossword solver, who would go to events to perform Rabindrasangeet, and above all would have friendly altercations with him, getting herself in a cocoon with almost no purpose.

But deep inside, both sons sensed the emotion and feeling of love in their Mamoni, which would be manifested by her mention of loving kiss to her sons. But at some point that too stopped and thus ended the journey that had started exactly 82 years ago in the town of Narail of current Bangladesh in the banks of the river Chitra.

However, that was only the beginning. The sons realized that to honor their mother’s legacy, they had to do something so that they could serve individuals suffering from AD. Pallab Bhattacharyya was previously performing high precision metabolite measurement over large brain regions. With an objective of early detection of the disease, he is now implementing this method in AD research so that years down the road nobody suffers like their Mamoni. The brothers found out that while a lot of research and clinical progress have been made to understand the disease and mitigate its ill effects, a lot more is yet to be done. They also noted lack of proper care for people with AD, and more so deficit of consciousness that elderly people with AD have just as much purpose in life as the general healthy population, and should not be ignored.

With support of the family members and well wishers, the brothers decided to form an Alzheimer’s Day Care & Research Centre  in memory of their late mother, from where the journey of TRIPTY BHATTACHARYYA MEMORIAL TRUST started  with a holistic approach as a registered nonprofit charitable trust.

Launching a project of this magnitude needed inspiration and moral support, which came aplenty from family and friends who loved and admired Tripty Bhattacharyya for who she was. Her two elder brothers, Mr. Anil Baran Chakraborty and Mr. Tushar Chakraborty (along with their families), who had to endure the loss of their beloved youngest sister (chhoto bon), gave their wholehearted blessings. Her daughter-in-law in the USA, Priya Raman, who was coping with the loss of her father to Covid from just a year earlier, silently stood by the brothers in this endeavour. Priya’s mother Mrs. Anima Raman, who was unable to bid goodbye to her husband (due to Covid restrictions), poured her blessings to honor Tripty Bhattacharyya (her “beyaan”) — she knew very well how much supportive her husband, Mr. Sanker Raman, would have been of the project. Blessings were showered upon Arnab  & Pallab by Mrs. Alpana Bhattacharya, sister-in-law of Tripty Bhattacharyya, along with all senior family members. Family friends, Mr. and Mrs. Ghosh (parents of Subha Ghosh Dastidar), spontaneously came forward and blessed the venture. In addition, all employees and workers of Pratyay and Bhattacharyya & Associates instantaneously jumped at the cause in memory of their beloved “Mashima”.