Dinner with a West Bengali joint family

Last night we were invited to the home of one of the USIEF gentlemen.  It was an hour trip to the edge of Kolkata.  We would call it suburban now, but in a few years it will be full city.  This man came to West Bengal from east Bengal (now Bangladesh) at partition. They were very poor because they had to leave everything behind. Their original family of eight  lived in an eight by eight room for many years.  They worked hard.  The father has passed.  They now live in the home pictured.  The man from USIEF is the first college educated person in the family.  His sister lives with her husband's family.  He lives here with his mother and four brothers.  Each brother has one child.  The children hope to live in a joint family in their future.  They love it.  

You can't really tell, but the shiny surface is the fourth floor roof! It was a fun evening.  We saw a group of water buffalo walking on a foot path, but too dark then for a photo.