Polls in US, fingers crossed in Barasat

BARASAT: Flat no. 205 at Sonali Apartment in Barasat is agog with excitement. Relatives from Bongaon have begun to assemble at the house as it gears up for a marathon TV viewing session that will begin late Tuesday night and conclude some time on Wednesday afternoon. Till then, they will all be glued to one channel with bated breath.
Welcome to the Dey flat in a none-too-remarkable building at Barasat’s Dak Bungalow More, popularly called Obama House due to the Ratna and Swapan Dey’s link to the White House.Ratna’s paternal cousin Rachana ‘Ruchi’ Grab nee Bhowmick is the director of strategic initiatives in the Obama administration since 2013. And if the Democratic Party extends its tenure with a win for Hillary Clinton, Ruchi is tipped to bag an even more plum post in the next administration.
The Deys cannot wait for Wednesday when the poll results are declared. Swapan, who has been tracking the developments in the US over television as well as phone conversations with Ruchi's father Dilip who lives in Nashville, predicts Hillary will win but acknowledges it will be a fight till the end.
“As the gap narrowed, our anxiety has increased. We have been watching CNN these days and it will remain so till Wednesday evening,” said Swapan.
Ratna’s cousins arrived at the flat on Monday and will stay over to follow the fortunes of Clinton and their ‘American’ cousin. Ruchi had last visited the Barasat flat in 2004 although her elder sister Sonali and parents Dilip and Subhalakshmi had visited during another cousin Dipak’s wedding. Incidentally, Sonali was Barack Obama’s classmate. She as well as Ruchi were born in the US after their parents migrated there in 1966.
During her visit to Barasat in 2004, Ruchi had gone around in Swapan’s scooter. Debasmita, a BCom final year student and Ratna's daughter, used to call her ‘Luchi kakima’ after watching her gobble luchis as though they were rosogollas.