Following in the true British tradition of foolhardy, stiff upper
lipiness, the Curry Life team went on a walking tour, braving torrential rains,
lightning bolts, and murky floods, to immerse ourselves (figuratively speaking)
in the history of Kolkata and some of the less well-known buildings of the British Raj.
As we set off in one of Kolkata’s ubiquitous yellow taxis,
Ritwik, our excellent guide (or explorer) from Calcutta Walks explained a little about the history of Kolkata in
times of the British Raj, and the spirit of Bengal .
(Unfortunately, shortly after we disembarked my notebook became a soggy mess,
so if my following summary isn’t wholly accurate I apologise – I can only blame
my poor memory … and Google!).
Over 200 years ago when Calcutta
was the capital of British India , the British
attempted to superimpose some kind of order, perhaps not fully appreciating
the wonderfully chaotic spirit of the city. They settled mainly in the central area around Dalhousie Square
(now BBD Bagh), and began to build on an impressive scale. The result is an
intermingling of styles that includes European, classical Greek, Gothic, and
Mughal architecture. Today, many of the structures of the British Raj are
decaying, crumbling ruins on streets haunted by the ghosts of a bygone age, now
defunct as a handlebar moustache or a pith helmet.
But the city is far from decaying along with its buildings. Heading
into town Ritwik explained about the character of Bengal .
“Bengalis have a reputation for thinking “out of the box”, he told us; “As the
Indian leader Gokhale once famously remarked: ‘What Bengal thinks today, India thinks
tomorrow’”. Kolkata, as the main city of West
Bengal , epitomises that free spirit. Culture plays an
important part in the life of inhabitants and it is the home of artists,
writers, movie makers, and Nobel Laureates. This was the first city on the
subcontinent to have an underground metro. It has the world’s longest-serving
democratically elected communist government. It was the place where the first
girls’ college was founded in India ;
also the first newspaper. The Kolkatan-born director Satyajit Ray ranks as one
of the world’s foremost filmmakers. Poets and celebrated writers – Tagore,
Shankar, Ramakrishna, Vivekananda - are known and read by rich and poor alike, equally proud of their heritage.
The High Court of Kolkata
Kolkata also has a vibrant social life. The area around Park Street is a
thriving melee of bars, restaurants and neon lights. Life pulsates from every
corner. The city and its suburbs are home to around 14.4 million people made up from a melting pot of different cultures and communities including Chinese,
Armenian, Jewish, Tibetans, Dutch, European, Marwari and Anglo Indian. Ritwik told us that it is often said that in Kolkata the Orient and the Occident got married. From a casual interloper’s point of view, they seem to live - if not in complete
wedded bliss – at least in symbiotic harmony.
Before the onset of relentless crowds and traffic we left the
sanctuary of the yellow ambassador taxi to commence the walking part of the
tour and sheltered from the monsoon rain under umbrellas on the corner of Raj
Bhavan and Curzon
Park Ezra
Mansion
Splashing through monsoon floods we paused under the wrought
iron portico of the currency building (formerly the Reserve Bank of India ), where
British coins and money were once produced. The ornate iron gates hold the name
of the foundry where they were made – a reminder of the 18th century
heritage of British wrought iron production. Apparently when ships left India for Britain laden with spices and other
exports some sort of ballast was needed for the return journey so the iron was
used to weight the ships down, as well as being used in construction. Across
the road was the old Telegraph Office, an Italianate building – or more
commonly known as the Dead Letters Office. In 1870 when the first telegraph
connected Britain
to Kolkata, the building served as the central sorting office for incoming mail.
If a letter could not be forwarded due to a wrong address or addressee could
not be found, it was kept in the office. Many letters still lie there amongst mouldering piles of yellowing papers; their stories of family events, of births
and deaths remain, sadly, unread.
 |
| The High Court of Kolkata |
Kolkata also has a vibrant social life. The area around Park Street is a
thriving melee of bars, restaurants and neon lights. Life pulsates from every
corner. The city and its suburbs are home to around 14.4 million people made up from a melting pot of different cultures and communities including Chinese,
Armenian, Jewish, Tibetans, Dutch, European, Marwari and Anglo Indian. Ritwik told us that it is often said that in Kolkata the Orient and the Occident got married. From a casual interloper’s point of view, they seem to live - if not in complete
wedded bliss – at least in symbiotic harmony.
Before the onset of relentless crowds and traffic we left the
sanctuary of the yellow ambassador taxi to commence the walking part of the
tour and sheltered from the monsoon rain under umbrellas on the corner of Raj
Bhavan and Curzon
Park Ezra
Mansion
Splashing through monsoon floods we paused under the wrought
iron portico of the currency building (formerly the Reserve Bank of India ), where
British coins and money were once produced. The ornate iron gates hold the name
of the foundry where they were made – a reminder of the 18th century
heritage of British wrought iron production. Apparently when ships left India for Britain laden with spices and other
exports some sort of ballast was needed for the return journey so the iron was
used to weight the ships down, as well as being used in construction. Across
the road was the old Telegraph Office, an Italianate building – or more
commonly known as the Dead Letters Office. In 1870 when the first telegraph
connected Britain
to Kolkata, the building served as the central sorting office for incoming mail.
If a letter could not be forwarded due to a wrong address or addressee could
not be found, it was kept in the office. Many letters still lie there amongst mouldering piles of yellowing papers; their stories of family events, of births
and deaths remain, sadly, unread.
 |
| Dead Letters Office |
Walking past the bus station we came across a one-armed
elderly man squatting on the pavement with towers of coins before him. His job was
to give out the change to tram conductors. Apparently he has been doing this
for fifteen years and, despite the obvious temptation, has miraculously, never once
been robbed.
At the crossroads of the Old Courthouse Street and British India Street
was the former Great Eastern Hotel, otherwise known as the Auckland Hotel. A
building of opulence and luxury, it was founded by a confectioner, David Wilson
and described as the “best hotel east of Suez ”
by Mark Twain on his voyage along the equator. Designed in the art deco style
the hotel was the hub of Calcutta ’s
social life. “The saying about the clientele was that they were “single and
ready to mingle,” Ritwick told us. It was the venue for the Maharajah’s New
Year parties until the 1950s. Queen Elizabeth 11 stayed there, also Khrushchev.
Allegedly the hotel kitchens manned by the legendary Baruas who had migrated
from Chittagong (now Bangladesh ), to Kolkata, were the
talk of the town. Labour union problems caused hotel to go bankrupt and it was
taken over by the government in 1975. In November 2005 it was privatised and
re-named The LaLit Great Eastern Kolkata. Slow and extensive restoration is now
taking place and there are hopes that it will re-open soon.
.JPG) |
| The former Great Eastern Hotel |
A short trip in the taxi took us to BBD Bagh, formerly Dalhousie Square ,
the heart of the old so-called ‘white town’, and still full of important banks
and businesses. The Writers
Building Calcutta with its high dome and
Ionic-Corinthian pillars.
We paddled through the graveyard (now drenched to the skin), to see the tomb of Job Charnock, the founder of Calcuttta and memorial to the Black Hole of Calcutta. This controversial episode in Indian history took place during the siege of
After a short walk, we saw one of the most beautiful
buildings in Kolkata, the High Court – the oldest high court building in India . The
design is modelled on the Cloth Hall at Ypres ,
Belgium
 |
| Flury's |
Our tour finished at Flury’s, a fashionable art-deco style teahouse
where we took tea in a sodden huddle as rain dripped from us and formed puddles
on the floor. The tearoom, founded in 1927 was originally owned by Mr Flury and
Mr Trinca. It was known and loved by Indians and Europeans alike for its
confections and exotic pastries, until unfortunately one day Mr Flury ran away
with Mrs Trinca and the partnership came to an abrupt end. But the name lives
on. Like Kolkata in its love-hate relationship with the British Raj – one party
has left the building, but the other is very much alive - and flourishing.
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