OUR WEST BENGAL TRIP-(23)

10-01-2023   

Day 25 March SOLSC! #SOL23  

While on a vacation in Kolkata in January, on the 10^th we were enjoying seeing different beautiful and interesting places. From Jorasanko, the imposing home of Rabindranath Tagore we proceeded to College Street.  We did not want to miss going there. Our tour assistant, Mr. Babu told us he would show us around the place. It would be better as it was very crowded. He changed our itinerary for the day and said it would be easier for us to see the Victoria Memorial on our own.

All along College Street there are small book stalls next to the foot path. There are eateries and small shops on the footpath too! We have to walk down the middle of the path, as if through a tunnel. Old and new books are sold for reasonable prices. In some shops they are piled one on the other. It must be quite a job to store the books for the night when it is time for the shops to close. Babu told us some shops sell old books and the customer can sell whatever books he/she has purchased after reading it. College students find this very convenient. New books are expensive.

We passed the College Street Campus of the University of Calcutta. Students everywhere look the same 😊. We saw Hare School, one of the oldest in Kolkata. It was established in 1818 by David Hare.

We then proceeded to Indian Coffee House. Aravind said he would like to have coffee there and Babu replied our visit would remain incomplete if we did not have coffee in that famous place. We climbed the stairs of an old building. There was a small space by the side of the staircase where books were being sold. Aravind wanted a biography of Tagore, but the shopkeeper did not have it.

Indian Coffee House is a huge hall. Being an old building the ceiling is at a great height. There are balconies too, but I do not remember if people were sitting there. The atmosphere in the place was so different from the outside world. There are Indian Coffee Houses in different places of our country. They are the gathering places for intellectuals, artists, students, writers, activists and political activists.

Babu treated us to coffee. He said the Chow Mein there was famous. Aravind was tempted but was afraid his stomach would get upset again😊. The buzz there was one of its kind. We were glad that we had visited the place.

In the same building there is a book shop called Chuckervertty, Chatterjee & Co. This is a very old book shop. This was the first time I was seeing the name Chakravarthy being spelt that way. Aravind finally found a biographical novel about Tagore by Aravin Ghosh. Tagore: Poet Wanderer is translated from Bengali.

College Street (Kolkata) – Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_Street_(Kolkata)

Indian Coffee House – Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Coffee_House

College Street Coffee House – Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_Street_Coffee_House

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