Chandi Basu a successful businessman owned many Bheris, including Nalban and made the house at 92 Kabi Sukanta Sarani, two hundred years ago.  A sleepy lane in Beliaghata, an adjoining lane is named after him. Many generations later Amanendranath Basu became a practising Barrister at the High Court and the house became the Barrister Babur Baari. His two sons one an English Professor and the other a Nuclear Physicist lived here with their families. The Scientist moved on to live in a more modern establishment.  Krishnakoli’s father stayed here.

Krishnakoli  softly recounted her love for her ancestral home. She grew up here and has vivid memories of a larger family, the celebrations, camaraderie which are an indelible part of this home. Not  very famous people, for Grades of Heritage – just a much loved beautiful home that she does not want to let go of.  It is full of memories she said. It had seen better times yet,… she sighed!

The entrance leads to the  Barrister Babu’s Room  and opens into a Courtyard with a “Thakur Dalan”. Once you enter the excitement , the merriment, the puja, the conch shells , the rituals are palpable. Beyond this is a smaller courtyard with a well. A verandah leads to two kitchens, a vegetarian one for the Deity, a puja Ghar and two other rooms. The kitchen and Puja Ghar  have now shifted to the first floor for convenience. The women gathered here to chop, mince, cut the ingredients for the “bhog” and the feasting. Bangles clinking, children laughing, excited chatter and gossip are still lurking in various corners of this solitary courtyard.

A narrow staircase leads to the upstairs. A running  verandah leads to large rooms with large windows. It is airy, spacious and cool (due to the thick walls), the champa tree laden with flowers, the yellow literally adding sunshine. The red cement floors, some marble, the grand ornate furniture especially the four poster bed splendidly adorns the space. The wrought iron grills, the stained glass filtering the light in various hus, the “jhilmils” and “kharkharis” make it special. The study piled high with books has a deliciously musty smell of older bookshops totally gone in todays world of spit and polish.

The terrace houses a “Chile Kotha” a place with many possible ideas for play and make believe. Krishnakoli’s favourite space is a cubby hole in the staircase with stained glass. The light filtered in golden, clear, subdued hues and as a child her imagination ran riot with goblins and elves and midnight treats, the exquisite world of the Enid Blyton characters.

How can she let this home go? Of memories, her growing up and grown up years, The Pujas when the house throbbed with a heart beat so fast and alive. A brave woman indeed in this world of quick bucks and materialistic opportunities. She lives in Gurgaon and her mother lives here alone with some help. During COVID maintenance became an issue with fast depleting resources. Offers for film shootings came in and she took up the opportunity to make some money for the upkeep of the place which she deals with singlehandedly from Gurgaon.

Fate was not meant to be. Her cousins so far quiet have smelt blood and are persuading her to sell or give them a large sum in lieu of full possession by her.  She is unable to pay up and they are now trying to scuttle her earning opportunities.

She has archived the house in a photo album book for keep sake. What if… Lovely pictures and the one that catches your eye is a beautiful house of a similar design ethos, that existed across the road, now a pile of rubble.  Amit Chaudhuri talks of neighbourhoods. Heritage homes which belonged to personalities are important to preserve but what of these neighbourhoods. This area is dotted with many such homes, mostly with running verandahs, wrought iron railings, stained glass windows.

Two hundred years ago Chandi Babu might have drawn up in his phaeton bedecked with grand silks and jewels. Maybe the whole area belonged to his kith and kin, hence the similarity. An interesting discovery incidentally was a lane a little further down called Coley Barracks. A cantonment, an army residing here, the colonisers?

These trails are an adventure. Like the Find Outers we at Own The Past intend to follow the threads, unravelling yarns of days gone by. We have to help save and preserve. It,s easy to say reuse. When a woman is singlehandedly trying to save her inheritance we should rally our forces to help her. Where there is a will, there will be a way!