Navpreet Arora, this petite woman led us through a trail of the Colonial Empire, a walk back in time.. The Europeans mainly the British who ruled us with an iron glove. There were stories galore. Folk lore, urban legends which created shock and awe as we traversed the beautiful buildings of different architectural styles housing “history”. Interesting nuggets and some great trivia were the highlight of the walk.

We believed with the scant History we studied in schools that the Britishers first came to Kolkata and Job Charnock founded our city. Kolkata was the main port on the Hooghly from where trading of various products took place.  However not Kolkata but Howrah was the main port, the river being Saraswati, and the trading hub was Betor near the Botanical Gardens. The first settlers were the Portuguese in this region.

We started our walk at GPO, the General Post Office which was the First Fort William, to strengthen the new defences, it was located in the centre of the erstwhile Kolkata. This was the 1600’s and in 1698 Charles Eyre Charnock’s son in law, the then Governor  earned the Imperial Jagir for Gobindopur, Sutanuti, Kalikata from the Mughal Emperor. The Governor had obtained tax free trading rights while the French and Portuguese, the Dutch paid taxes. It irked Siraj ud Daula and he attacked the British. Totally out numbered they were captured and ostensibly 140 of them were put into a tiny dungen where 123 died. An alley beside the post office was the site of the guardhouse that housed the infamous 1756 Black Hole of Calcutta (1756). Holwell constructed a monument across the road which was later shifted to St Johns church when Netaji threatened to bring it down.

The GPO has brass lines which were inserted to mark the territory of The East India Company.

The GPO overlooked Lal Dighi a water Body. Coloured red by the reflection of the red bricks of the church it was named thus. This became the Central focal point around which the Imperial Town (white town) and administration grew. It was fashioned after Piccadilly Square and legend has it that blindfolded a Britisher who walked around would not know the difference. Lal Dighi was a fashionable promenade where the Fishing Fleet arrived once the Suez Canal opened up. Hordes of women to find a beau walked down with parasols in the evening with the setting sun. Oh the romance of this place.

Insurance was important as men who came here seeking their fortunes (300 pounds here vis a vis 11 pounds there) would not survive the treacherous heat and monsoons. Anyone who survived two had a grand party thrown in his honour. The clubs to this date celebrate the Monsoon Ball. Royal, Standard and Oriental were the three Insurance Companies set up. The Royal Insurance opposite the GPO was red with brown stripes and was called the Blood & Bandage Building. There is a ramp along the staircase and the Britishers rode up to the terrace where the horses were tethered to the urns positioned there.

The Writers Building was the kutcheri of the Subarna Roy Chowdhurys and the young recruits were housed there to acquaint them of the regional customs and languages. The clerks write document copiously, hence the name. In 1882 Hastings converted it to seat of power. There are four sets of marble sculptures on the terrace, with the Queen in the middle –  representing Agriculture, Justice, Commerce and Science. The rotunda was a part of the oldest church the St Annes which was destroyed, included as a part of the Building. The famous Benoy, Badal, Dinesh killed the oppressive Charles Simpson here and were martyred. This area is the BBD Bag honouring the young idealistic trio.The architect Thomas Lyon lent his name to the adjoining road.

The oldest theatre called the Calcutta Theatre (1717) was housed in the building which now has the Allahabad Bank. There were three theatres, this, The Play House, at the now Lal Bazar and The Chowringhee Theatre. The Calcutta Theatre were for the Goras whereas the Chowringhee Theatre allowed both the whites and natives. Much akin to the Bengal Club and Calcutta Club origins. This and the next building were leased by the Maharaja of Burdwan. The Bollywood connection was that Amitabh Bachchan started his adult life here as a clerk of Bird and Co. The inside of the building with its expanse overwhelmed us to even imagine the life the Bengali gentry led in those days.

The Scottish people not one to be left behind wanted their own Church and the St Andrews Church (Kirk)came up on the premises of the Old Supreme Court, and the Free Masons which lent its name to the street. Old Court House. In 1792 the Court shifted to the current premises. Legend has it that the spire couldn’t be higher than the St John’s Church so the Bishop made it the same height and added a weather vane.

The Dead Letter House now the Telegraph House was the place where the undelivered letters of the decease young clerks were stored and still exist. The Standard Insurance Building with a symbolic parable from the Bible carved on the Terrace, the lady with the lamp and the Grim Reaper. The marketing strategy with no media was this parable along with the story of the ten ladies carrying lamps of whom only five who carried extra oil survived. The motto being “Be prepared”

The gorgeous Avenue leading to the Raj Bhavan built by Curzon and the numerous anecdotes, the stables (where in to not dirty their boots the Sahibs went up a nearby staircase and slid down a chute on their horse’s back), the first luxury hotel Spence’s.

Tired but happy we landed at ST Johns Church built on land gifted by Raja Naba Krishna Deb. It housed  the painted depiction of the Last Supper by Zoffany, the interesting stories behind it. Jesus is Father Parthenon, the girl John and Judas, Tulloh, the notorious auctioneer of Kolkata. The 1500 pipe organ shifted from Madras, the epitaph to the White Mughal, Kirkpatrick, the splendid Stained Glass. Altogether if better maintained it can rival any Church in Rome.

The tower made of Chura stone earned it the epithet Pathuria Girja. The grounds have the memorial to Lady Canning who was buried in her beloved Barrackpore. Along with the tomb of Job Charnock, the father in law of the founder and the enigmatic Begum Johnson who married four times and lived to be a 86. Intrigued as to why Begum when she married Englishmen , evidently she was granted reprieve by Murshidabad post the war that the nawab won. She was asked to arrange a settlement after Plassey by the Nawab. Her demeanour earned her the title of a Begum.

The Vestry, the Council Room where moost of the important decisions were taken. The chair where the Governors sat, the octagonal table, treasured paintings, photos dotting the walls. Thus Council House Street got its name.

Time stood still as we heard those days being recreated. Surely this absolutely stunning area should get the UNESCO Heritage tag. It would be if not for the eyesore the Telephone Exchange building which is an impediment. The powers that be is anyone listening? We can plan to shift the High Court to Rajarhat, the Telephone Building needs to be relocated asap so that we get the tag so richly deserving of this iconic erstwhile township.

Credit Fun on Streets