A stretch named Park Street

Arindam Sarkar

There was a time when the British buried their aristocrats at Park Street. There was a time when prawn cocktails were flown down for Prime Minister Indira Gandhi from Sky Room in Park Street. There was a time when the best of the Jazz music was played in Park Street.

There was a time when the fashionable Park Street was compared to the Oxford Street in London, UK and 42 Street in Manhattan, America. Park Street was born with the fall of the Mughal Empire in 18^th century, gained recognition with the rise of the British Empire in 19^th century and reached its zenith in post-Independent India’s 20^th century. In 21^st century, people revisit the glory that was Park Street.

In 1717, Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar gave the right to the British to rent 38 villages around their Calcutta settlement. Thus began the story of Park Street. In 1742, British built the Maratha Ditch from Baghbazar to Park Street for their defense. It was later extended to Alipur.

After the Battle of Plassey in 1757, the English began to concentrate in city building apart from defending Calcutta. So in 1785, for better police and municipal administration, they divided the area into 31 thanas.

Later, the urban settlement of Old Calcutta was divided into 25 Police Section Houses. Park Street was one of them.

British named their settlement in Calcutta as White and Black Towns. The White Town was confined to Tank Square (BBD Bag) where the Old Fort William was situated. Rest of the settlement occupied by the natives was called the Black Town.

“The English portion of Calcutta was confined to old Fort William area…the `native quarters’ consisted of a number of straggling villages…the Europeans developed a craze for villas far out in what were then the suburbs..,” writes P Thankappan Nair in his essay `The Growth and Development of Old Calcutta’ in Calcutta – The Living City (Volume I: The Past), edited by Sukanta Chaudhuri.

Park Street was then called Badamtala. After the British created a cemetery at the southern end of the road, people called it the Burial Ground Road. In 1780s, the place had a deer park that belonged to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Sir Elijah Impey. From 1840s, this road was called Park Street. Loreto House now stands where once stood the villa of Sir Impey.

The colonial paintings of Wood Jr shows Park Street in early 19^th century was a desolate place except a few mansions of the rich British elites. But soon, Park Street became a White Town as more and more British, Jews and the Armenians settled on both sides of the road.

In 1839, the English built one of their city theatres, Sans Souci, at the site where now stands the St Xavier’s College. It is at this college, the first demonstration of telephone was given and Lord Ripon subsequently sanctioned telephone service for Calcutta.

“On March 12, 1878, Father E Lafont lectured on the telephone at St Xavier’s College…the `Central Exchange’ on the magneto system was opened on January 28, 1882,” writes PT Nair in his essay `Civic and Public Services in Old Calcutta’ in Calcutta – The Living City.

From 20^th Twentieth century, the grand colonial villas on Park Street began to exist cheek and jowl with restaurants, department stores (subcontinent’s first Hall & Anderson opened here), offices, auction house, mansions, academic institutions, church and the archdiocese.

The Belgian Jesuit Fathers of St Xavier’s College cycled on the Park Street. The Anglo-Indians, Jews and the Armenians sauntered on the Street. And the Irish nuns of the Loreto House on Middleton Row frequented the street to buy the necessities.

Beside St Xavier’s College stands the Archbishop House. The archbishop is the head of Catholics in Calcutta. The diocese got global attention when the archbishop presided over Mother Teresa’s funeral in the city in the presence of Vatican cardinals in 1997. Six years later, the diocese was in the limelight again, when Pope John Paul II beatified the Blessed Mother – the first step towards her canonization – in Vatican.

Opposite Archbishop House is the once-glorious-and-now-a-run down city palace of the Nawab of Murshidabad. It is in ruins and occupied by illegal tenants. Towards the Park Circus end of the street is the Assembly of God Church School.

The Queens Mansion, Stephen Court, Park Mansion and the Karnani Mansion symbolizes the Colonial architecture on Park Street. The Anglo-Indians and Jews occupied them from 1930s to 1970s. Today most of the occupants are either Marwaris or Bengalis and many of the flats have been turned into offices.

Park Mansion built in 1910 housed Alliance Francaise before a fire gutted the French address. Queens Mansion originally called Galstaun Mansion after its Armenian landlord JC Galstaun was built in 1923. It was renamed Queens Mansion after the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1952.

The Life Insurance Corporation of India brought this property and gave the dilapidated structure the much-needed face-lift. And the Karnani Mansion was built in 1929.

At the Chowringhee end of the Park Street stands the prestigious Asiatic Society, founded by Sir William Jones as the beacon of Oriental studies. “…the British Orientalists spearheaded by Sir William Jones and the Asiatic Society were the first generation of White Townsmen who helped shape the Bengal Renaissance...,” writes Director of the Institute of Cognitive Science, University of Louisiana, Subrata Dasgupta in Awakening: The Story of the Bengal Renaissance.

According to Professor Dasgupta, “The Armenians, once a large community of traders and merchants, were also assiduous builders of mansions in and around the Park Street area.       

Seldom does one find a city road, barely a couple of kilometers long, becoming the center of both hospitality and intellectual activities. The food street of Kolkata has also been the epicenter of book reading and hotel business. The Apeejay Surrendra Group, now under the chairmanship of Karan Paul, started its first chain of luxury, boutique hotels “The Park” in India on Park Street in 1967.

In 1965, the Appejay Group brought the iconic tearoom on Park Street: Flurys, famous for its European style café ambience and food. The group further expanded in 1980s by acquiring the landmark Oxford Book and Stationary Company established in 1919. Re-branded as Oxford Bookstore, the bookshop with its Cha Bar, the adjoining tea café which sells exotic and quality teas of the world, is a busy corner for the booklovers and littérateurs.

“The Apeejay Surrendra Group completed a century on Park Street in 2010. In 2011 Christmas, we replayed the old glory of Park Street with lights, vibrant music and food,” said The Park’s Associate Director – Events and PR Hem Dhillon.

Art and painters got an impetus on Park Street in 20^th century. Artists such as Shubho Thakur, Paritosh Sen, Rathin Maitra, Ramkinkar Baij and others influenced by the European Art Movement formed the Calcutta Group in 1943. And held their first exhibitions at Artistry House in 15 Park Street. They flourished from 1943 to 1953.

Tarun Mitra writes, in his essay `Art and Artists in Twentieth Century Calcutta’ in Calcutta – The Living City, “Among the city’s private galleries, Chemould and the Arts and Prints Gallery, both on Park Street, eventually closed down, though the former has recently reopened…”.  Park Street remains an art hub.

According to Foodie and musician Nondon Bagchi, who was a jazz drummer, Park Street between 1957 and 1975 was India’s most-happening pathway and the “prime time zone of entertainment, wining and dining”.

Music in Park Street was essentially pop and jazz and on any given day at least 200 entertainers performed there. “The Continental and the Chinese cuisines and the musical nights of the Sixties and Seventies were to die for,” said Nondon Bagchi, who played with Louiz Banks, Pam Crain, Carlton Kitto and Usha Iyer (now Uthup) at Trincas, Mocambo and Moulin Rouge restaurants on Park Street in the Seventies.

In 1971, Louiz banks formed a band called The Louiz Banks Brotherhood and played at the upscale Blue Fox restaurant. Park Street at that time, he claimed, could be compared to Broadway in New York or Piccadilly Circus in London.

“It was the golden era of Park Street. The food, music and people made it the most enthralling place. But now it is lifeless, listless and any other street,” laments Louiz Banks.

He said people loved music – pop, jazz and western – and dancing the foxtrot, waltz, jive, salsa, tango, rock-n-roll, rumba etc., to let their hair down. The Calcuttans, who crave for finer things in life, made Park Street a unique place. “There was variety in music and expertise in dancing. Now the youngsters like only pop and Bollywood,” he rued.

This was the time when Pam Crain crooned at Mocambo with a six-piece ensemble of Anton Menezes. A British fashion designer Kitty Bryanan designed the mermaid-like outfit for Pam Crain. At Moulin Rouge, the famous Jazz guitarist Carlton Kitto strummed.

The French lady Delilah, who owned Moulin Rouge, sang with the band called Carlton Kitto Ensemble. Jazz guitarist Arthur Gracias played at Magnolia, Joe Perreira and Nandon Bagchi enthralled Blue Fox with sound. There was Shirley Myers at El Morocco (now called Shehnaz) and the Cancan dancers who came to perform from Mexico and Europe.

Carlton Kitto fondly remembers that bands began performing at Trincas, Mocambo and Blue Fox at 8 pm and stopped at 1 am. In between, Marina, Shefali and Bobby danced cabaret. “Park Street used to pulsate with magic show, ventriloquism, fire-eating, lighting, music and food. Flurys played English band and Magnolia entertained with Bollywood music,” said Carlton Kitto, who now plays at the Oberoi Grand.

He proudly said restaurants followed a strict dress code in the Sixties and Seventies. No one could dance without a coat. No men were allowed to enter a restaurant without a tie. “Band boys wore tuxedos and female singers turned out in long gowns with a fish tail,” recollected Carlton Kitto. 

  

The most famous restaurant, known for its cabarets and bands in this period, was Trincas. Eve, now settled in Teheran, Jenny, the flame of the Swinging Sixties, Usha Uthup and Miss Shefali used to fire up the Trincas.

Apart from singers and instrumentalists, local Jazz and Rock bands such as Chequered Tricycle, The Trojans, The Flintstones, Black Cactus and Benny Rozario with Vay Condios, Great Bear and High were very popular in Park Street. “People loved listening to Molly Myers and Usha Uthup sing California Dreaming. Trincas was the melting pot of music,” said owners of Trincas, which completed its golden jubilee, Shashi and Deepak Puri.

Till 1959, Trincas was a tearoom. In the Seventies, it became a must-visit restaurant for its music and food. Till late 20^th century, Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor, Rekha and other Bollywood stars dropped in at Trincas. Deepak Puri remembers Amitabh slipping in late in the night to have his dinner listening to Usha Uthup.

Food was excellent in Park Street. The owners hired the best chefs to prepare Indian, Continental and Chinese cuisines. The Chinese of Waldorf and Continental dishes of Sky Room and Mocambo were legendary.

The Chicken a la Kiev of Mocambo, prawn cocktails of Sky Room, sizzlers of Moulin Rouge and Peter Cat, Lobster Thermidor at Blue Fox, steaks of Oly Pub and the confectionaries of Flurys were rated world class. Old-timers still can’t forget the mouth-watering plum, fruit, Dundee, walnut, almond, rum and raisin cakes of Flurys served during Christmas and New Year.

In 1927, a Swiss couple Mr and Mrs J Flurys established Flurys on Park Street and gave the city its first taste of “authentic European confectionary and delicacies”. The Apeejay Surrendra Group revamped and re-launched Flurys in 2004. “It reflects certain timelessness and the old-world charm of the 1930s. Flurys relives the European heritage,” said Hem Dhillon.

“Confectionary of Flurys has drawn personalities such as Satyajit Ray, Aparna Sen, Farooque Sheikh, MF Husain, Azim Premji, etc. No other Indian confectionary makes dry pastries the way we make it,” added Manager Flurys Rajiv Khanna.

Interestingly, neither liquor nor entertainment was part of the two high-profile restaurants – the Sky Room and Waldorf. But the food was exquisite. “People used to book from England to dine Continental at Sky Room and Cantonese-style Chinese at Waldorf. Indira Gandhi loved the prawn cocktails of Sky Room,” said Nandon Bagchi. 

Today Blue Fox and Sky Room are closed. English bands play in Trincas and Rohit performs Bollywood music in Mag’s (Magnolia), which gave India its first ice-cream outlets and hamburgers from its counter. But the old charm is gone.

Talk to old-timers and they would lament that Park Street is no longer what it used to be during the Christmas and the New Year. The revelry and zing are gone. The new life on Park Street is gyrating to high-voltage sounds of DJs in the nightclubs of Someplace Else, Aqua, Tantra, Roxy and Marrakesh. Revelry is downing several pegs of whiskey with archaic starters in restaurants trying to keep pace with the changing tongue and taste.

“The fabulous lights; the aristocratic Bengalis; the music and food loving Jews and Anglo-Indians; and the Santa Claus and the balloons are all missing in Park Street,” rued Carlton Kitto.

Film Director Aparna Sen caught a bit of old-charm in her film 36 Chowringhee Lane. Satyajit Ray captured Park Street from Flurys in his film Jana Aranya. “People in those days were sophisticate and had refined tastes for music and life,” said Louiz Banks who in late Seventies left Park Street to join RD Burman in Mumbai.

Life on Park Street has changed radically and dramatically from 17^th century to 21^st century for the silent souls lying unheard and unattended in the graves of South Park Street Cemetery. The Christian cemetery on Park Street is one of the oldest European burial grounds in the world.

Opened in 1767, the cemetery has 1,600 graves. Time and thieves have ravaged a large number of the mausoleums. The remaining shows the classical European architecture with Roman cupola, pillars and Greek Urns – a mixture of Gothic and Indo-Saracenic style. The Europeans closed the burial ground in 1790.

Some of those who ruled the British India from Kolkata and were part of the Bengal Renaissance were buried here. Sir William Jones, Henry Vivian Derezio, Colonel Robert Kyd, Major General Charles Stuart, Rose Eylmer, Charles Hindoo Stuart, etc., have been laid to rest here.

“The cemetery is now being preserved and restored by APHCI. Sandip Ray shot his film Gorosthaney Shabdhan, based on Satyajit Ray’s story, in this cemetery,” said the cemetery caretaker Shankar.

The dead don’t speak but the living rue the decline of the Park Street. Carlton Kitto believes it is the imposition of the entertainment tax on restaurants in 1978 that took the life out of India’s High Street.

But Nondon Bagchi thinks it is not tax or load shedding but the large-scale exodus of the Anglo-Indians in the Seventies to Canada and Australia ended the golden era of food and music on the street.

“During the monsoon, when an opalescent light appears fleetingly, one does not need poetic license to say that Park Street looks uncannily like Gustave Caillebotte’s painting Paris, a Rainy Day,” writes Soumitra Das in his book A Jaywalker’s Guide to Calcutta reminding the grandeur of the street.

In fact, every street has a history and is also witness to history. Park Street is one such world street of the rich, famous and beautiful, which has a history of more than 250 years.

Few perhaps know Park Street has been renamed Mother Teresa Sarani. The fourth name given to that small stretch of road where too much happened in too little a time.