মৃত্যু পথযাত্রী

 পার্থিব জগতের ওপারে সত্য এবং অসত্যের কাঁটাতার পেরিয়ে এক দেশ আছে। আমি কোনোদিন হয়তো যাবো সেই দেশে। কিন্তু কবে? হয়তো মৃত্যুর পর। আমার নিথর দেহ যেদিন চুল্লির আগুনে পুড়ে ছাই হয়ে যাবে সেই দিন অজস্র মানুষের কান্নার ভেলায় চেপে আমি পাড়ি দিতে চাই সেইখানে। যেখানে সুখ দুঃখের হিসাবের খাতায় প্রতিদিন মরতে থাকা জীবনের মাপকাঠি থাকবেনা। আমি জানি যে আত্মহনন পাপ। কিন্তু কখনো কখনো জীবনের সব যুদ্ধকে নিমেষে শেষ করতে মৃত্যু নামক শানিত অস্ত্র কে প্রয়োগ করতেই হয়। কারণ মৃত্যু জীবনকে তার অবাঞ্চিত সব কষ্ট থেকে মুক্তি দেয়। মানুষের সব পার্থিব বোঝার ইমারত কে ধূলিসাৎ করে তাকে এক অনন্ত শান্তির গভীর সমুদ্রে ছুঁড়ে ফেলে দেয়। লোকে বলে জীবন বড়োই মূল্যবান, কিন্তু মৃত্যুই একমাত্র ঘটনা যা তাকে সত্যিকারের স্বীকৃতি দেয়। 

ছোটবেলা থেকে পরিচিত অপরিচিত অনেকের মৃত্যু দেখেছি। মৃত্যুর অন্তিমতা কোনোদিনই আমায় স্পর্শ করেনি। হয়তো প্রিয়জনদের কাউকে হারাইনি বলে। যারা মারা যান তারা তাদের পিছনে ছেড়ে যান আবেগ মিশ্রিত স্মৃতির এক মস্ত বড়ো বাক্স। প্রতিবছর তাঁদের মৃত্যুদিবস এ অথবা প্রতিদিন ই হয়তো তাঁদের প্রিয়জনেরা সেই বাক্স থেকে এক একটি স্মৃতির মূর্তি বের করে সযত্নে সাজিয়ে রাখেন মনের টেবিলে। কিন্তু একটি প্রশ্ন রয়েই গিয়েছে আমার মনে সেই ছোট্টবেলা থেকে। বাস্তব পৃথিবীতে যার আর কোনো অস্তিত্ব নেই তাকে মানুষ মনে রাখে কেন? ভালোবাসে কেন? তবে কি দৈহিক অস্তিত্বের বাইরেও এ পৃথিবীতে আমাদের কোনো উপস্থিতি আছে? এ প্রশ্নের জবাব আমি কোনোদিন পাবো কিনা জানিনা। শুধু এটুকু ইচ্ছে আছে মনে। যেদিন সেই আদি অকৃত্রিম অবয়ব আমার জীবনের পূর্ণচ্ছেদ নিয়ে আসবে তাকে আমি একটিই প্রশ্ন করবো: "মৃত্যু, তোমার জীবন কবে আসবে? ".........

The essence of Calcutta University part- 2

In my last blog, I mainly covered the primary hustle for the establishment of Calcutta University. Today I am going to tell you the glorious history of this iconic University.

After successfully passing down the act, the British Government appointed Indians who were well aware and educated in Western Education and by forming a committee they excepted the need to build universities in India. They permitted to build universities in Calcutta, Bombay and Madras in 1854, in July. To ordain rules and regulations for the newly formed university a committee was founded. As Indian members Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar, Ramgopal Ghosh, Ramapada Roy were there in that committee. The process finished in 1856. In 1857, 24th of January Governor-General Lord Canning gave his signatures to enact the " Act of Incorporation" or popularly known as "University Act, 1857". To ensure that this act should be enforced properly senet of 40 well-known persons were formed fairly quickly. The 1st meeting of this senet was held at the Calcutta Medical College in 1857, 3rd of January. Just to tease you ( because history does that quite often to us) mark the year. So, you might say to your friends --- ' Hey, do you know Calcutta University and Sipahi Mutiny are both contemporary'? Now pay attention to the next few lines or so. These were the preamble of the Act of University at that point time---- " the basic objective of the university to encourage Her majesty's subjects of all classes and denominations, in the pursuit of a regular and liberal course of education".

 Interesting, isn't it? People who invaded almost 90% of the human race talking about "Liberty". Whatever, I don't want to diverse. The committee appointed Governor-General Lord Canning as the 1st Chancellor and as a Vice-Chancellor they appointed Sir James William Colevile --- Chief Justice of Calcutta Supreme Court of Judiciary at that time. From 24th of January 1857 to 24th of January 1858 he was appointed for that post. Alexander Duff, Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar, William Gordon Pratt, Henry Udro, Dr Fredrik J. Mouat, Mohmad Woaji( Chief of Calcutta Madrasa) were the members of the senet. In 1890, 1st of January, for the first time a tradition was broken to appoint a European Vice-Chancellor. As a 1st Asian Vice-Chancellor, Sir Gurudas Bandhapadhay took over the responsibilities of Calcutta University.

So, everything was set. The act has been passed down, Committee has been formed. But wait for a minute, Where will we teach? Believe it or not, there was no permanent house for Calcutta University. As the first register, Professor William Granel of Presidency College categorized four faculties--- Engineering, Medical, Law, Literature and rented some rooms( yes, some rooms) in Camac street to start Calcutta University. The senet held their meetings in the Writer's Building. The first-ever examination taken under Calcutta University was L.M.S in 1857, 2nd of March. In that month the university started taking Entrance exams, which was given by 244 students. After eleven years in 1866, that number raised to 1114. At that time, only college students were allowed to give the exam. However, the rules changed in 1859. In 1862, University introduced the F.A exam for the very first time. Apart from English, there were other subjects like – Sanskrit, Bengali, Urdu, Hindi, Greek, Latin, Arabic, Farsi and many more. After five years of hustle, finally in 1862, 14th of June the senet raised the issue that Calcutta University needs its residence which will include at least two Hall room, Library, register's office, reading room, meeting hall, room for Vice-Chancellor, record room etc. This house was named the " Senet House". Bengal's Lt. Governor chose a spot near Hindu college which is the residential address of Calcutta University up till today. Though at that time, there was no existence of Dwarbangha Building and Asutosh Building. The place where these two buildings are situated now was a market called " Madhab Babur Bazar". There was also a slum area there. After 1912-13 this market was moved to the junction of College St and Mahatma Gandhi Road. Which we today know as " Barnaporichoy".

• University act( 1904), Lord Curzon and Sir Asutosh Mukherjee:
  
  
  
  
  
  

After the university act of 1904, for the first time truly Calcutta University became an institution, just like Oxford and Cambridge. This act was approved by our " favourite" Lord Curzon. What, not a big fan of him? Doesn't matter though. In 1901, an educational conference was held in Shimla, where Lord Curzon proposed this act and also formed 'University commission'. Under this act, Calcutta University can now include research in almost all subjects, it can build its library, research labs, museum etc. Under this act, the senet can't elect their men. These men now will be chosen by a proper election and have their time limits of work. With this act, Lord Curzon introduced a very democratic way to run the university. What? Now you think he is not that bad huh! Ok, if you are having this thought right now just remember that he tried to tear apart Bengal(1905). With this act though, Indian Government( I mean Indian- British Government) had to pay Calcutta University for the smooth conduct of it. Before this only Punjab University had this privilege. Although, enforcing the law wasn't easy. Who wanted to hide behind the skirt of old methods were against it. They started to interrupt and the enforcement delayed because of this. Finally after two years, in 1906 it was officially granted. After the enforcement of the act, Sir Asutosh Mukherjee became the Chancellor of Calcutta University. He was elected for this post five times between 1906 to 1923. By using this law he significantly increased the exposure of Arts and Science studies. He also increased the scope for researchers. He collected money from Dwarbhanga's king Rameswar Singh and built " Dwarbhanga Building". With the help of Sir Taraknath Palit and Rashbihari Ghosh, he built a science college in Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy Road. This was the beginning of the expansion of Calcutta University. In 1916, to give honour to this legendary personality "Asutosh Building" was established. In 1937, 'Asutosh Museum of Art' was built. Before 1947, there were 216 colleges under Calcutta University[ Undivided Bengal]. 

I hope you enjoyed this. But hey I am not finished yet. In my next blog, we will talk about the role of this university in Bengal Legislative and some more about it's as they say " Eternal Glory".

The essence of Calcutta University - Part 1

Two of India's presidents, Three( can be four) Nobel prize winners, many veteran scientists, and philosophers through ages, patriots, artists and famous writers – are engaged either as a student or simply because of work purpose with this historical university. The amount of glory, historical value, and heritage this university possess it will be unwise to compare it with any other university in India. Which university I am talking about? Well, you may guess the name of it. Yes, I am talking about our very 'own' Calcutta University. Don't feel upset because of the recent state of it, especially the anger among the young generation through social media. Though it has been a long long journey for this university it still holds tremendous strength. If you look down at the memory lane of history you will find some real gems produced by this institution. 

   

For this university, Kadambini Ganguly and Chandramukhi Basu became the 1st female graduates not only in India but also in the whole British Empire. Kadambini Ganguly became the 1st Indian female doctor thanks to this university. This was the first university that built India's first university museum in 1937 and also the first business school in 1953. you can find one of the finest libraries here in this institution which has its place just after the National Library. Except for Calcutta University, there is no other university outside the United Kingdom that presented the degree of "Dr Of law" to not one, not two but three kings of the British Empire. These three are – Edward the Third, George the Five and Edward the Eight. These three got their degrees when they were princes. Not only that, they came to Kolkata to sign and receive the award themselves. Not only from Great Britain, the Prince of Prussia, Fredrikh Augustus had also been presented by the same award in 1911. We all know about Scientist Gopal Bhattacharya, who didn't receive any degree for his internationally acclaimed research on insects. Calcutta University gave him the honorary D.Sc for his great contributions to science. Before, this institution the concept of university existed in India, but this was the first university ever which provided teaching to every student by not discriminating them into caste, religion or colour. It created a great paradigm by changing the law against it, which is well known as Act II, 1857.  

• Background of the establishment:

The preparation for the establishment took place throughout the first half of the 19th century. By the endeavour and support of some well known administers and educationalists like- Governor Lord Minto, Governor Lord Moyra, Raja Rammohan Roy, David Hare, William Kerry, Dwarakanath Thakur, Macula, Lord William Bentinck, an urge to learn about the western education had emerged through Bengal at that point of time. Learning English can improve the financial status and also it can open many windows of opportunities- for these reasons people from all over Bengal especially from the Higher class and middle class came forward and show interest to learn English. For this, many schools and colleges were established by the administers throughout Bengal. Considering this situation very urgent F.Millet, C.C. Egerton, Rosomoy Dutta and Prasanna Kumar Thakur held a meeting with the secretary of Education Legislative of that time- Dr Fredric J. Mouat. They proposed to Dr Mouat to build a university as London University in Kolkata(Calcutta). This proposal then passed down to the Board of Directors of East India Company in 1845. But, the higher authority of England declined this proposal. Dr Mouat wanted to build an education system where students can easily properly learn Science, Literature etc. At that point, many colleges were founded all over Bengal as I mentioned earlier. But these colleges have no similarities in their studies and education system. Hindu College, Sanskrit College, Hoogly Mohsin College, Bengal Engineering College ------

created their system and chose various topics to teach but in a very di-organised manner. In this hour of need, when the demand of a University was rising, in England a protest has formed this matter. Leader of the liberal party, Gladstone raised his voice to increase the western educational culture in India to strengthen the communication between the British and the people of India. 

In 1853, When the question arose whether to give a certificate to East India Company or not, two committees were formed ( Lords and Commons) to investigate the results and the occurring problems due to the rule of the British East India Company in India. These two committees received a large number of reports and applications from those who were appointed in a higher position in various departments. Among them, there was an application of utmost importance, which was sent by Charles H. Cameroon, who had a significant influence on English studies in our country. He was the fourth member of Indian Council, President of the Indian Law Commission and also president of the Education Ministry of Bengal. He was aware of the situation that the youth of Bengal no rights to go to England for higher studies as per the discrimination of caste, religion and colour goes. He was also aware the youth of Bengal has a tremendous urge to learn English and has a great interest in English Literature. So, to ensure that these young students can learn in a proper way he passed down three laws which will provide consent to build at least three Universities in India. These laws were covered under the "Wood's Despatch". Under this act, the British Government permitted to build Universities in Calcutta( Kolkata), Bombay( Mumbai) and Madras( Chennai) and also to hand out degrees to the students just like any Europian University. 

So, this was the background hustle for the establishment of "Calcutta University". In my next blog, I will tell you how this university was established, who were the pioneers of the early stages and of course the role of "Lord Curzon".

Old age home and the elderly

It was a sunny day one of those kinds of days where you could feel the joy and happiness in this world, a big expensive SUV stopped in front of a big bunglow type house. The passengers included a women maybe 60 or 70 but still she had sharp yet kind eyes, and a man old enough to be her son. She looked out of the car and the bunglow was infact an old age home and yes the man was her son. After all these years of taking care of her child this is the gift she receives, but she didn't argue and got out of the car took her luggage looked at her son for one last time you feel the despair in those eyes but no, no resentment. And then a third charecter arrives, the security guard upon recognising the women asked the man why she was here, he asked the guard "you know her?" To which he replied "yes she was a very kind women who used to come here to help with all kinds of stuff but for one incident he said he could never forget her" he paused for a bit and then said "some 30 years back someone left a child in front of this home and without having any second thoughts she took the child in her care to give him a loving home and a proper opportunity to build a bright future, really an unbelievable women".
This was just an advertisement i had seen sometime ago, i just thought it was relevant to the topic at hand, each and every aspect of our lives are made with bits of sacrifices made by our patents. And no it's not something they have to do it's something they choose to do, i guess something inside of a person changes when he or she becomes a parent. But in this day and age the gift they receive from their children is a one way ticket to an old age home, no it is not true in every case but it's just becoming a norm in our modern society. And i say this because when people hear about this they don't get shocked anymore neither do they feel pity.

Now as Indians we often boast about our rich heritage and culture. The same culture that teaches us to respect our elderly and that one's parents are above all, after all who hasn't heard the story of 'shravan kumar'. And we often curse the westernisation of our society that it has changed our children. But you cannot blame everything on the west after all they too have old age homes. But things work a little differently there after a certain age a child is supposed to take care of himself, and their parents too live their own life accordingly they do not just rely on their children , they have their savings and they take care of themselves.
So in my opinion it has nothing to do with kids being exposed to the western culture too much. Someone once said to me if you want to climb to the top you have to lessen your baggage.
Anyways Why is such a culture spreading so much i don't know but what i do know is while life is not fair and you don't always get what you deserve but the tears of a helpless father or a heartbroken mother can never make you happy. And if it does make you happy you are not human anymore.
                                             Writer:  আলোর পথযাত্রী

Father of Indian Boxing

Hello friends. A friend of mine suggested a movie couple of months ago. I haven't seen that movie since it was released. The name of that miviemis ' Chaamp'. It is a bengali movie which was acted by bengali actor Dev. Frankly speaking I am not a big fan of him and I don't like his movies at all. But in this movie, he had done something which is very nice. For that I would like to thank him. In a dialogue in this movie mentioned a name which is almost forgotten. The name is P.L.Roy or Paresh Lal Roy - the ' Father of Indian Boxing'. 

For you may it is hard to believe that a boy from a race which is subsisting on rice playing boxing. Well you never know. But first of all the Bangals( বাঙাল) can raise their collars. It is because P.L.Roy was born in Borishal ( Bangladesh) on 20th December, 1893. He was born in a very highly educated Bengali-Christian family. His father was a Barrister and his uncle was Surya Kumar Gudiv Chakroborty, one of India's first Doctors. P.L.Roy was born in Borishal but his family lived in London from 1901. He went to St. Poul school there and started learning boxing at the age of 10. Famous boxers of England tought him, naturally he became school champion. From there to Cambridge, there also champion. Finally in 1914, he became champion of England in the bantamweight catagory. In 1919, he came back to Bengal and started working for Bengal Railways. At that time boxing wasn't that much popular among bengali boys. He made it popular. He set up the first boxing ring at Ballygunge and also formed the Bengal Boxing Federation. Pramatha Chowdhury, Fanindra Krishna Mitra, Nagen Chatterjee so many bengalees learned boxing from him. It is very sad that Bengalees don't remember this icon that much but his office didn't forget him. In 2011, the Bengal Railways named an indoor stadium after him and built a statue in ode of him. Not only that, few years back, Sashi Tharoor participated in Oxford Union Debate. In that debate, he stated that--  one sixth of all the British forces were Indians. 54,000 Indians were dead fighting for the British. 65,000 were wounded and other 4000 were missing. In this group, P.L.Roy and his brother were also there. His brother, Indra Lal Roy was the flying ace or fighter pilot in the First World War. His tomb is in France but P.L.Roy is rested in peace in Kolkata.

 At D.L.Khan Road , there is Bhawanipur cemetery and on the top of his tomb you can still see a pair red boxing gloves.

An open letter

To 
All my friends,
                         Today instead of just writing a mere blogpost I am writing a letter to all my friends. This idea dawned upon me yesterday not because today is a special day. But today can be the starting point of many special days in our life. Today is 23rd January. 

We all know the significance of this date I don't have to give a reminder to you. When I was a child, a question often asked to me by my friends, teachers, relatives etc. No, No, don't think they just asked me, What do you know about 'Netaji'? Or what do you think about him? These questions were just to keep us updated about one of the greatest sons of this country. The most famous question then was this : What do you think about his death? Do you believe that he is still alive? For 61 years this question is one of the hot topics that Bengalees discuss among themselves. Obviously it is now official that he died on 18th of August 1945. He wasn't fortunate enough to watch his country gaining freedom after 200 years of British raj. In 2016 our central Government released the classified files about Bose's death. I know today all over Bengal people will gather and celebrate his birthday. Garlands of flowers, songs of patriotism, cultural events and many more things will happen to remember him. This things are required but I just want to say something. It is good mental exercise to theorize how he died. There are several theories about him being alive. Gumnami Baba, Photo bombing in a picture of our former Prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri etc. But just put this things aside and analyze his life not about his death. If you put these theories aside you will see a man of action, a person who's fire never deemed after going to jail for so many times. He revived a whole Indian Army to fight the war of freedom. So try to be fearless like him. Try to follow his footsteps. Lastly, as Netaji has spoken to me over the internet :" One individual may die for an idea, but that idea will, after his death, incarnate itself in a thousand lives". 
Let's start this today if we hope to see a better tomorrow. 
                            Happy Birthday Netaji
                                                                             From
                                                         Kathaandkahini

The most beautiful woman in British India

Hi friends. In 1997, a classic was released and it is considered as one of the greatest movies in the map of world cinema. Yes, I am talking about 'Titanic'. when I watched that movie I was just mesmerized with its enormous beauty. For our generation, who were born in the mid-'90s or late '90s this movie is one of the pieces of the recollections of our childhood. I did a survey among all my friends and they actually said this-" The moment we saw Rose( Kate Winslet) on the screen, we thought that she is the most beautiful woman we have ever seen". But, wait, why I am talking about this. Well, it is just the prologue before my actual story today( I hope you don't get bored). When you hear this term ' British India', what comes to your mind first? Obviously, you can neglect all the bad stuff and think of something good( and believe me there was some good stuff). Maybe Ronald Ross, for discovering the antidote of malaria or maybe David Hare for founding school. But I don't think you know about the most beautiful woman in British India. She was only remembered as the celebrated Ms. Sanderson in the faded pages of history. I am talking about that time when East India Company was ruling and for work, a lot of young people were coming to India. Now, if a lot of young people stay far away from home together, then some undesirable problems arrive for them. For that, some undesirable diseases take place( use the naughtiest part of your brain to understand these two lines). East India Company had a solution for this, which was called ' The Fishing Fleet'. In this arrangement, they gave a lot of money and legal passports to a lot of single young girls from England and sent them to India with only one objective. " You have one full year to spend here in Kolkata, find a HUSBAND". Whoever had the luck found a very young eligible bachelor. But who was not that much lucky had to return to England with shame. But there were some girls who went to England from here to complete their schooling and returned after finishing college. Daughter of Robert Sanderson, Elizabeth Jane was one of them. The moment Elizabeth set foot in Kolkata, news spread like a fragrance of lavender that there is no other girl in Kolkata as beautiful as her. Dozen's of young boys formed a line to see just a glimpse of her. Everybody wanted her to be their life-partner and like every foolish man they thought 'She will be mine and only mine'. The fun fact is, Elizabeth knew about this and sometimes she actually mocked them for this. I will give you a quick story. 16 young eligible bachelor approached Elizabeth to go to a Ball with them. She individually said those 16 young people that " I will go to the ball only with you. You know, if you wear a pig green coat with some pink leather piping on it, it will be a perfect match with my gown". As a result, those 16 young people came to the ball wearing the same clownish green coat. People jeered at them but they took it sportingly. Elizabeth also danced with them individually. At night, those 16 young people accompanied Elizabeth and they marched with flare beside her carriage and sang melodies for her. 

After that what happened it is some kind of irony with these beautiful women. Elizabeth chose Ricard Barwell as a husband, who was a friend of Hasting. It is known that Richard had the habit of both gambling and ladies. 13th September 1776, they got married. After two years on the 9th of November 1778, Elizabeth passed away in the age of 23 only, from the complications arising out of childbirth. You may not remember her name but after her death, she found a place among the great of rage, in South ParkStreet Cemetry. The obelisk of her tomb is one of the tallest there and you can still read on the ensis of the marble- ' Elizabeth Jane Barwell- the celebrated Ms. Sanderson'. 

Black Hole of Kolkata

Hello friends. In 1756, the last independent Nawab of Bengal Siraj-Ud-Doullah attacked Kolkata, which I mentioned a couple of times in my earlier posts. Siraj targeted the old Fort William, which was near Lal Dighi. In that place, we have GPO today. The number of British in Kolkata at that time was merely 300 but Siraj attacked with 50,000. As a result, the British lost the battle and had to surrender. 20th June 1756 Nawab Siraj-Ud-Doullah entered Fort William through a gate which is now probably near Fairly Place's Railway Office. At that time the Governor of the Fort William was Roger Drake whose arrogance lead the British to this consequence, had already run away from Kolkata. From the behalf of the British, John Zephaniah Holwell surrendered to Siraj. Nawab decided to stay at Fort William for that night only. But there were a lot of British who were official 'Prisoners of War' then were present in Fort William. What will happen to them? Siraj ordered," If this is a fort, there must be a jail here. lock these people up there for one night".  There was a room of 14 foot by 18 foot with two small windows as a jail in Fort William, which was called ' Balck Hole'.

 On that night 146 British people were being locked up in that room. In the month of June and with it's unbearable, the languor of war, the smoke of the burning objects poured into that small room made the atmosphere terrifying on that night in Black Hole. Next morning, when the door opened among 146 people only 23 survived. The British named this incident as the "Black Hole Tragedy". In Bengali " অন্ধকূপ হত্যাকান্ড". For the memory of this incident, John Zephaniah Holwell founded a monument, which is nowadays in the junction of  N.S road and B.B.D.Bagh. But for the lack of maintenance, this monument became obsolete in some years, so the British Government ordered to demolish it. I just want to mention one thing here that there are a lot of controversies about this 'Black Hole Tragedy'. Many people say that no such incident took place at that time. But in 1899, George Nathaniel Curzon came to India as the Viceroy. He had a keen interest in history and he read about the war of 1756 on his way to India. So he ordered to restore the map of the old Fort William. To mark the positions of the walls they implanted lines of brass. You can see those line even now also on the steps of GPO. 

So where is the Black Hole? Where is that infamous room? In the northern side of the GPO, between GPO and collectorate's building, there is a small passage. This passage has a gate and behind that, a cannon is peeping at you. In 1756, that canon was used in the war and behind that gate there once was the 'Black Hole' of Kolkata.  

Howrah Bridge

Hi friends. There was an old nursery rhyme, I hope you all know about it. It is called 'London Bridge is falling down'. Well, if you say so for Kolkata it will not be 'London Bridge' but it will definitely be 'Howrah Bridge' and that bridge hasn't fallen down yet. But do you know what was there before instead of our 'Rabindra Setu'? Well, the city of Howrah was planned as a small industrial brother of Kolkata. It is because of all the mills, factories were there in Howrah. Now if there are factories then there is a need to maintain the supply line of goods through some smooth routes. You can't carry everything in a boat to Kolkata. You will be amazed to know the fact that the first plan of building a bridge was chalked out even before the Sipahi Mutiny. That bridge was finally built in 1874. But that was not our today's 'Rabindra Setu'. So what happened to that old bridge.

 Well, that bridge was like a pontoon bridge and the bridge was used to float over some boats. When a ship used to pass by that bridge it could open from the center. But there was a problem. The lions share of the traffic over the bridge was Bullock cart. So in the times of high tides, the height of the bridge increases too much and the carts couldn't even get up on the bridge. As the time flowed by the traffic increased on the bridge and that's when the Government decided to build a new and large bridge. But, it is India you know( doesn't matter ruled by whom). The discussion began in 1906 that we need a new bridge. But again, a million dollars question arrived. " Excuse me, sir. if the new bridge will be established in the place of the old bridge unless the new bride is fully complete how will the people pass? by swimming? The Government said " It doesn't matter. We will come up with some alternative" and gave the permission to build the new bridge. But, again. The First World War arrived to ruin the party and the work was being delayed till 1921. Then again the famous discussion of this country began. "Sir, what kind of bridge we are going to build? Arch? Floating? Suspension? The discussion lasted for 14 years( Ram er Vanavas). Finally, it started in 1935 and it took 8 years to build it. In 1943, 3rd of February we finally had the fourth cantilever suspension bridge with four-lane traffic, two tram lines and wide pavements on both sides.

 There is a fun fact though. The companies, which were related to this humungous project, they still exist and I hope you know their names. The contract of the constructions was given to Braithwaite, Burns, and Jessop.  26500-ton steel was supplied by Tata Steel and to lighten up the bridge Phillips Chipped in. In 2005, while passing by under the bridge, a steamer got stuck there and caused huge damage. For repairs, the government had to write a letter to Tata Steel asking one more time for that Steel of 1943.   

Auckland Circus Gardens

Hello friends. I don't know how many of you are watching, but a very good test series between India and Australia is going on. I believe India has a great opportunity to win a test series in Australia for the first time. This cricketing nation Australia has a great relationship with kolkata and with it's Auckland Circus Gardens. Some memories are sweet and some are not. But, wait you probably thinking: Where is this place called Auckland Circus Gardens in Kolkata? Well then brace yourself for a story which I always cherish whenever I go to this place. For that you need to know something about a painting by a very famous British painter Elizabeth Thompson.

In the right side of the painting you can see a soilder. Exhausted from war, even his horse is not looks very well. There is not much energy left in him. In the left side you can see a fort and some charioteers are rushing towords that soilder. This painting is called "Remnants of an Army". The fort is Jalalabad Fort and the soilder was William Briden. In 1839, 16000 soilders of British Army attacked Afganistan. After 3 years in 1842, only one came back. But what is the connection between this painting and Kolkata? Well you need to know about that person for whom Briden faced this situation. He was the Governor General of India at that time, Lord Auckland. British Government made a huge mistake by appointing him as the Governor General of India. It is because he had no interest in this country and in it's culture. When a terrible famine broke out in the country he was enjoying Shakespeare with his two sisters Emily and Fanny in Shimla. At that time through out central Asia a great political warfare was going on which we know as "The Great Game". Russia and England were expanding their territories and a chance of clash between this two great nations in Afghanistan is just a matter of time. British wants to takedown King of Afganistan, Dost Mohammad and put Sah Suja instead of him, so that they can use Afganistan as a buffer. Both the nations deployed their spys in Afghanistan. One of the greatest British spy, Alexander Burns was writing reports constantly to Kolkata that there is no need of war because Dost Mohammad wants to become friend (Dost in hindi) with the British. But who cares about what Burns is saying. Lord Auckland said war and there was war. The British were soundly defeated by the Afgans. So this is the connection with Kolkata. But Auckland Circus Gardens? Well Lord Auckland used to live at today's Raj Bhavan. There was a big ground beside it which was decorated under the authority of Emily and Fanny. They named it "Auckland Circus Gardens". But after some years they gave it to Kolkata cricket club and they changed the name. It is because Lord Auckland's actual name was George Eden and that's why the ground later named "Eden Gardens". 

Whether it is 1987 WorldCup final or India vs Australia historical test match in 2001. Whether it is 199th test match of great Sachin Tendulkar or the 2016 ICC T20 World Cup final, doesn't matter. Believe me, Eden Gardens always surprises us and we are being mesmerized by it, like it's own story.

The first three storeyed building of Kolkata.

After a long absence I am back again. When I was a child my father told me that Kolkata is a city of palaces. The reason is simple. In Chowringhee we had plenty of houses which was like palaces. But do you know about the firtsfthree storeyed building of Kolkata? Perhaps not. For that we need to go back to 1756.

In 1756, when Nawab Siraj-Ud-Doulah attacked Kolkata. In that attack the 1st Anglican Church and St. Anne Church had been demolished . This St. Anne's Church was in the northern side of Lal Dighi. After the war, no church was founded there in the place of St Anne's Church . Instead of it East India Company decided to build a building for living for their junior clerks, who were called 'Writers'. East India Company was so much niggard that they gave less amount of salary to this clerks that can't afford to ear if they had to rent an appartement. Ok, a building had to be founded. But who will found it? A mysterious person. I am calling him mysterious because I don't have much information about this man. But I can tell you this , he was not  wel known for his architecture. Infact he came to India to train Indian carpenters so they can produce furniture of European style. His name is Tomas Lyon. He founded a building without any architectural significance. That was actually EIC saying through him to It's junoir clerks ," You boys are lucky that we provided you somewhere to live in. Now don't complain whether it is well decorated or not". Well as you know it's  EIC. Now I have to fast forward a bit . In 1800 , college of Fort Williams moved in Writers to teach the students some notion of Farsi language. For that they  built a hostel and an exam hall. After 30 years college desserted the building and then it became a warehouse, imagine. After 40 years the British Government decided to consolidate all the offices of Bengal Secretaris at  Sadar St, within Writers. This work was finally done in 1882. To expand the size of the building they put 13 new blocks  and also gave the well known look of the building. Like the pillars infront or the statue on the roof . Today also the Roman Goddess Minarva is standing infront of the gate. In 1930, 8th of December Writer's Building was being attacked by Binay Bosu, Badal Bosu and Dinesh Gupta. Their target was the Inspector General of Police col. N.S.Simson. After executing him in the corridor of Writer's Building they fought valientlv and bravely. To show respect to their sacrifice Dalhousie Square is nowadays B.B.D.BAG. Although the name of Tomas Lyon isn't just vanished at all. The road behind the building is named as "Lyon's range". You can go there on a Sunday morning and can taste Malai toast, Corn toast etc. I have heard that in Writers one can see SAHEB ghost . Although it doesn't seem to me as a hounted place. I have also heard that in the building we will have a swimming pool . But I have great doubts what will be the reactions of the SAHEB ghosts when they see Indians( native in their eyes) swimming near by.

Ochterlony Monument

Hello friends. Sorry for too much delay but I have been really busy these days. But, here I am with another tale of my favorite city, Kolkata. Nowadays, people are trying to claim Kolkata as London. But under the rule of the British, this city of mine was really called ' London of the east'. The second city of the British Empire. So, as expected the monuments established by the British in this city would be in a memory of some British. But, do you know that one of the famous monuments of this city was build in a memory of an American? well, for that we have to rewind a little bit. 1758, 12th of February, in the state of Massachusetts in the city of Boston,  

a boy was born to Kathrine Tyler and David. He lost his father at a very early age. After 7 years the American revolution started. Like us, the Americans are also a British colony. So, they started fighting in full force. The family of this boy was a loyalist or you can say Pro- British. So they have run away from America. First they rich Canada and from there to England. In England this boy whose name was just like his father, David joined the army. David came here to India in 1777, the year when Writer's Building was established. In India, his promotion took a hop skip and jump. In 1778 he became a Leftenant, then Lt. Colonel, then Colonel, then Major General and finally in 1815 he got Night Hood. But he became popular for a different matter. In that time East India Company was interested to loot the whole India. Sir David didn't give a damn. He wants a lifestyle like a king of India. East India Company gave him a resident in Delhi, Mughal Samrat named him with the title 'Nashir- Uh- Doulah'. So he decided to build a 'Haram' just like a king of India. He, I would say collected 13 wives and gave each of them an elephant, well decorated. This procession of 14 Elephants marched daily from just beside the Red Fort. In a young age, he was very hard working and have a very good mind for strategy. He won a lot of battles for East India Company. But, When the British asked him when will he go back to England, he simply refused. Well, Where else he could live like a king? So, in the memory of this American a monument was built by the British in 1828, is like him. Half -American and Half-Indian. Can't guess the name of the monument? Oh! I am so sorry. I didn't tell you the full name of Sir David. His full name was Sir David Ochterlony. It is named as Ochterlony Monument or today's Sahid Minar.

Tollygunge

Hello, friends. After couple of days I am back again with another story of this City of Joy. I said it quite often that name doesn't come at random. So, today we are going to unfold the name 'Tollygunge'. Obviously this is not the only name which Tollygunge ever have. The first name of this place was 'Rasha Pagla'. Sounds weird isn't it? Well, behind this name we have two theories. The first one is - It was believed that in this place there was a village which was named after a Sadhu called 'Rasha Pagla'. Somewhat like Vabha Pagla. The second theory is quite weird. Before 1847 we have only one mental asylam which was in Rasha road means in today's Deshopran Sashmal road. After some time it was shifted to Hastings and the new building of the mental asylam is now known as PTS- Police training school. From mental asylam or in bengali 'Paglagarod' to 'Rasha Pagla'. Well, this is obviously the old name but what about the new one.

Well, through our city flows the Adi Ganga( not nowadays). Around 16th century the changed it's course and the Adi Ganga became a small ditch which was known as Govinda Pure er Khari. This name changed to Surman's Canal when East India Company's Jon Surman started to live beside it. This guy, Jon Surman went to Delhi in 1715 and received a 'Farman' from Samrat Farookh Siyar that East India Company will not pay any taxes for their business here. At Dalhousie, just beside the tomb of Job Charnock there is a tomb of Dr. Willia Hamilton. He also went to Delhi with Jon Surman in 1715. Cut to 50 years later. Army Engineer Captain William Tolly started to live here. In 1775, he gave a proposal to East India Company as a Major that he wants to wide up the Surman's Canal so that all the big ships can carry their loads upto Garia. East India Company accepted this proposal and Surman's Canal became 'Tolly Canal'. The whole area started to develop. William Tolly set up a  market their and the name of that market, yes today's Tollygunge. William Tolly also purchased a house from Hastings and the name of that house is 'Belvedere'. Today's National Library.

Walking through Biswakosh Lane

As a Game of Thrones fan I can say in this month of September that 'Winter is coming'. We all know in winter in Kolkata lots of fairs take place. But among them my favourite is Kolkata Book Fair. We have world's largest open air book fair and we should be very proud of that. I found the history of bengali books is very interesting and also important for us to remember. The first bengali newspaper was published from Srirampur and it was published by the two of the famous Srirampur trio - William Kerry and William Word. The newspaper was 'Samachar Darpan'. But, wait why I am telling story about Srirampur. Well, today I am going to tell you about a person who's ancestors used to live in Srirampur in a place called Mahesh. The second oldest RathaYatra is held here at Mahesh. The oldest obviously Puri. His ancestors settled here in our Kolkata near SyamBazar. I spent my college life there. So, while roaming around  I found this great story about this man, Nagendra Nath Basu.

He was born on 6th of July in 1866. He was a brilliant student and later found a membership in Asiatic Society. He edited an English to Bengali dictionary name 'Sobdendu Mohakosh'. He was just 18 years old then. But, the main reason we should remember him is an editor of 1st Bengali Encyclopedia. This work of Bengali Encyclopedia was started by Rongolal Basu and Troilokyonath Mukherjee in 1885. After three years at the age of 22 Nagendra Nath Basu started editing it. After 22 years of hard work in 1911 he finally finished the work. In 1933 he started to edit the second edition of Bengali Encyclopedia but after finishing the 4th volume( the 1st edition contained 22 volumes) in 1938 he passed away. 17th March 1915 to honour a great work of dedication of a great Bengali, Kolkata Corporation decided to change the name of the lane where Nagendra Nath Basu used to live. The previous name of that road was Kata Pukur By Lane. In 1915 it changed into 'Biswakosh Lane'. Even now in that road lives Sambhu Nath Basu, the Grand son of Nagendra Nath Basu. But, this is not the only road in Kolkata which is named after a Book. At the Hazra - Lansdowne crossing there is road called ' Swarnalata St', Which is named after the novel of Tarak Nath Ganguly. As I said earlier, We have world's largest open air book fair in our city. It is obvious here isn't it???

Borgi Elo Deshe

When I was a child my mother used to sing a song to put me into bed. I was very charmed by her singing and the way of singing. The song she used was ' খোকা ঘুমালো পাড়া জুড়ালো বরগি এল দেশে'. Well at that time I didn't know the what is the meaning of the song. But, after sometime i wondered who are these বরগি ? Did they come here ? Well, I am going to tell you the most fascinating story about our Bengal and the city of joy. For that we have to take a ride in a time machine and go back to 1550. In the African continent there is a country name Ethiopia. In that country in a small village near Harar a son was born to a very poor family. His parents were so poor that they sold their son as a slave. That son , after serving a lot of masters for many years finally came to Baghdad. In Baghdad , his new master Mir Kasim Al Baghdadi noticed that this boy is not like the others. He named that boy Ambar and educated him. Ambar after serving in Baghdad came to our India. In India Ambar was very Surprised to see that his new master is not an Indian, he is like him an African. Well, at that time it was pretty common here in our country slave to master and master to King. Ambar gathered some great fighters and started fighting for several Kings. By doing that he became a King maker. At that time Mughals were become a headache for the King of Ahmed nagar. Samrat Akbar was flourishing his kingdom. While fighting with the Mughals Ambar realized that in a combat in an open field it is very difficult to beat this Mughals. So , he invented a new tactics of war. Very few men riding in their horses will come like a thunder bolt and attack all the tents of Mughals, burn and loot them and before anybody realize what is happening they will vanish. Ambar named this new tactics of war as Bargirgiri. Ambar, where he was fighting is today's Maharashtra. So, some martha leaders also fight with him. Among them one Maratha sardar learned this tactics very minutely and then passed it to his son. The name of this Maratha leader was Sahuji Bhosle and his son is known as Chatrapatti Shivaji.

In, 1741 , in Bengal the grand father of Siraj-Ud-Doulah, Ali bardhi Kha was the Nawab. Well, he came into power not in good way. He killed his previous king Sarfaraz Khan and became Nawab. The brother-in- law of Sarfaraz Khan was Rustam Jang , who was the Nayeb of Orissa at that time. Ali Bardhi Kha defeated him as well and captured Orissa. Now, this Rustam Jang went to Nagpur and complained to the Marathas. Maratha Army general Raghuji Bhosle sent an army under Bhaskar Pandit. If they only give the Orissa back to Rustam Jang, then there will be no problem. But when they saw the Sonar Bangla they couldn't ressist themselves. 1741, this Martha Army , trained by Sahuji Bhosle used the tactics of Ambar which is called Bargirgiri. The people of Bengal named them বরগি . From 1741 to 1751 they looted, killed, demolished this Sonar Bangla. Around 4 lakh bengalees died. With these constant attacks East India Company was very worried aboout their Calcutta. To save a city you can only do two things - Go up or Go down. Go up means to build a wall all over Calcutta, but in order to do so the company will become penniless .So, they decided to dig up a ditch. Which is called the Maratha Ditch. The ditch was to long on paper. Syambazar, Entally, Camak st, Park st evertything came under this. But as I said it was on paper. In first 6 monthes only 3miles of the 6 miles ditch was digged up. Ali Bardhi Kha then made a peace tretty with the Marathas and the attack was stopped. As a result it left a 3miles long ditch. The people of Calcutta started to throw their garbages there and the ditch became dirty and started to spread obnoxoius smell. Seeing there is no way out Lord Wellesley ordered to close it immedietly. Do you know what that ditch has became today. Lower and Upper Circular Road. Yes, AJC and APC . Only in BagBazar there is road is named as Maratha Ditch Lane. The memory of that attack is still remembered in our songs and as landmarks in this City of Joy.

Bagbazar

Hello friends. Have you ever wondered why the names of some places in this city of joy are unique? Well, I have a belief that name doesn't come at random. Do you know the story behind the name 'BagBazar'? When I was a child  I thought that maybe the people of that area sell tigers or 'Bagh'[ in bengalli]. But it is BagBazar, not BaghBazar. So, are you ready to hear the story?

Well, the main character of this story was Captain Charles Perin. He was a businessman and was a very wealthy person. In 1707, he established a huge BaganBari near the river Ganges. One side of that was Haralal Mitra St, and on the other side was Chitpur Road, today's Rabindra Sarani. But sadly he died in 1708. After his death, his BaganBari was sold in an auction. After some time it was bought by British East India Company and they built an Ordnance factory there. They also built a small fort in the North-Western corner of the house, Which was called 'Perin's Readout'. It was more likely a military base camp to prevent any kind of attack from this side. So, when Siraj attacked in 1756, the army suffered a great resistance from Perin's Readout. After sometime when the army of the Nawab noticed there is no way out they crossed a ditch to enter Kolkata. British lost the battle. But after that nobody attacked Kolkata in that fashion. So, the use of Perin's readout became less. Everyone forget about it. But, up to then, the BaganBari was surrounded by a big market. Perin Sahab Ka Bagicha[ Bagan] or 'Bag' and a market or 'Bazar' in the surrounding. So, the name must be 'BagBazar'. Interesting isn't it? But, Have you noticed I have told you that the army of the Nawab had to cross a 'Ditch'? Do you know the story of that? No, well, I believe you have also crossed the ditch several times. I will tell you the story but not today. Goodbye and love Kolkata. 

Maidan

Hello, friends. In my last blog, I promised that I will come back with Nawab Siraj-Ud-Doulah and his army. Well, here I am. Today, I am going to tell you the story of the lungs of Kolkata, Maidan. In winter, people of Kolkata visit this place in a bulk. Do any other city has a large open space like this? I doubt it. But, what is this Maidan doing in the center of a city? For that, we need to go back to 262 years.

1756, British East India Company was conducting their business from  Fort William at Dalhousie Square. Problem is the goods and stuff of Chandannagar or I can say the French East India Company. It appeared to the British that there will be a chance of fighting they started to garnish the old Fort William with more weapons. This news arrived at Murshidabad, where the last independent Nawab of Bengal Siraj-Ud-Doulah ruled. He sent an emissary and warned the British that-" In my rule, I will not tolerate any private wars by you. You should sue for peace." As a reply, Roger Drake, the Governor-General of Fort William at that time wrote," In the late war between our nation and the French, they had attacked and taken the city of Madras. We are under some apprehension that they will act the same in Bengal". Shortly I don't care about your rule, I will do whatever my heart desires. Well, you know you can't talk to a Nawab like that. As a result, Nawab Siraj-Ud-Doulah attacked Kolkata in 1756 with 50,000 soldiers. In Kolkata, the number of British were only around 300. Siraj demolished the British as the old Fort William had a very chaotic surrounding. After that 1757, Plassey, Mirjafar etc we all know the story. But the British realized their mistakes and now they want to build a new fort in an open space. So, they said to the villagers of Govindpura-"Leave". They built a new fort with open spaces in three sides at the bank of river Ganges. That is why even today also, Kolkata Maidan is a property of Military.  18553ccbb8d9136dd995534581541b7e7d826fdb21d003c5dc

Victoria Memorial

Hi, friends. Today I am going to tell you some interesting and unknown facts about the city of joy, Kolkata. If you are a Bengali, maybe you are proud of this city because it contains rich culture. But one of the main attractions of this city of Bengalese,[ I can say] was built by the British, this is not fare. But is it really? Yes, I am talking about Victoria Memorial. Ready to hear the story. So, we have to go back to 117 years. 1901, 22nd January at Osborn house at the age of 81 years Queen Victoria died.

The British Government announced to build small memorials all over India. But, the resistance came from Lord Curzon. He said, " Small memorials for queen and that too in the capital city, the question doesn't  arise." Build something which will be truly admired and appreciated all over the World and there is a matter of competition with the Taj Mahal as well. But there is a big problem. Money. Who will provide that? The East India Company sought help from the Indians. Indians and the British Who lived in Kolkata at that time gave money from the core of their heart. But who will build this mammoth architect? British Government handed over the responsibility to Martin and Co. and they did it pretty well. But this company is half British and half Bengali. One of the partners was Tomas Aquinas Martin, But the other was known as R.N. Mukherjee or  Rajendra Nath Mukherjee. We have a road in his memory at Kolkata which is R.N.Mukherjee Road. There is also a statue of him in the premises of Victoria Memorial.
I hope you enjoyed this. We will meet again soon with Nawab Siraj o Doulla and his army. Goodbye.

My first post

Hi, there. My name is Koushik and this is my first blog post. Get ready for exciting posts. I hope that you will love it.

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