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.