The streetcars lend authenticity to the city’s 1942 avatar in “Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!”

An unexpected but delightful outcome of the making of Dibakar Banerjee’s film Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! that released on Friday was the rescue from obscurity of two tramcars that were used to recreate the city’s 1942 avatar.

Using brands that have faded from public memory and antiquated ad campaigns, the project has revived interest in trams ‘No. 563’ and ‘No. 567’, now renamed ‘Byomkesh Bakshi’ Tramcars. The film, however, spells the detective’s last name as Bakshy.

The film used two wooden tramcars built in the 1930s and a watering car used to water the tram tracks of the city.

“The tramcar was renovated at their [the filmmakers] cost by us. They collected samples from old photographs and, accordingly, old-style branding was done on the top panel of the trams,” Nilanjan Sandilya, managing director of The Calcutta Tramways Company (CTC) Ltd. told The Hindu.

Mr. Sandilya said that trams were the main public mode of transport in the 1940s and were crucial to depict that period of the city.

The two tramcars used in the film are wooden ones that have seldom been taken out on the streets after the shooting of the film, said S.S. Ghosh, the Works Manager of the CTC. Tram No. 567 displayed advertisements of brands such as Bengal Lamp, Lux Toilet Soap and Dulaler Tal Mishri during the shooting. An old brand of palm candy was also advertised at Nonapukur tram depot. Tram No. 563, which was changed to No. 469 for the film, carried similar advertisements in English, Bengali and Hindi. Shooting was held at the Park Circus Tram Depot. The watering car used in the film predates the trams. According to Mr. Ghosh, watering cars were built between 1915 and 1920 and only two of them are now left with the tram company. Such is the enthusiasm surrounding the tram cars that a prototype called “Byomkesh Bakshi Tramcar” is on display at a tram museum-on-wheels called Smaranika.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kolkata / by Shiv Sahay Singh / Kolkata – April 04th, 2015

The old red Gothic structure on the eastern banks of a large pond looks huge from outside. The pond and the church stand on land that belongs to the Eastern Railway in Liluah. Despite the massive structure, inside, the church cannot seat more than 100 people on its pews. If there is a big congregation, authorities have to arrange for extra chairs for the parishioners.

Christ Church, under the Church of North India (CNI), has 160 parishioners on its list. Most of them are local residents, but there are some who come from other parts of Howrah and Hooghly as well.

The interiors of the church got a fresh lick of pink paint in December, before Christmas. Reverend Sailen Das, a senior member of the church committee, is expecting a good turnout for Good Friday on April 3. The service will start at 12 noon and will continue till 3pm. “Many people attend the church service on Good Friday because it is a significant day. The week before Good Friday is the Holy Week and every evening we have a mass for the Lent period that has started 40 days before Good Friday,” said Das.

Christ Church was built in 1915 for the European and Anglo-Indian employees of the then East Indian Railway. A plaque on the wall of the church reads, ‘This stone was laid on December 22, 1915 by Robert Swan Hichet Esq, Agent East Indian Railway.’ Since the inception of the Liluah workshop in 1900, the Christian employees wanted a
place of worship. “The church runs on donations from members,” said Das.

Inside the church, there are no other decorations, apart from the altar. An antique object inside the church has been removed some 20 years back. “A huge brass eagle with wings spread out, perched on a brass stand was placed in the front of the altar where the priest would keep the Bible during church service. There was an attempt to steal the eagle stand about 15 years back, but it was so heavy that the thieves could not carry it out of the church. After this, we were forced to give the eagle away to St Paul’s Cathedral,” said Das.

Christ Church will turn 100 at the end of this year and the committee members are planning to do some social work.

“We run a Sunday school for Biblical teachings. We are thinking of starting a dispensary at the local club where we could distribute free medicines,” said Das.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta / Front Page> Howrah> Story / Friday – April 03rd, 2015

Kolkata :

An exhibition of rare colour etchings, manuscripts, letters and documents at the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj Library at Bidhan Sarani has brought alive the Bengal Renaissance — the days of Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Rabindranath Tagore, the two doyens of Bengal’s socio-cultural resurgence.

The exhibition, which will continue till January 28, is part of the 185th Maghotsava celebration, an annual event of Sadharan Brahmo Samaj. Some of the artifacts being exhibited are rare etchings that capture early-19th century life and rituals in Kolkata. None of these etchings, done by European artists, were formerly available in India. Art restorer and archivist Ganesh Pratap Singh painstakingly bought these back from different international auctions.

“These are our treasures of our country, lying with personal collections mostly of Europeans and Americans. Once they are up for sale, I don’t lose a moment in buying them back,” said Singh, who for the first time is showcasing his treasure trove, which includes Tagore’s rare photographs. An original deed of a loan agreement of Tagore during the 1900s is also part of the exhibition. “Tagore probably took the loan for his family business,” Singh said.

The colour etchings are the most remarkable portrayals of socio-religious life of Kolkata and Bengal in the early-19th century. There are scenes of Charak Utsav, from markets and a series on the custom of ‘sati’, where a widow would be burnt alive on her husband’s pyre. Father of Bengal Renaissance, Ram Mohan Roy, took the lead in abolishing this custom. Several letters written by Ram Mohan and Keshav Chandra Sen are also on display.

“We have also brought some of the pieces from our own collection at Ram Mohan Library,” said Subrata Dutta, joint secretary of the Samaj. The Brahmo Samaj Library in itself is a historic place visited by the who’s who of Bengal Renaissance for intellectual exchanges.

“The formative years of people like Sukumar Ray were shaped here,” said Bijon Chanda, another joint secretary and key custodian of the 25,000 rare books, manuscripts and photographs. But January 26 is a special day when Brahmos from different corners of the country would meet at the majestic prayer hall to pray for peace.

Sudin Chattopadhyay, a former professor of history at the then Presidency College, was delighted to see the etchings and pointed out that their depiction of ‘sati’ was still relevant for the current generation. “The word ‘sati’ now does not bring the horrible picture of the custom to one’s mind. The current generation that only has textual knowledge of the custom will get a glimpse of how horrible the practice was after seeing these paintings,” he said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / TNN /January 25th, 2015

Kolkata :

“All our dwelling places contain varied partnerships of love…” Tagore wrote in 1935. What about is own spaces? Have they withstood the onslaught of time?

Not quite. One of the revered addresses that have been deleted forever is 49 Park Street where ‘Gitabitan’ and ‘Mayar Khela’ were composed. Researchers have recently recorded 57 places where the bard lived. Sixteen of them were in Kolkata, 14 in the Hills and 27 in south Bengal.

In a prelude to an ambitious heritage-tourism project of the government titled Tagore Circuit, history professors Shouvik Mukhopadhyay, Partha Sankha Majumdar and Ramanuj Mukherjee, at the behest of the West Bengal Heritage Commission (WBHRC), have come up with dates, anecdotes, addresses and several startling revelations about the poet.

Take Birjitalao where ‘Raja O Rani’ was staged and Tagore played Bikram in the 19th century. Wife Mrinalini played Narayani — her only stage appearance. The poet would frequent this house, rented by brother Satyendranath, next to the St Paul’s Cathedral.

“Indira Devi in her memoirs attests that the present day Calcutta Club was located on this land,” reads the study in its avatar as a coffee-table book. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has a foreword: “Tagore has stayed in many different places which have earned for themselves the distinction of being temples of creativity, knowledge, literature, beyond any parallel.”

WBHRC chairman Shuvaprasanna writes: “The history of these abodes… testifies to the insight of a complete artist… throw light on the mental upheaval of a creative person who was never confided to a single place.”

Tagore would keep visiting the Hills; some of these structures continue to exist. The house that Scottish shipping magnate Daniel Hamilton built for the poet at Gosaba is one of the best maintained structures. But 16 such dwellings in Kolkata don’t exist any longer. The list includes 52/2 Park Street, 50 Park Street, 14 Lower Circular Road (now AJC Bose Road) and 237 Lower Circular Road. Soon after his marriage, the poet started living here and Mrinalini was admitted to Loreto House. Tagore wrote ‘Chhobi O Gaan’ here. Businessman Naliniranjan Sarkar later erected a building here. It’s now the Kolkata Police’s Foreigners Regional Registration Office.

“In a country like ours, it’s not possible to protect such buildings unless they are enlisted. The research on Tagoreean abodes is a significant beginning for such initiatives,” said Partha Ranjan Das, member, WBHR.

Places like 10 Sudder Street where Tagore lived with Jyotirindranath and his wife Kadambari Devi continue to exist. But the only trace of Tagore here is a plaque that reads that ‘Nirjharer Swapnobhango’ was composed here. After changing hands, the building is now Hotel Plaza.

The grand exception is the Art College, an enlisted heritage building. From 1928, the poet frequented the residential quarters of then principal Mukul Dey here and exhibited his paintings in February, 1932.

“His journey was external, physical as well as internal. The constraint of space often made him impatient and he continuously changed his locations, not only by moving outside but also relentlessly changing his dwelling places. Fluidity was integral to his creative genius,” write the researchers.

“The research is our labour of love, but there’s no stopping here. We are working on how the constant change of residences played a crucial role in Tagore’s creative genius,” said Mukhopadhyay. Both he and Majumdar have studied in Santiniketan.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kolkata / by Ajanta Chakraborty, TNN / December 28th, 2014