If you have a penchant for history, the 35 short chapters penned by Ashish Sanyal in his collection, Heritage Retailers of Calcutta, will pique your interest. The book was launched by G.M. Kapur, state convenor of the West Bengal chapter of INTACH, the non-profit charitable organisation which backed this book.
"The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) has supported this initiative because documentation of heritage is one of our major objectives and Mr Sanyal has done a very painstaking job of documenting something which we see every day but don’t give much cognizance. A lot of such stores have vanished but these have now been documented for posterity,” said Kapur.
Ashish Sanyal and G.M. Kapur at The Park
Sanyal was six when he visited Calcutta for the first time in 1963. Although he spent only a few days in the city, he was in shock and awe through it all. The experience of putting up at The Astor, driving from Howrah Station and down Red Road, walking down Park Street and Chowringhee, seared itself in his childhood memories.
“There were Christmas decorations on Park Street, and I remember the sleigh with the reindeer in front of Bombay Photo Stores. India Hobby Centre was amazing for a child and I’ll never forget the sight of the mounted police on Red Road. This book has been in the making since January 3, 1963,” said Sanyal, at the book launch.
Sanyal keeps his audience engaged at the launch
But it was only in 2016 that he launched the project and started researching the old shops of Kolkata. “It was just after demonetisation had happened and no one really wanted to talk. But I kept going back and they eventually opened up. I spent two winters meeting the proprietors of various shops,” explained Sanyal.
