Life and history of old cities have always intrigued me and so had Calcutta of the yore cast its spell on my imagination leaving its colours in many hues.
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Trams and Phaeton cars of the Bygone era |
What was Calcutta like before the British came?
It was the last but one day of 23rd NDA, Calcutta Reunion and the day of much-awaited Tram ride through the mood and milieu of North Calcutta to Shyambazar along with the neighbouring Bagbazaar. This was once the citadel of the Bengali aristocracy; it was a part of what was earlier known as Sutanut.
Sutanati was one the three villages of native Bengal along with Gobindapur and Kalikata that merged to make Calcutta. Job Charnock, an administrator with the British East India Company is traditionally credited with the founding the city. He later settled in the village of Sutanuti.
What is in a Name!
· Kalikata is derived from the Bengali word Kalikshetra meaning ‘Ground of the Goddess Kali.’
· Some say the city’s name is derived from the location of its original settlement on the bank of a canal which in Bengali is khal.
· Some match the name to the Bengali words for lime…kali and burnt shell …kata that is burnt shell-lime.
· Another opinion is that the name is derived from the Bengali term kilkila(meaning, ‘flat area’, which has a reference in the old literature


Calcutta has interesting etymology, that means it has many ifs and buts in the origin and history of its name. This one is a quaint story. According to it, a British merchant was travelling through the countryside when he came upon a peasant stacking hay into the barn. Not knowing where he was, the merchant enquired from the peasant about that place. The peasant on his part did not understand English, and he guesstimated that the Gora Sahib must be questioning about the date the crop was harvested. In his own language, he nonchalantly replied: "Kāl Kāʈa" which in the Bengali language means "harvested yesterday".
The merchant returned quite happy with the knowledge that he had learned and mapped the name of the place.
Thus in the following English Transcripts, "Kāl Kāta" became …Calcutta
Little nuggets of stories akin to these historical throwbacks added more colour and mystique to the tram-ride into the long gone era.
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Amazing Trams |
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CItyscape of Calcutta |
With nearly two and a half centuries of existence, the Kolkata trams hold many archives of matchless merits. Today, it is the only such relic in an Indian city and quite possibly the only one of its kind in Asia.
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Horse Drawn Carriages From Sealdah to Armenian Ghat |
These horse driven trams were first introduced in the England and decades later they trotted their way over to the Capital of Colonial India, Calcutta in 1873. The first attempt to run a 3.9 km tramway service between Sealdah and Armenian Ghat Street, unfortunately, was short-lived and it remained redundant for the next seven years.
Then came the Steam locomotives in 1882 to haul tram cars. Two decades later, the introduction of electricity driven tram in 1902 came as a game changer, between Esplanade and Kidderpore and since then trams have just been there.
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Selecting Trams |
It was a beautiful balmy day, with wafts of a gentle breeze and blue skies, we could not have asked for more, as we left for the Tram Museum which had a fanciful name Smaranika at the Esplanade.
At Smaranika tram museum we not only saw some old trams and replicas of horse-driven car, and several tram cars in history, but also browsed the carefully kept photographs of different kinds of trams in the old archives, with memorabilia of tram tickets and passes, badges, caps and others apparels worn by the conductors and drivers, along with different kinds of equipment’s like controller, etc.
The journey begins with Welcome Tea in Kulad |
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All Aboard! Mohan on Insta Count. |
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The Genie with Kettle The Digital Trio |
Then came the loud whoops of joy we rolled out from the Esplanade.
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Esplanade Hiouse & Ordnance House |
Swerving past the New Market and the Victorian old Ordnance House that was built on the Esplanade East row with wide verandah, true to its colonial form. Some pictures have been found of that time showing life at the high point of the British Raj.
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Tipu Sultan Masjid |
Trams are little trains; the parallel tracks are laid out alongside on the busy streets. And at the junction of roads, I looked down to see the spaghetti of entwined tracks. This confluence of tracks gently untangle themselves out and move on in differing directions. Amazing though it may be, the trams manage to sort out the labyrinth and move along easily as they navigate the whims of the traffic, the lights and the honks at the Wellington and turn North.
Perhaps you may call me whimsical, but gazing out at the city through the grimy tram windows we get the look and feel as though we are rolling backwards in time. Almost as though we are in 'Calcutta' of the bygone days. ..Chandini Market, Hind Cinema and on to Bow Bazaar and past Shib Mandir.
There is something about the alleys of North Kolkata and the houses there which wing us back in years. They had the soul of an old man and the paradigm characteristic archive of cerebral energy. The Medical College, Calcutta University, Presidency College all these deep-rooted institutes of excellence.
The College Street Junction swept past en route the Tram track. The College Street Book market is also colloquially known as “Boi-Para”, and for Kolkata literary crowd it is a hub to browse for the unexpected. It could be a rare find, a lost edition or a parched manuscript or even an unusual blueprint.
Once I stumbled across a row of old books ‘Kabadi’ shops on way from Guards Regimental Centre, Kamptee to Nagpur airport, and could not resist stopping for a peek. But then for me, a flea market is an adventure, and nothing is just a peek. Time stands still when you hit embankments of junked treasures. There I was, rummaging feverishly on my fours, in dust and grime. This stop-over, however, was a trove of junked treasure. I found Ernst Hemmingway’s collector's first edition of an anthology of essays and complete Plays printed on the Indian Sub-continent by Associated Press of Ceylon almost a hundred years ago. This was enough of an impetus to reach for more… Now that is another story and this almost cost us our flight back home.
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Vintage Editions George Bernard Shaw Plays & Essays |
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First Prints and signed |
Now coming back to College Street, it has, I am told the largest second-hand book market in the world.
What an opportunity lost to find used, rare, and out of print books
It was on to Kalitala and Vivekanand Road with his ornate statue.
Scottish School, Hatibagan Market is the oldest traditional market in Northern Kolkata, leading on to Townhall and Shyam Bazaar.
It used to be really popular for the pets and furry friends and Cinema halls. A few decades ago, this kilometre-long stretch of north Calcutta — Bidhan Sarani, formerly Cornwallis Street — had as many as 10 cinemas. Uttara, Sree, Rupbani, Radha, Purnasree, Bidhusree, Mitra, Minar, Darpana and Talkie Show House. It was no perchance happening. This was, after all, a respectable well to do neighbourhood in that time and space, with a growing audience for the cinema halls.
What an opportunity lost to find used, rare, and out of print books
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Christ Church Vivekanand |
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Scottish School |
It was on to Kalitala and Vivekanand Road with his ornate statue.
Scottish School, Hatibagan Market is the oldest traditional market in Northern Kolkata, leading on to Townhall and Shyam Bazaar.
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Town Hall |
It used to be really popular for the pets and furry friends and Cinema halls. A few decades ago, this kilometre-long stretch of north Calcutta — Bidhan Sarani, formerly Cornwallis Street — had as many as 10 cinemas. Uttara, Sree, Rupbani, Radha, Purnasree, Bidhusree, Mitra, Minar, Darpana and Talkie Show House. It was no perchance happening. This was, after all, a respectable well to do neighbourhood in that time and space, with a growing audience for the cinema halls.
Once we cross over to that part of the city we get to see the web of alleys creating a look and feel of the era of perhaps where Tagore wrote Geetanjali and when Bankim Chandra wrote Vande Mataram.
The up North journey ended at Shyambazaar Post office turnaround, and the tram was then heading back along the way we came southwards. This gave me a chance to sit back and imbibe the architecture of old haveli's and homes, the lifestyle of people and culture of the new aristocracy that lived in these palatial homes. And perhaps try and visualise and draw a sense of parallels and dichotomy of then and now.

But that is for the next blog ..... The colourful lives of Babu's, Bai ji's and the Baisheya'.

But that is for the next blog ..... The colourful lives of Babu's, Bai ji's and the Baisheya'.
Wonderful
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