A Roll Back in Time on our Kolkata Tram Ride

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.

Trams and Phaeton cars  of the Bygone era

What was Calcutta like before the British came?

It was the last but one day of 23^rd 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. 

Job Charnock  and western homes on Suanuti

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.

Amazing Trams

The Trams of Calcutta always amazed me. I suppose they have continued to amaze all Calcuttans since the first Horse-drawn tram carriages hit the rails. In fact, Tram can be considered as a facet that gives the city charm with its pleasant, easy-going lifestyle and status. They have never been seen as shabby and sluggish as they meander moving smoothly through the, madding crowds & the jammed traffics.

CItyscape  of Calcutta 

Reality is that Trams do lend Kolkata with an old world charm and add to the romantic hint of the cityscape.

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.

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.

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.

Smaranika Tram Museum

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

Our joy was unmistakable and exclamations loud, as we saw the big aluminium tea kettle and ‘kulads’ appear with hot sugary sweet chai.

                       All Aboard!  Mohan on Insta Count.                  

That done, it was time to move and there came the signal for all aboard. Mohan, by now had become quite adept at herding his unruly boisterous brothers in arms who were gently steered into four tram cars of 25 each. All the same, I caught Mohan totally preoccupied with his insta-spot check and his smile of satisfaction above, I caught is for posterity.  

The Genie with Kettle            The Digital Trio                          

Vijai and Shail Singh caught up with me to complete the team so that we could digitally chronicle our ride into history. But, not before I wished for another round of tea and like a genie, a man appeared with the kettle again.

Then came the loud whoops of joy we rolled out from the Esplanade.

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.

Tipu Sultan Masjid

Ensconced amidst teeming humanity was the Tipu Sultan Masjid on our right.  A  Tipu Sultan mosque in Kolkata! Really!  I could not believe it. But then my homegrown history buff, the concierge at the  HHI confirmed that it is indeed was Tipu Sultan Mosque and had lineage, as it was built by his youngest son, Prince Ghulam Mohammed way back in 1832 after Tipu Sultan's family was shifted to Kolkata after his death.

Tracks & Trams

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.

Books on Boi Para 

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.

Vintage Editions  George Bernard Shaw   Plays & Essays

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 

Christ Church                                                 Vivekanand

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.

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.

Theatres   Regal    Madan   and  Star

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.

Shyambazaar Post Office turn around

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'.