About Calcutta Studies Collective

 


Introducing the Calcutta Studies Collective, a motley interdisciplinary group of academics interested in all things Calcutta, from its history and mythical origins to contemporary sociological and anthropological explorations, in fiction and film, in theatre and heritage walks. 


Watch this space for an evolving list of events and readings, and eventually, a conference.

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Food and All That

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The organizers of Khana-e-Kidderpore Antara Mukherjee reports a food festival at Government Girls’ General Degree College, Ekbalpore. In A Taste of Time: A Food History of Calcutta (2021), “Food,” says Mohona Kanjilal, “has always been an integral part of the lifestyle of the residents of Calcutta...whether it is...the phuchka wallah...the jhal muri wallah, selling the spicy puffed rice preparation...or the ghugni wallah serving...the semi-dry and spicy preparation of whole yellow peas...”. Indeed, Food, as a prominent marker of one’s culture, defines the socio-economic fabric of a particular region. As a trading post for the East India Company, the city of Kolkata saw a huge influx of communities and their accompanying culture and cuisine from around mid- eighteenth century. Resultantly enough, Khidirpur or the anglicized Kidderpore area – comprising of Khidderpore, Mominpur, Ekbalpore along with its suburban extension Metiaburz – became a hub of shipping activity and a base for migr...
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The Mess-bari Culture of Calcutta

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  In picture Central Calcutta Boarding House. Photo courtesy: Messbari Project. Shreya Das traces the history of Mess-bari culture of Calcutta.  The late nineteenth and early twentieth century Calcutta witnessed a rapid urbanization of the city. Hordes of people migrated from villages to this metropolitan city in the hope of securing a job under the colonial ruler. A huge number of students also came to the city to receive the modern British education to ensure jobs at clerical posts under the Raj. Several education acts (e.g. 1813, 1833, 1835, 1857 etc.) in the nineteenth century only confirm the British pet project of manufacturing “Indian in blood and colour, but English in tastes, in opinions, in morals and in intellect” (Macaulay’s Minute, 1835). As a result, the institutionalization of the English education became necessary and several colleges were established in the major cities of India. Calcutta, being the then capital of India, became a field of experiment where t...
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Book Review: Dominique Lapierre’s The City of Joy

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Sumanta Mondal revisits the critically acclaimed novel that has given a new name to Calcutta as the city of joy.  The novel The City of Joy by the French author Dominique Lapierre was first published in 1985. The book is a gripping tale of Calcutta and its penurious streets. The ‘city of joy’ is the name given to Anand Nagar, one of the slums in Calcutta. The story focuses on the trials and tribulations of the interwoven lives of a young Polish Catholic priest named Stephan Kovalski, an improvised rickshaw puller Hasari Pal and an American doctor named Max Loeb. ‘City of Joy’ was inspired by true events where Dominique lived in the slums for two years to record the experiences of their lives. The book chronicles the themes of class segregation, stigmatization of the caste system, religion, and the perpetual struggle of the poor in urban Calcutta. The story begins with Father Stephen Kovalski who has decided to join a religious order that sends its members to provide aid to the ...
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