First impressions, I admit, could be deceptive, however they may also be indelible. That’s actually true of my journey to “Calcutta” final weekend. I don’t know the town nicely and haven’t visited for no less than 5 years, however I got here away irresistibly satisfied that among the nicest features of the Raj nonetheless linger within the West Bengal capital. And the Calcuttans I met wouldn’t have it every other method. That’s why I’m intentionally utilizing the town’s colonial title.
Within the coronary heart of the town, simply off Park Road, because it was once known as, in a nondescript constructing you wouldn’t in any other case discover, nestles a pleasant, Raj-inspired boutique lodge known as The Glenburn. When you get previous the ugly environment and the shabby entrance, you enter a world from a forgotten previous on the seventh and eighth flooring. Its 9 rooms have grand four-poster beds, parquet flooring and chandeliers, carved picket sofas and varnished console tables, chintz cushions and brass-framed vintage floral prints. The large bogs comprise old school enamel tubs you possibly can sink into and stretch to your full size.
There’s a morning room the place I breakfasted, studying a three-day previous copy of The London Instances. It felt extra related than a recent version of an Indian newspaper! The Instances’ Court docket Round carried particulars of the King’s programme — he was in Balmoral, maybe taking pictures grouse — and once I regarded up, I discovered the Victoria Memorial staring again at me. Curzon couldn’t have requested for a finer view as he sipped his morning espresso!
The view from the opposite aspect was of the Calcutta Maidan. Final Sunday, it regarded verdant and alluring. Within the far distance, I might spot males on horseback, merrily galloping on a cool monsoon morning. Watching them, it appeared, have been girls carrying parasols and little kids and their pet canines enjoying on the luxurious inexperienced. Would they be coming to The Glenburn for tiffin afterwards? Absolutely, pink gins could be essentially the most acceptable method of concluding this tour?
I had been invited to speak to members of the Bengal Membership. It’s a world aside from the Punjabi dhabas that Delhi’s golf equipment have been diminished to. Right here, the British connection is fondly cherished, painstakingly maintained, and totally loved.
The viewers comprised elegant girls in chiffon sarees and pearl necklaces and males in well-pressed trousers and sober shirts. There wasn’t a kurta-pyjama to be seen. Nor a bhadralok dhoti. Little question, they knew Bengali, however I might solely hear English. Spoken as it will be in Knightsbridge!
We dined beneath the strict gaze of a life-size oil portray of Normal Outram. He was a former president of the Membership now, little doubt, preserving a pointy eye on the brand new membership. He actually would have accepted of the menu.
It was a four-course meal with two wines, and the silver cutlery was resplendently laid on each side of the shining white china plates. We had carrot and celery soup, rock lobsters, roast mutton with cranberry jelly and mint sauce, rounded off with delicate brandy snaps. The night ended with liqueurs served frappe in crystal glasses with glossy stems. It jogged my memory of Curzon’s vaunted boast: “I dine at Blenheim as soon as per week!”
Blighty has modified, however there’s a little bit of Calcutta that is still defiantly the identical. Little question, the tragedy on the RG Kar Medical School and Hospital, the mass protests, and the unsure way forward for the chief minister have been mentioned, debated, and, this being Bengal, argued over however they appeared to belong to a special world. The one outdoors these hallowed precincts.
So, in case you’re the type who prefers to start out Sundays with a bowl of steaming porridge, adopted by scrambled eggs and bacon, and also you’re questioning what Amrit Kaal is more likely to do to you, I like to recommend The Glenburn and the Bengal Membership. There, you could be assured that point will at all times stand nonetheless.
Karan Thapar is the creator of Satan’s Advocate: The Untold Story.The views expressed are private
