Calcutta Today!

Calcutta is growing outward and up!

Oh Calcutta!

 The Assembly of God church gate. A cousin, Noreen Vincent lived at 19 Royd St. (See top pic where the man is walking). Also Pam Crain lived there through an archway that led to the side of the old building. Royd St becomes Eliot Rd (middle pic) and below is a lane branching off from Ripon St. that looked as bad 40 years ago.

Over the years I'd always wanted to visit Calcutta again. Walk down
Royd St., Eliot Rd., Ripon St. And finally it's over! I had to see for
myself what others had said about it not being the same anymore.
Nothing remains the same, true, but here the place has literally gone
down, lost its vibrancy. It's become more crowded, some of the old buildings have been replace with ugly blocks, leaving little space for movement. Some of the open spaces have also been occupied resulting in narrow passageways between the buildings. Little oxygen and almost no sunlight at ground level.
I looked out for this visit and at the end I was depressed and now, should I visit Calcutta again, I don't think I'll go back to the area without a good reason.

Not bull-headed at all!

Why do we use the term bull-headed when someone 
does something brainless? That bull waited for the traffic
 flow to stem before moving forward. It was motionless
when several of us crept past it.

Mart souvenirs

I've had this bowl and coffee cup for 48 years. The same type of bowls
were in use during our time but not the cup. Maybe Bryan Cooke or the
Aussie, Mr Mac could put a date to the cup. Ma'am Towning with Col
Daniell's permission, sold these 'souvenirs' to those interested for
Re 0.25-0.50 in December '68.

The Jama Masjid, Lucknow

Bara Imambara seen in the centre of pix

The Tilewali Masjid

Roomi Darwaza

Fairydale

The Mart 'Dairy Farm' gate at Martinpurwa established circa 1888. We would visit the dhobis who occupied the rooms on either side of the gate to have our clothes ironed.

Fairydale was a beautiful field where all those exciting rugby and later soccer matches took place. Viewed from the culvert, it looks just like what the other side of the lake was, wild with babul trees.

This stone belonging to the Archaeological Survey of India, planted near the Sahara Mall, draws attention to the fact that we are approaching a protected monument, the Shahnajaf Imambara, 150m away. The message is both sides of the stone.

Special Assembly

Monday, Feb 28, 2011.
Special Assembly being held to thank the members of staff retiring at the end of this academic year.