Music notes wafting out of Firpo’s, double-decker buses, calls of “khurchhi mati, dekhbi aay” and the person on the street to the arrival of women authors in Bengali literature — an ad guru, a science teacher and a professor of English literature rewinded to the vibrant past of Kolkata and exchanged stories.
When Husna-Tara Prakash arrived in Kolkata three decades ago, she instantly fell in love with the city. “I fell in love with its history — simply because it was so vibrant. Every building I saw, every person I met on the street, each picture I looked at on their walls urged me to dig deeper,” said Prakash, a science teacher by profession, as she introduced herself and reflected on her relationship with the city.
Kolkata intrigued Prakash and inspired her to explore Bengali literature of the 19th Century. Her love for the city led her to become a sutradhar (moderator) for a session titled ‘Vibrant City: Meet 19th Century Calcutta’s fascinating characters — from actress Binodini Dasi to piano-tuner Harry Hobbs’ at Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival 2025. The engaging session saw Prakash in conversation with Presidency University professor Sreemati Mukherjee and ad guru Devasis Chattopadhyay. What started as an ode to the city gradually turned into an adda session, celebrating Kolkata’s vivacious journey over the years.
Kolkata — a melting pot of many identities and ideas
Kolkata has been home to diverse ethnicities. From the colonial-era Anglo-Indian settlers to the Chinese community that shaped the city’s culinary heritage, and even a descendant of Wajid Ali Shah preserving Awadhi cuisine — this city is truly a melting pot.
Even before Prakash initiated the conversation with the two panelists, authors Sreemati Mukherjee and Devasis Chattopadhyay — who also spoke about their respective books at the session — the prelude itself made our minds wander into the many facets of Kolkata. The discussion also reminded us that not just the food habits or the many languages spoken in the city, but also the literature — both Bengali and in other languages — has evolved with Kolkata as a contributing factor.
Feminist discourse in Bengal, with its inception in the 19th century
Sreemati Mukherjee’s book, ‘Women and the Romance of the Word: 19th Century Contexts in Bengal’, documents feminist history in the 19th century Bengal
“To arrive in the 19th century was a long journey. Part of it has to do with my interest in Ramakrishna. My journey, vis-a-vis this book, begins with my location, because when one locates a person, one has to consider race, class, gender, and historical context. I was about 47 at the time, teaching English Literature at Basanti Devi College, and I asked myself — how did I arrive at this location — a middle-aged Bengali woman teaching English Literature to mostly Bengali girls?” recalled Sreemati Mukherjee.
Interestingly, she found her answer in Bethune College, founded in 1849, because the college, established in the 19th century, contributed to breaking the stigma around nari shiksha (female literacy) and nari swadhinata (women’s independence). Mukherjee is also the author of Women and the Romance of the Word: 19th Century Contexts in Bengal. With her latest book, published in 2024, she has delved deep into trailblazing Bengali women from the 19th century who charted the path for feminist discourse in Bengal.
From Bengal’s first published female writer, Kailashbashini Devi’s Hindu Mahilaganer Hinabastha (1862-63), to Krishnabhabini Das’s travelogue England-e Bongomohila (1885), the literature of the era not only broke social stigmas but also introduced a new perspective — highlighting the voices of women in literature.
The 19th century was also the era of Binodini Dasi, or Noti Binodini, who penned her autobiography Amar Katha in 1913. Binodini Dasi revolutionised the theatre sector in Bengal. And let’s not forget, the 19th century was also the era of the Renaissance in Bengal.
“The arrival of women writers in the second half of the 19th century disrupted the cultural syntax of the time. There was a kind of narrative about society, and then suddenly, you have these women writers raising questions, claiming their voices,” reflected Mukherjee. Claiming the pen meant claiming their voices too, thus beginning a new chapter in feminist history and the empowerment of women, with its inception in the 19th century.
History — also a collection of fond memories
Kolkata is home to several heritage buildings that date back to the British Raj. The many buildings across the city, some in use and some desolate, stand out nevertheless — all with their grandeur — as a testament to a time lost and also as a reminder of a fragment of time that shaped the character of the city.
Firpo’s — an integral part of Kolkata’s rich cultural heritage My Kolkata Archives
“Once, as a young kid of seven or eight years, sitting on the top deck of the 2B bus (double-decker), I passed Elgin Road and then got down at the Maidan — and then, I crossed Firpo’s, from where a wharf of music came. It remained in my conscience, in my sense,” reflected Chattopadhyay, reminiscing about the many changes the city has undergone. While the double-decker buses haven't run on the city streets since 2005 and Firpo’s is closed, the Maidan remains a popular hotspot, offering a spectacular view of the crown of the Victoria Memorial.
Both Chattopadhyay and Mukherjee’s books are historical excavations that look at Kolkata through two different lenses.
Inspiring lives that added to the vibrancy of Kolkata
Devasis Chattopadhay’s tales in the book ‘Harry Hobbes of Kolkata and Other Forgotten Lives’ documents interesting lives of Kolkattans in the 19th century
Chattopadhyay fell in love with Kolkata because of two names who inspired him — Kolkata-based Malayali author and historian Parameswaran Thankappan Nair, and author and historian Radha Prasad Gupta, aka Shantulda. The city has seen many firsts in its journey so far. From “khurchhi mati, dekhbi aay” — a quirky slogan that was popular when Metro rail construction began in the city — to today’s underwater Metro, it has been a significant development indeed.
The author, whose book Harry Hobbes of Kolkata and Other Forgotten Lives documents the city in the 19th century, found unknown stories about inspiring lives to tell. From the forgotten archives, old newspapers and personal memories of people looking back in time to document their heirlooms — Chattopadhyay wrote about a piano tuner (Harry Hobbes), a mercenary, an opera impresario, and six other people who were significant in their own ways in 19th-century Kolkata.
Audience listening to the discussion with rapt attention
Kolkata, fondly called Kallolini Tilottama (vivacious Kolkata), still has many tales — some told and some not. The centuries it has lived through, and the boon and bane of the evolution of time, have outlined one character trait of this city — its resilience. The city continues to cradle the past in its bosom, nurture the present, and look forward to the future, and perhaps this is why we are in love with this city, generation after generation.
