Foreign Para New Market

The British may have left India over seven decades ago but their presence is still felt in every nook and corner of central Kolkata, especially in the vicinity of the New Market area, popularly known as ‘Saheb Para' or ‘Foreign Para'. Over the past two centuries, this neighbourhood has witnessed the co-existence of trade and commerce with residences built by the English-speaking community. Gradually, their settlements expanded in the vicinity. First English market on Asian soilThe place where we find New Market today was home to Fenwick's Bazar, also called Dharmatalla Market, in the 1780s. By Act VIII(BC) of 1871 the Justices of Peace for Kolkata — judicial officers appointed to maintain peace and order — had acquired the land of Fenwick's Bazar to come up with a new European-style market that would cater to the needs of the rising English population. The construction started from the Lindsay Street side and the south block of New Market — the first English market on Asian soil — was opened on Jan 1, 1874.Kaustubh Mani Sengupta, assistant professor at the history and archaeology department of Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence, said: "New Market is one of the enduring legacies of colonial rule in Calcutta. Created for the needs of the European population of the city, it was the first of its kind not only in India, but in Asia." The builder of the market was Mackintosh Burn. Architect Richard Roskell Bayne was awarded Rs 1,000 for this Victorian Gothic-style structure. In 1903, Viceroy Lord Curzon renamed the market after Sir Stuart Hogg, the then chairman of Calcutta Corporation. The northern portion of the market was built in 1909 while the clock tower was installed much later, in 1930. S M Khozaima, a garments trader at New Market, said: "Our business dates back to four generations. Even though so many malls sprang up in Kolkata, our market has a steady footfall round the year because of its legacy." The present building came up in 1876, two years after the opening of the New Market. Sudder StreetEven today, most foreigners visiting the city check into the hotels on Sudder Street but the footfall has decreased over the years, especially post pandemic. Known for its ‘bohemian atmosphere', Sudder Street has always attracted foreign crowds that has also given a rise to the business of foreign exchange, street food and cafes. The name of the street was derived from Sadr Diwani Adalat, a court located there.Raj's Spanish Cafe owner Rajendra Prasad Pal said: "We have got customers from 195 countries. Previously, the crowd was more of foreigners but the scenario changed after the pandemic. Now, we have more Indian customers, especially the young crowd." Similar thought was shared by Akash Shaw of the Sunshine shop, which is famous for its unique ‘hippie' clothing. "Till 2016, foreign tourists formed 95% of our customer base. It started declining after that and post pandemic, the foreign tourists cater to 5% to 10% of our sales." Sudder Street is associated with many historical figures : Rabindranath Tagore had a close bond with the house at 10, Sudder Street where his elder brother Jyotirindranath Tagore and his wife Kadambari Devi lived for a while. Tagore wrote the poem ‘Nirjharer Swapnobhanga' in this house between 1881-82 as he recounted in his book ‘Jiban Smriti' (My Reminiscences). Another piece of history on the street is the Elgin Fairlawn Hotel that was originally a bungalow built by Englishman William Ford in 1783. In 1936, it was turned into a hotel that was acquired by Elgin Hotels and Resorts in 2018. Famous Bollywood actor Shashi Kapoor and his wife Jennifer Kendal met each other at this hotel. Room no. 17 is known as Shashi Kapoor's room. Writer Dominique Lapierre had spent a few days in this hotel while writing his book ‘The City of Joy' in 1985. Free School Street In the 1700s, this area was known to be a bamboo jungle and gradually, the "sahebs" migrated to this side and built houses. In 1810, Free School Street was built and its name came from a charity school run under the Old Mission Church. Later, it was merged with another school to become St Thomas' School, set up in 1831. On April 13, 1830, Lady Bentinck, wife of Governor-General William Bentinck, laid the foundation stone of the school. In 1969, the name of the road was changed to Mirza Ghalib Street in honour of the Urdu poet. British novelist William Makepeace Thackeray was born in a house on Free School Street in 1811. Music lovers flock to this street to purchase records of English numbers. Sushil Mazumdar, an octogenarian, recounted: "In my younger days, I used to buy the records of Nat King Cole, Pat Boone and Frank Sinatra from Free School Street and sellers used to play English numbers on record players." Melting pot for cinema loversThe New Market area, apart from being a shopping zone, was once a meeting point for cinema lovers. Elphinstone Picture Palace, later called Chaplin Cinema, was the oldest cinema hall in this area and it was built by Jamshed Framji Madan in 1907. Other popular cinema halls were New Empire (1932), Globe (1907), Metro (1935), Elite (1940) and Roxy (1940s). Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was said to have watched the Ashok Kumar-starrer ‘Kismat' at Roxy. Legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray had a close bond with this area. Uttam Kumar's inspiration for acting was believed to have come from this area as his father Satkari Chattopadhyay worked in Metro cinema.

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