A college campus in College Street, Kolkata has a different charm. Here are 7 things that you will relate to if your college was in Boi Para.
College Street!
The name itself brings so many warm memories gushing into your mind. College Street offers so much – the smell of old/new/tattered books, the touch of old Calcutta, College Square, Indian Coffee house and so much more. Ah! Yes, there are innumerable colleges in Kolkata and most of them are great, but a college campus in Boi Para/College Street has a different charm. If you are or ever were a college student in Kolkata and that too in College Street then these are the 7 things that you will surely relate to.
- The old and cold college buildings
None of the college campuses in and around College Street are less than 100 years old. The large classrooms, old desks, arched doorways, long corridors & British architecture was a pride for you. On a scorching summer afternoon the cool refuge of a classroom in one of these buildings became your sanctum sanctorum.
- You get to hangout among books
If you are a book lover (or even if you are not) the sight of books all around you is sure to lift your spirits. Even if you didn’t have anything else to do, just browsing around the shops and asking for various books in their collection was an excellent time-pass. And the knowledgeable shopkeepers were an added bonus – they could recommend some of the best reads, once you started chatting with them. And everyone had that one favorite bookstore where you were treated like an old friend.
- The Indian Coffee House
Coffee House used to be your favorite hangout. Bunking classes and having a free-spirited, high octane adda with your friends among the memories of greats who had once graced the tables here, gave you that undeniable sense of pride & belonging. A cup of Infusion or a Kabiraji was your fetish cuisine with the little pocket money you had.
- The Paramount Shorbot
The best way of beating the sultry heat of Kolkata were the customized sharbats (Juices) of Paramount – an almost century old shop that is an institution in itself. The dab sherbat is probably the most sought after glass in this part of the city!
- The stationeries
Not only the bookstores, but the shops that offered stationery in College Street also brought out the lost child in you. One of your deepest your desires was the useless urge for buying a pen or even a nicely created pencil when you saw them all arranged together on the store fronts.
- The frequent Tram rides
Getting a tram from one corner of M.G Road and getting down somewhere on the way was a common source of relaxed sauntering for you. You had so much time and trams were the best way to go around this part of the city.
- A break at the College Square:
It used to be tough finding a seat in College Square. But once you had that bit of empty space for your gang, you would settle in for addas that lasted hours. You often bunked classes just to sit there and snack on some Dal Bora (lentil fries) and talk about college politics or heartbreaks.
The smell and the aroma of this beautiful place called College Street has taken it far beyond just an alley of old book stores. It holds great memories, a million coming-of-age tales, the “college-prem” and the serendipity of being a college student.
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Hrituparna Dhar
