Kolkata is known for its architecture, literature, culture, creativity and arts. The
transformations of three villages- Kalikata, Sutanuti and Gobindopur into the wholesome city
of Calcutta became the peak of modernity in colonial India. Because of prime location of
various educational centers and spreading knowledge alteration, it has fascinated creative
economy since its development from colonial session. Kolkata has its own ‘boi para’ (colony
of books) in the form of College Street, which is the largest bookselling market in the country
and the second largest in the world. The long extent of street stalls, conventional bookstores,
and publishers along with tapering lanes of smaller bookshops that collectively form the
colony of books, run from Mahatma Gandhi road to Bowbazar. It houses the veterans of
scholastic institutes such as Presidency University, University of Calcutta, Calcutta Medical
College, Hindu school and Hare school.
Dotted with standby bookstalls made from bamboo, wood, and tarpaulin, College Street’s
attractiveness is beyond doubt. The bookstalls have books on all most every subject matter
known to man — from fiction to non-fiction in multitude languages and even textbooks. This
is where you will find books that will appeal to every book-lover — from a racy Agatha Christie
thriller to the latest Indian bestseller, second-hand copies of detective story books and a
range of Bengali comic books. And the best part? You can get these books at bargain prices,
sometimes at even half their commercial value.
Under Lord Wellesley, who first planned the construction of the roads in the area, College
Street was known as The Great Arterial Road. The name ‘College Street’ came to exist in
around 1817 when the Hindu College was first established in the city. The college was founded
by David Hare, who wanted to furnish a broad-based academic education to all Hindus. After
the approbation of the college was complete, the Hindu College finally started off with twenty
scholars as students. The street on which the college was established therefore came to be
known as College Street.
College Street has been a centre of political and literary activism since the 1930s. The area
has been used as a meeting place by iconic Indian leaders such as Netaji Subhash Chandra
Bose as well as intellectuals and illustrious personalities, including filmmaker Satyajit Ray,
Mrinal Sen, and Ritwik Ghatak, Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, poets Subhash Mukhopadhyay,
Shakti Chattopadhyay and Sunil Gangopadhyay, to name a few.
The crevices of College Street are carrying the memories of an era where Calcutta flourished on
the colonial opinion of ‘Modernity’- a particular section of society that made up a unique public
space within the boundaries of ‘Boi Para’ (Neighbourhood of books). College Street nurtured an
intrinsic relationship between the educational institutions, book market and public places like
Coffee House. Boi Para began to display a public sphere full of intellectual debates, where its
everyday activities turned into a subculture of its own- be it the ‘adda’ breaking out in any area
(Coffee House, bookshops, pavements), the novelty of book selling on the pavements, the
revolutionary spirits and student politics, or the modernities of a flourishing printing press. The
everyday culture of College Street embraced the modernity of the colonial and created a
modern space of its own.
Calcutta grew into Kolkata gradually. Kolkata’s public spaces speak of a half-hearted try to enter
the universal contest of modernity. But the name of College Street and Coffee House continue to
nail down its nostalgia and create an air of legacy around its run-down structures, overcrowding
and dwindling book market. College Street refuses to give up its historical ties. It continues to
offer a struggle to book reading in the electronic format as well as to the chain business of large
book stores such as Oxford and Crossword. The streets and crevices of College Street continue to
reside on a memory of glory and all that came with it.
It is crucial to the identity of Kolkata and what makes it the cultural capital of the country. In
fact, we cannot think of the city without bringing up College Street. It was, is, and will continue
to be one of the most prominent and central spots of attraction of the city.
But in recent condition where the booksellers are already in crisis for lockdown due to corona
virus outbreak,Amphan (a super cyclonic storm) lashed Kolkata bringing in heavy rain, water
entered closed outlets of booksellers, publishers and binders of college street, and damaged
printed books and pages ready for binding, causing losses to the tune of lakhs of rupees.
Images of books floating on the waterlogged streets makes everyone dumbstruck. Some
publishers and store owners have rushed to college street to check the damage, many who
live in the districts could not as public transport is not available due to lockdown. Actually no
one properly knows the correct amount of loss, they are also unknown about the future of
this historical book market. This is the hard time to stand beside ‘Boipara’, core of nostalgia,
mine of books and finally emotion of thousands of booksellers, publishers and booklovers.
College Street continues to remain at the heart of political, social, and cultural debates. And
why not? Being a colony of books, it is only fitting that College Street represents the essence
of what books teach us — to broaden our minds and to question our long-held beliefs and
institutions.
By Zavizah.
References:
https://www.nkrealtors.com/blog/college-street-iconic-colony-books-kolkata/
https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/155118/10/10_chapter%203.pdf
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/no-filter/college-street-200-year-journey-of-a-
street-a-culture-a-history-of-book-lovers-paradise
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