Aug 2, 2022
Harrison Road, EH11
seen from United States
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seen from United States
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Russia
seen from China
seen from China
seen from China
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seen from Russia
seen from Russia
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Harrison Road, EH11
Harrison Road, EH11
Farm on Harrison Road by Denise Powers Fabian Via Flickr: Harrison Road, Wayne County, Ohio
Flower Arrangement by Denise Powers Fabian Via Flickr: Harrison Road, Wayne County, Ohio
Harrison Road, EH11
Night market
Matthew Swarts, Harrison Road, Somerville, Massachusetts, 2014.
Mahatma Gandhi Road
Renowned American novelist and poet Don Williams Jr. had once said, “The road of life is filled with twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Our most memorable moments come from the journey, not the destination.” We couldn’t have possibly agreed more with these remarkable words. Truly, no two roads are ever the same. And here we are literally talking about the roads that complete the cityscape. In the everyday din we often forget the voluminous history stashed aside as these roads continue to be christened and re-christened.
Mahatma Gandhi Road is beyond doubt one of the most important east-west thoroughfares of Kolkata, connecting two of its major railway terminus. It starts from the Sealdah flyover in the east and stretches till Barabazar in the west.
But long before this road was renamed after Gandhiji, it was known as Harrison Road named after Sir Henry Leland Harrison, the then chairman of the Calcutta Corporation. Starting as a district Magistrate of Midnapore, he rose to the position of Chairman in April 18, 1881 and held the seat till April 15, 1890. A dynamic town planner he received his knighthood in 1887, and died of cholera at the age of 55 on May 5, 1892.
The decision to name this road, till then known as Central Road, as Harrison Road was reached at the Special Meeting of the Corporation held on May 17, 1892.
However, the real credit behind the road goes to Kali Charan Ghosh, the first Bengali Deputy Collector of Land Acquisition Department. He was the man in charge to acquire the land for the construction of Harrison Road. The construction of this road is considered to be one of his greatest achievements.
At the time of its construction the road had a length of 8900 feet (1.685 miles) with a uniform breadth of 70 feet which included 50 feet of carriageway and two footpaths, each 10 feet wide. The Calcutta Corporation spent over Rs. 47 lakhs to construct this road. The construction of the road was begun on April 11, 1889 and the work was completed in 1892-93. The first section of the road from Clive Street (Netaji Subhas Road) was opened to the traffic on June 28, 1890, absorbing the lane leading direct from Clive Street to the old Nimai Charan Mullick Ghat, constructed by the illustrious Singbahini Mullicks of Barabazar. The Mullicks of Barabazar gifted 4 bighas of land to the corporation for the construction of the road.
Harrison Road remained the central connector till almost a decade after independence. It was only in January 5, 1956 that a proposal to rename it as Mahatma Gandhi Road was notified by the Calcutta Corporation. This notification appeared in the Calcutta Municipal Gazette on January 21, 1956. The municipal body at its weekly meeting held on August 31, 1956 is said to have sanctioned the above proposal.
The stretch of Mahatma Gandhi Road is as diverse as it gets. Once you start walking on Mahatma Gandhi Road from Sealdah, you would first come across the Sisir Market. This market is home to a huge number of stores selling everything from clothing, electronic items and umbrellas to invitation cards, bicycles and food products. A few steps from here will take you to Chabi Ghar Cinema Hall. At one point of time this used to be the place where people from the Bengali middle class of North Kolkata used to come to watch the latest Bengali films. A few metres from here is the Surendranath College. This college wears the distinction of churning out some popular politicians of our times.
If you look rightwards from here, you will see a large number of lodges and guesthouses like Ideal Lodge, Hotel De Bengal and Hotel Cozy among several others.
As you continue your journey westward from here, on your left you will find loads of stores selling invitation cards. This is a unique feature of this road. Nowhere else in the city will you ever come across a stretch of road with countless number of stores just selling invitation cards. You will also find a large number of stores selling a wide variety of sports items ranging from cricket bats, footballs and basketballs to badminton racquets, running shoes and weight training equipment among others.
As you approach the Mahatma Gandhi Road and College Street crossing, on your left stands the Dilkhusa Cabin. This small food joint tucked away right behind some roadside bookstalls is an institution in itself. This cozy little food joint is frequented by hundreds of customers everyday. Despite the mushrooming of several other fast food joints in the close vicinity, Dilkhusa Cabin’s popularity seems to be unaffected. And bang opposite to Dilkhusa Cabin is a very popular saree store called Adi Mohoni Mohan Kanjilal.
Once you cross the Mahatma Gandhi Road and College Street junction and approach C.R. Avenue, on your left you will find several musical band stores. This is yet another unique characteristic of this road. Calcutta Band, Mahboob Band, India Band, Yousuf Band and Darbar Band are some of the popular names. And on the right you will come across a wholesale fruit market colloquially known as “fol patty”.
A few hundred metres from here will bring you to Kolkata’s largest wholesale market – Barabazar. This is possibly the busiest juncture in this stretch of the road. There isn’t any item that you can think of that is not sold here. From dawn to the late hours of the evening, this place is hustling and bustling with trade and activities.
Doted with old buildings and stores on both the sidewalks along the entire stretch of the road, Mahatma Gandhi Road is truly a visual treat for any passerby. Rediscovering Mahatma Gandhi Road is not only an enlightening experience, but also a romance unfolded. It’s the romance of time, history and culture piled up on a stretch of road, that we so often tend to overlook. (WITH INPUTS FROM RENOWNED HISTORIAN P.T.NAIR)