Chhota Lucknow

It was May of 1856; the dejected Nawab heaved a sigh of sorrow as he stepped down the McLeod. The steamer had just docked at the Bichali Ghat in the southern fringes of erstwhile Calcutta. He had travelled till Varanasi on a palanquin and then boarded the McLeod Steamer, leaving behind his favourite Zurd Kothee Palace, several kilometres away in Lucknow. Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, the King of Awadh, perhaps had an inkling that would never be able to return to his capital!

So began the poor Nawab's life in exile, with a battalion of five hundred men. Fortunately, he had been able to rent out an English styled bungalow on the river front, with impressive manicured lawns, that originally belonged to the Raja of Burdwan.

Unable to return to his capital, the next three decades of his life, the Nawab spent in this part of the city. Homesick, he turned this Metiabruz area into the mini Lucknow or Chhota Lucknow. He started building places like the Qasrul Baiza, Murasa Manzil, Noor Manzil and Adalat Manzil in Metibruz, so that it resembled his hometown. Soon, new mosques and Imambaras were also constructed.

The Nawab was a man of strange interests. Within no time, he had an open air zoo built for his amusement. From lions, tigers and massive reptiles, this zoo became the home to many an exotic bird and rare animal, from all around the world! Several renowned musicians and artists, of those times, also found a new home in the Nawab Metiabruz.

Sadly, the Nawab passed away in 1887 and the British demolished most of the pleasure houses he had built. However, till date Metiabruz proudly displays traces left by a Nawab, whose heart could never leave his home in Lucknow! 

Did you know?

The origin of the famous Kolkata Biriyani, the only biriyani to have potato in it, can be traced down to this part of the Metiabruz? The Nawab, not having enough money to feed his five hundred men on meat biriyani, had introduced the potato in it, as a substitute!

Portugese Church

 

Historical evidences indicate that the Portuguese arrived in Calcutta much before Job Charnok, but their relationship with the English has never been friendly. The first Portuguese place of worship in Calcutta date backs to the late 17 th century, consisted of a mud hut. In 1700 it was converted into a brick structure. In 1757 Lord Clive expelled the Portuguese from Calcutta and the Catholic Portuguese Chapel was converted into an Anglican Protestant Chapel.

In 1796, the ban was lifted and the Portuguese community of Calcutta decided to build a modern Church and it is thus that the present Church of the Most Holy Rosary came to be. The present Portuguese Church was designed at a cost of ₹90,000 by James Driver. A striking and unique feature of the Church are its two giant towers which look almost like minarets, topped by crown shaped cupolas. In front is a neat pedimented porch. The Church was consecrated on the 27th of November, 1799. The cost of construction was borne by Joseph Baretto of the well-known Calcutta banking family. It is currently the seat of the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kolkata.

Apart from the two towers, the eye-catching exterior of the cathedral is adorned with a decorative pediment rendered in vibrant hues. An arched entrance leads to a colonnaded interior with wooden pews set on either side of the aisle. The main altarpiece, painted white with gold highlights, looks resplendent when light from the circular stained-glass windows set high above filters in.

 The statue of the Virgin Mary with the infant Jesus occupies pride of place on the massive altarpiece. Another interesting feature of the cathedral is the 14 wooden panels in bas relief, which depict the 14 Stations of the Cross.Portuguese Church located on the Murgihata Street just off the Brabourne Road and Canning Street crossing. Although located in one of the busiest localities of Kolkata it serves as a oasis of peace like most of the Kolkata Churches.

Pen Hospital

 Situated in a narrow alleyway of Chowringhee Road in Esplanade, this one-of-a-kind hospital has been treating broken nibs and pen pistons since before India gained its independence in 1947. Fountain pen connoisseurs and vintage pen collectors in Kolkata and the surrounding area know where to go if their pen is broken and bleeding blue.

It’s been 77 years since Pen Hospital was established by Imtiaz's grandfather, Mohmmad Samsuddin who had come to start his own business in Kolkata from Bihar in 1945. Along with his brother Mohammad Raiz he inherited the business from their father Mohammad Sultan in the 1980s. After his brother’s death, Imtiaz now runs the show with his nephew and son. The Pen Hospital’s collection boasts pens ranging from 20 to 20,000 Indian Rupees. The iconic shop sells and repairs both Indian and global pen brands like Parker, Mont Blanc, Pilot, Sheaffer, Waterman, Pierre Cardin, Swan, Wilson, Blackbird, and Pelican, to name a few.

The wooden cupboards of this small, almost cramped shop have a display of both old and new pens. A glass table top doubles up as the operation table for the doctors of the house to look into problems of the ailing pen. They have sold vintage pens dating back to the 1930s and 40s. The stock for antique pens sometimes gets sold out quickly.

The Pen Hospital’s clientele includes a long list of noted Bengali writers, filmmakers, politicians, judges, doctors, journalists, college professors, and high-ranking government officials. The shop has repaired the pens of many famous personalities including the pen of Oscar-winning director Satyajit Ray. With the changing time where fountain pens are losing their space and charm, this shop is heavily dependent on pen connoisseurs and collectors who have pens as part of their heirloom and antique collections.