Tuesday, Feb 04, 2025 14:00 [IST]
Last Update: Tuesday, Feb 04, 2025 08:21 [IST]
“Indian Coffee House”, popularly known as “Coffee House” opposite to Presidency College in the College Street,?Kolkata (earlier Calcutta)?is not a regular coffee house but also a cultural and heritage place of creativity. The humble, rustic facade can fool the novice?but?the seasoned ones know the epic and iconic?historic?milestones that have unfolded in the honoured halls of this building.?Beginning from freedom fighters to notable writers to nationally and internationally revered authors, artists and filmmakers have visited this place, enjoyed cups of coffee and?discussed scripts, stories and struggles.?The most interesting?and heart-warming touchy specialty of this coffee house is that you can sit for hours engrossed in conversations with your friends or sharing your?thoughts,?without ordering and yet no one will?come to?break you out of your reverie and ask for ordering. There is no hurry, everyone is calm, gentle, intelligent and their activities will inspire you. ?It's?a living, breathing testament to the?city's?rich cultural heritage, where the simple pleasure of a cup of coffee transcends boundaries and unites souls. The golden days of this iconic spot might be behind it but every?day?many youthful?minds, thinkers, and former patrons keep coming back, eager to immerse themselves in an atmosphere thick with dialogues, the aroma of coffee and the?wistful?embrace of nostalgia.
College Street in central Kolkata where the coffee house is situated is central to the identity of intellectuality and creativity of the city which was once given a famous name “City of Joy” by the French author Dominic La Pierre. The street is called so because it has on its two sides, several prestigious and heritage schools (Hindu & Hare School), colleges (Presidency College), university campuses. The prestigious Calcutta University consisting of mighty buildings such as the Senate hall, Ashutosh Building and Darbhanga Building, Calcutta Medical College and Hospitals including the School of Tropical Medicines, all heritage buildings of colonial vintage and of majestic Gothic design, rows of bookshops and libraries and even food stalls on wheels have their addresses near coffee house on college Street!
The Albert Hall, which was built in 1876, eventually came to be known as “Indian Coffee House” was named after Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Concert Albert. The Indian Coffee House in Kolkata was a meeting place for many freedom fighters and a breeding ground for cultural and political movements in 1940’s. This Albert Hall in “Coffee House” was spread over two floors, the first floor is humorously referred to as “House of Commons”, and the second floor as “House of Lords”. Who would not visit this heritage and prestigious place, students, professors, poets, journalists, business professionals, couples in love all signed its visitors’ book, still found and kept there so carefully. It is verily an intellectual hub. The ambience is always informal and warm, no one speaks in soft voices. The taste of the coffee is uniquely aromatic, casting a hypnotic and addictive spell on the sippers. With the benevolent indulgence of the owners and the well behaved and polite waiters, one could spend hours over only a cup! None would ask you to hurry or quit, quite unlike other commercial establishments.
The prestige of the “Coffee House” increased with regular visitors such as Rabindranath Tagore, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Mahatma Gandhi, Aurobindo Ghose, Shishir Bose and many more freedom fighters. The Albert Hall building was the main centre of the anti-British movement. The “Bharat Sabha” or “Indian Association” was established on the initiative of Rashtraguru Surendranath Bandyopadhyay, Ananda Mohan Bose, Shivnath Shastri, Dwarkanath Gangopadhyay and many others. Subhash Chandra Bose held several political meetings in the Albert Hall. It was here that, on the advice of Rabindranath Tagore, Netaji made several plans for the “Quit India Movement”. A forgotten chapter of India’s independence is hidden in this Coffee House.
Famous film makers, writers, novelists, Nobel laureates who have great contributions not only for our country but to the whole world were the regular visitors of this iconic place and their many creative ideas came into reality or developed at this heritage house. These includes Satyajit Ray, Amartya Sen, Mrinal Sen, Ritwik Ghatak, Sunil Gangopadhyay, Sanjeev Chattopadhyay, Subhas Mukhopadhyay, Shakti Chattopadhyay, Samaresh Majumder and Aparna Sen who used to spent hours at the coffee house which was known as “Coffee & Adda” . The Coffee House is of historical significance for being the rendezvous of innumerable versatile people, from its inception to date.
The evergreen and iconic song of legendary singer Manna Dey “Coffee Houser Sei Adda ta Aaj ar Nei” was written based on its heritage culture. Whenever, I visit Calcutta University and the famous book stalls, I used to call my friends for meeting at this prestigious vintage place and have a coffee with snacks in the evening which refreshes mind for a longer period. Now, with the passage of time, many new items have been included in the snacks items with coffee. This time I am very happy to see our famous “Momo” has been included as snacks item and I found it prepared nicely.
Author at Coffee House, Calcutta (January 2025)
Many of us frequently, visit Kolkata for higher education, official works, medical treatments, business purposes, VISA processes and for many other reasons from Sikkim. I would request our students, researchers, teachers and all of our Sikkimese people to visit this prestigious heritage place once to have the ambience of “Coffee & Adda” and how the exchange of thoughts are being shared.
Hope this prestigious place will remain same and provide all of us a “Place of Culture & accumulating new concepts and thoughts” for our plan of works as well as refresh our mental health.
