Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Memories on fire!

Fire! Again fire! It feels as though the fires of 26/11 are still raging and nothing that the mind can conjure up by way of distraction, can douse those flames completely. Or so I thought. Little did I realise that it would take another fire, another memory to be set aflame, for the first one to die down. Mr. Arathoon Stephen's soul must be in acute distress at the fate that has befallen his handiwork, the iconic Stephen Court of Kolkata.

Why must all our memories literally go up in flames?

Stephen Court is a building that I used to walk past twice a day, five days a week for years together! This British age building on the one hand and the school and college that I attended on the other, happen to be located, to this day, on the same famous road of Kolkata, viz. Park Street.

This corner edifice was always a landmark for us aspiring Romeos. It stands at the junction of Middleton Row and Park Street which, to us, meant a stone's throw from the YWCA, a short distance from El Morrocco ( there was no Peter Cat in those days) and, of course, just up the street from Loreto House where the hearts of most Xaverians belonged and resided! On the other hand if one progressed along Park Street without turning into Middleton Row, the road led us surely to Mags (our abbreviation for Magnolia), which was, invariably, the first port of call for shared cups of coffee with the current Loreto friend. And not to forget the cigarette shop at the gate of Stephen Court! The owner of this shop was a discerning entrepreneur indeed to have set up shop in such a prime location. For, hardly a college student walked past without fortifying himself with a much needed puff, either to muster courage before meeting the girl friend, or to seek its company before boarding a bus at Chowringhee. And what about the tension filled minutes spent at the junction, trying to look innocuous by glassily staring at meaningless magazines (hung from the grilled fence of Stephen Court by some enterprising book-seller), while waiting with racing hearts and clammy hands to meet Miss Perfect to arrive from LH or from some bus stop? Stephen Court (or just outside it) was the proverbial journey's end where faint hearts and fair ladies rendezvoused to try and avoid myriad people like prying nuns and priests, assorted drivers or inquisitive classmates, or even an occasional parent!

Stephen Court! Many things to many people. Over the decades the building became the hub of many businesses with a honeycomb of offices operating out of it. As a result, today, the day population of the building has assumed considerable proportions. Lots of people, young and old, men and women, boys and girls throng Stephen Court every day, to earn their living. They come from all over the city as well as the suburbs. In fact, my nephew Saurav, runs his outfit from there and is one of those lucky ones to have escaped unhurt while the fire raged in all its fury just above his head on the floor above!

Stephen Court is not all offices, though. Lots of old companies, the British ones in particular, provided very handsome living quarters to their officers. My classmate from school Amit, better known as Mota, lived there for some years. Needless to say the four of us (Chatterjees) had spent a wonderful holiday with them back in 1984. The rooms were so large that the four children of the two families would play their ball games quite comfortably within them. Lofty ceilings, huge rooms were at times positively disconcerting when the four of us (the grown-ups!) would sit down to have a drink and a quiet chat of an evening. We were all so far away from one another! And the resonance of our voices were amazing to say the least! But the extreme comfort offered by the well-appointed flats more than made up for any minor inconvenience like the sheer vastness!

Furthermore , how can I forget to mention Flury's. The wide frontage on Park Street with its huge glass windows was definitely a showpiece of Stephen Court. Strong-willed was the pedestrian who, while walking along the pavement, could resist looking in through these windows to mentally savour the wares on display.

I was introduced to this sweet-toothed gourmet's paradise by my father way back in the '50s. Since then, as far as I can remember, all our confectioneries were bought from this place. Despite its having changed hands several times from the days that a Swiss/Italian gentleman called Mr. Flury set up shop long before independence, Flury's has managed to maintain the standards pretty well, although it may have lost the tag of the best confectioner in India, which it certainly was for a long time. However,the memories of Flury's cakes, pastries, patties and other confected delights are abiding. Perhaps the biggest tribute to the attractions of Flury's was paid by the outstation air travellers who invariably made a pit-stop at this holiest of holies to pick up a box or two of goodies en route to the airport and home, in distant Delhi or Madras or Bombay of the 6os and 70s!

Flury's was also the only restaurant of repute which served breakfast - a famously delicious one, by the way - from early in the morning. When our children were small, a holiday in Kolkata always included a trip to the zoo at 6.00 in the morning followed by breakfast at Flury's. What memories! I can still remember the taste of eggs and bacon, ham sandwiches,chicken patties, the ubiquitous baked beans on toast. And the heady, rich aroma of fresh coffee!

In more recent times, Music World has become a regular stop for me every time I visit Kolkata. This is definitely the new attraction of Stephen Court where people of all ages come in search of the latest music (or films) and the young come in droves for deliciously clandestine trysts with their romantic destinies! Let me assure you readers that my visits to Music World are purely for the pleasures of music and films!

For several decades, Peter Cat restaurant has also been a major attraction of Stephen Court. In fact, together with Flury's and the Silver Grill, Peter Cat forms a trinity of restaurants which Stephen Court alone offers on Kolkata's Food Street. I am not sure but one or two more eateries may have opened in this building by now!

So, it is quite easy to understand how Stephen Court has been for many years, and still is, woven into the fabric of a Kolkatan's life. I certainly hope that it continues to remain so for years to come. I hope that greedy commercialism does not endanger its enviable position in a citizen's heart. The recent devastating fire which reduced the top three floors to rubble, is not only a reminder of how things go wrong at the behest of a few unscrupulous profiteers who care nothing about people's lives in pursuit of filthy lucre, it is also a wake up call for the residents and the authorities to their responsibility towards protection of life and property in the future.

Above all it must be the responsibility of someone , somewhere to ensure that a wonderful part of a Kolkatan's life, as presented by the multiple attractions of Stephen Court, is not taken away by such callousness.

As the period of Lent slowly comes to an end, I sincerely hope that Flury's will once again fill the hearts and minds of the people with their offerings of the famous hot-cross buns and Easter eggs. I am sure the Kolkatan will, as usual, throng Park Street, Stephen Court and Flury's for their share of this annual fare! Happy Easter, dear reader.