More About College Street
“Loss Of Identity” prompted me to carry out some research on College Street and this is what I found.
Arguably the largest second-hand book market in the world, College Street is the narrow stretch of road between Bowbazar and Mahatma Gandhi Road, which leads to Hatibagan and Shyambazar further north. A tram line runs in the middle of the road and the sidewalks on both sides are crowded with makeshift bookstalls constructed with wood, bamboo, sheets of corrugated tin and canvas.
This neighbourhood, often referred to as the Boi Para (boi: book, para: neighbourhood), and sometimes College Para, is the hub of intellectual activity in the city. Well-known academic institutions such as Presidency College, Scottish Church College, the Bethune College, the Medical College Calcutta, the Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management, Hare School, Hindu School, Scottish Church School, Bethune School, Holy Child School and the University of Calcutta are situated on this street. The Indian Coffee House, a cafe that has attracted the city’s intelligentsia for decades, and numerous bookstores are also located here.
Not surprisingly, therefore, the book stall owners find ready clientèle in this neighbourhood. Students in search of reference and text books, avid readers of practically every genre, book-lovers in hopes of finding a hidden treasure are more often than not rewarded with a rare find at a throwaway price. Most Kolkatans visit this area often, sometimes even daily if only to spend a couple of hours browsing through piles of second hand books displayed at the stalls and perhaps strike a good bargain. Like mostly is the case with similar bookstalls in Mumbai and Delhi, the stall owners here are a very knowledgeable lot and can immediatly locate the book you want.
Indeed it is hard to imagine College Street without the book stalls. A city wide drive to evict hawkers operating on the pavements at various places in city a couple of years ago was carried out successfully. But the Boi Para was, as a matter of policy, left untouched. Seems like, though, that the city planners won this time.
And, probably, with good reason. The shops that once stocked on Dickens, Hardy and Austen did so because the readers could not get enough of these books. Sadly, the readership has deteriorated and the booksellers cannot afford to keep these classics anymore. The result: the size of the bookstores as well as the quality of books kept has declined. Bookstores are now reduced to being stores of question papers and syllabi. Sadly, these are now more profitable to keep. And, with no end in sight, the plight of College Street makes for some sad reading.