August 2020
Jewels of India
Although I had taken up French to study in school, I never quite got around to learning the language properly. With my board exams approaching, my parents decided to take radical action and sent me to Chandannagar to live with my uncle for a month and study French. A small nondescript town about 50 kilometres from Kolkata, Chandannagar is the erstwhile Cultural capital of French East India. Most of the buildings are squared off on the banks of Ganga and a walk through the winding streets of the town will reveal many old buildings with undertones of typical French architecture. But the piece of resistance(pardon my French) is the house of the Monsieur Dupleix which has been converted into the Institute de Chandannagore, a museum which stores much of the original French furniture along with two massive canons from the Anglo-French war.
Another European colony along the Ganga I call home is Serampore, an erstwhile Danish colony settled on its banks much before the British came to town. Although there isn’t much of the original structures left over from the 17th century, the St. Olav’s Church has been refurbished by the present day Danish government to give a remembrance to the original traders of that era.
Nearest city: Kolkata is the nearest city to both of these towns and best places to stay are at the Taj Bengal and the ITC Royal Bengal, both of which offer a delectable insight into the city’s culinary marvels.
Phrases: The colonists may have left, but they surely have left an indelible mark on our skyline
Handle: Instagram (@saltandsandals)
