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Last
updated: 19-May-2009
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This
intends to give an over view over the numerous topics covered in the daily life
section of this site.
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The 1940s saw
a great turnover of population in
Top of page ●
How I got to Calcutta
● My First Days in the city
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A
vital defining part of any life, are family relations. What was yours like? From
large traditional family to lonely soldier waiting for a many weeks old letter
from a sweetheart, everyone will have a story to tell.
Top of page
● Me ●
My Parents
● Brothers and Sisters
● Boyfriends and Girlfriends
● Husbands & Wives
● Children ● Relatives
● Family Life
● Pets ● Friends
● Colleagues ● Servants
● Family Events & Ceremonies ●
Weddings
● Family Activities
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The preparation
and enjoyment of food has always had a great cultural significance in
Many people who
have spent even a short time in the city would never forget its food.
Even the war at
first seemed to affect the food situation much less than expected and many
foodstuffs were available which people in strictly rationed
In fact many new
tastes came along with new people, and as many of those had come without
families and often had some money to spend, a plethora of new restaurants consequently
opened to cater for a great variety of tastes and styles.
All the while
though food prices were rising and so on the opposite end of the social scale
the famine deprived millions of even the most basic sustenance.
Top of page ● Food
● Cooking ● Drink
● Sweets ● Paan & Cigarettes
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The
Top of page ● Our House
● The Neighbourhood
● The Palace ● The Rajbati
● Mansion Courts ● Boarding Houses
● Student Hostel Days ●
The Village Hut
● In the Bustee
● In Barracks & Camps ●
The Refugee Camp
● On the Street
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By
the very nature of their age group many of our contributors still remember
their schooldays in the 1940s. Even at the most settled times there would have
been vast differences in the way people experienced their schooldays. Many did
not go to school at all while others went to boarding schools in the
The
special political situation of the 1940s further added to the complications.
Some
schools were evacuated up country, to avoid the bombing and to free up much
needed space to billet soldiers. Other pupils had to unexpectedly stay on in
Many
Indian students were also getting deeply involved in the political events,
attending protest marches or running soup kitchens for the destitute or falling
victim to communal violence.
Top of page ● Pre-School
● Private Tutors
● In School ● Occupational Training
● Boarding School
● At University ● Presidency
● Bethune ● Shantiniketan
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Even
after the move of the capital to New Delhi, office work remained dominant
activity for many people in the city.
With its colonial and municipal civil service, with its many imperial
business concerns, and with the war bringing with it mind boggling military
bureaucracies of several nations, it was not surprising that the days of a
great many Calcuttans, established or newly
arrived were spent in offices. With the extra loads or work due to that war
and many office workers being called up to the forces those that remained in fact
seemed to never be able to leave the desk at all.
Office
life with its messengers and tea boys, sweepers and durwans,
middle-ranking babus, young newcomers on the make and
old (-fashioned) India hands, with all its ranks privileges and traditions, was
often a microcosm of the colonial world in general. Yet as the forties went on
political change on the outside was bound to seep through the shutters and
change attitudes in the offices of Calcutta as well.
Top of page ● The Civil Service
● Banks & Insurance Companies
● Management Agencies ●
Mercantile & Trading
Firms ● The Professions
● The Media ● The Newspapers
● All-India-Radio ●
Science
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Calcutta
in the 1940s was one of India's foremost industrial centres. The rapid growth of industry had attracted
people from all over India and the rest of the world. Thus working in industry was one of the main situations
where different nationalities met. The
war was a major factor in the growth of industry as Calcutta became a major
armaments manufacturing centre to re-supply the China India Burma front.
This
war boom brought with it many opportunities but the stresses of that, as well
as the strained political situation outside the factory gates, led to many
tense situations. Strikes, sabotage,
violence and sometimes murder where becoming frequent and often lasting
features in Calcutta’s industrial life.
Top of page ● Working in Industry
● The Jute Industry ●
The Steel Industry
● The Tea Industry ●
The Building Industry
● The Railway Industry ●
The Motor Industry
● The Chemical Industry
● The Electrical and Telephone Industry ● The Armaments Industry
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The
Port of Calcutta and the river Hooghly were still a
vital part of the city's and even India's economy in the 1940s, and a great
many people were involved with it at all levels. With Calcutta as the main city
and re-supply station for the Burma and China fronts there was tremendous
pressure on all the facilities and people involved. In addition to that the port and its
approaches were often under attack by the Japanese. The 1940s leave us with many vivid memories
of Calcuttans relationships with ships and boats and
rivers and the sea.
Top of page ● The Merchant Navy
● The Port ● The Hooghly Pilots
● Ferries ● On the Riverboats
● The Boatbuilders
● Fishing
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With
Calcutta as the main re-supply station for the Burma and China Front the city
was full of military personnel from all countries of the allied cause. Many
were away from home for the first time and although due to military regulations
they often stayed apart from the general life of the city, they nevertheless
have vivid memories of it. For many it was only a starting point for or a rest
station from the actual war on the front in the East. Nevertheless Calcutta
made an impression on them and they on Calcutta.
Top of page ● In the Army
● In the Navy ● In the Airforce
● Military Hospitals ●
Other Services ●
Special Forces ●
Intelligence Services
● Voluntary Services ● Calcutta Light Horse
● Women's Auxiliary Corps (India)
● Bengal Ladies' Artillery ●
ATS ● VAD ●
Women’s Voluntary Service ● American Red Cross
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The 1940s saw a large influx of new
population into Calcutta. Many were from villages which they had left for work
in the city or because they had had to flee. The rapid growth of the city also
swallowed up a lot of villages in the vicinity.
So even in a large city like Calcutta for many the village lifestyle was
not far from their minds.
Top of page ●
Village Life ●
Farming and Gardening ● By the Pond ● Staying in Calcutta
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Calcutta
as a major city of the British Empire provided shopping opportunities probably
unparalleled anywhere in India. From the
daily basics to antiques and souvenirs everything could be bought at a price;
and from roadside hawkers to municipal markets all the way to imposing pukah department stores (now long gone) there always seemed
to be someone trying to sell it to you.
For many who were new to the city and India in general, going to the
shops was an exciting and often bewildering experience. See how people went to the shops in those
days, or did the shops come to them?
Top of page ● Shopping
● The Markets ● Bazaars
● Department Stores ●
Shops and Craftsmen
● Wholesale Markets ●
Roadside Hawkers
● From Abroad ●
Advertising ●
Money & Prices
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In
a world without internet and mobile phones, yet a world of momentous rapid
change and uncertain futures how did people keep up with the news? How did people separated for years from loved ones, by war and political events, stay in touch with
each other? How were the vast amounts of data handled that informed the
machinery of war and imperial business and the organised resistance
thereto?
Top of page ● Communications
● Postal Services ●
Telegraph Services
● Telephones ● Timekeeping
● The News
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Calcutta
with its ports, its factories, its railway stations, its large population, had
a vital need for transport of all kinds for goods and passengers. Indeed still today Calcutta has the most
varied transport options of all Indian cities including such curiosities as handpull rickshaws, trams and innovations such as the
underground metro. The many
uncertainties of the decade put a great deal of extra strain on all those
transport systems, and brought many into contact with ways of getting about
they would not have considered previously.
The military situation, economic and technical changes also found a
reflection in the city’s street with many more jeeps and army lorries beginning to clog the streets and the famous Sikh
taxi driver becoming more prominent figure.
Some made enough money to even buy their first car. The end of the decade with independence saw
further changes with Calcutta State Transport Corporation sorting bus travel,
plus plans for the metro railway emerging.
Top of page ● Transport
● Bicycles ● Automobiles
● Goods in Transit ●
Roads
● Bridges ● Ferries
● Suburban Railways ● Tramways ● Bus Services
● Taxis ● Hackney Carriages
● Rickshaws
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The
1940 was a decade where more people where on the move than in any previous
age. Troop ships and army lorry convoys,
refugee trecks, are a memory for many. Plane travel was becoming a much more wide
spread proposition. Yet in the day
before the jet plane, travel in and to India was very different and a whole
experience all by itself. Weeks on
board ship, many days on trains often left vivid memories. Even flying in from London took almost a week
with many stops on the way before one landed by flyingboat
at Bally Airstation.
The politics of the decade added further complication with
requisitioning of rolling stock, overcrowding, detours
to undisclosed destinations, torpedo and air attacks and other dangers. All this made travel a memorable part of the
Calcutta experience.
Top of page ● Travel
● Railways ● Howrah Station
● Sealdah Station ● Lorries
● Riverboats ●
Overseas Steamers
● Flights & Airlines ●
Consulates
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Faith
is an important part of life in India for those of all religions. Life in a city brought those religions
closely together and sometimes changed religious practices.
Even
for those who were not especially religious the great sensibilities relating to
it, and the profusion of different faiths and gods, made it a memorable part of
life in Calcutta.
The
linking of religion to nationality and politics would lead to bloody disasters
in this decade.
● PLACES OF WORSHIP
● Hinduism and Temples
● Kalighat
● Dakshineshwar
● Bathing Ghats
● Islam & Mosques
● Nakhoda Mosque
● Tipu Sultan Mosques ● Jain Temples
● Christianity and Churches
● Jewish Synagogues ● Parsee Fire Temples ● Buddhist Temples ● Brahmo Samaj Churches ● Chinese Temples
● FESTIVALS ● Durga
Puja ● Holi ● Christmas ● Diwali ● Kali Puja ● Lakshmi Puja ● Saraswati Puja ● Machine Puja ● Ramadan ● Eid-ul-Fitr ● Eid-ul-Adha ● Eid-Miladunnabi ● Muharram ● Yom Kipur ● Naboborsho ● New Year ● Chinese New Year
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In
such a diverse society as Calcutta, how did people of differing background
interact? How were these interactions impacted but the strains put upon the
city during the 1940s?
Many
books have been written outlining this subject as a whole but we wanted to show
these issues with individual examples.
Top of page ● Languages
● The Colourbar
● Interactions
● Bengalis
● West Bengalis (Ghothis) ● East Bengalis (Bangals) ● Muslims
● Sikhs ● Marwaris
● Nepalis
● Biharis & Oriyas ● South Indians ● Anglo-Indians
● British
● Scottish
● In Chinatown
● Jews
● Parsees
● Armenians
● Greeks
● Japanese
● Germans
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For those that could afford it,
holidays away, especially up to the hills in the hot summers had always been a
Calcutta tradition. In addition there
were hunts and long home leaves for some.
The 1940s brought new people to the city who also wanted to see
something of India while they where there.
Some where lucky enough to be sent away to recuperate
after injuries or illness. Other
fled the expected Japanese advance. For all it was a break from the routine which
they seldom forgot.
Top of page ● Daytrips
● Darjeeling ● The Bihar Hills
● Hill-Stations ● The Seaside ● Holiday in Calcutta
● Sightseeing ● On Home Leave
● On the Hunt ● Other Trips
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Calcutta’s
rich cultural life was and is an important feature of the city. The changes of the 1940s brought new ideas
and trends in drama, painting, film appreciation. Classical music, books, poetry and literature
where at their height, although with the death of Tagore
an great era came to an end.
Top of page
● Culture ● Drama ● Books, Poetry & Literature
● Indian Classical Music ●
Western Classical Music
● Painting ● Cinema & Filmmaking
● Associations ● Institutes and Societies
● Museums
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The
1940 saw a great upsurge in entertainment in the city of Calcutta. The war had swept both new audiences into
town as well as more money to spend. The
many Americans brought new tastes but Indian nationalism also demanded to be
heard in the sphere of entertainment.
Cinemas were full but wartime restrictions on materials made new Indian
films rarer. Radio often initially
installed just for the news gained much popularity with music and comedy
broadcasts. Some of Britain’s famous
entertainers even went on tour to Calcutta entertaining the troops. Park Street blossomed with many professional
live bands and new types of food, but even roadside entertainers found a
willing audience of fascinated outsiders everywhere.
All
the while social change swept away the old Bengali commercial theatre and the
formal upperclass ways of the traditional colonial
‘Calcutta Winter Season’.
Top of page ● Entertainment
● Films & Cinema ●
Theatre
● Radio ● ENSA
● Records & Popular Music ●
Dancing
● Games ● Street Entertainment
● The Calcutta Season
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A
relatively wealth city such as Calcutta always provided a great variety of
possibilities to relax at least to those who could afford it. Clubs, beauty parlours, hotels and restaurants all
provide spots for those wanting to get away from the stresses of life in the
busy city.
Top of page ● Leisure
● Clubs ● Hairdressing & Beauty treatment
● Hotels, Restaurants & Bars ●
Great Eastern Hotel ●
Firpo’s
● Nizzam’s
● Chinese Restaurants
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Calcutta
had always had a special relationship with its parks. Although some features where taken up for war
duties they were still an important part of life in the 1940s and provided a
much needed escape from an increasingly overcrowded city.
Top of page ● Parks
● Maidan
● Victoria Memorial ●
Botanical Gardens
● Agri-Horticultural Society ● Eden Gardens
● The Zoo ● Dhakuria Lakes ● Greer Park ●
Park Street Cemeteries ●
Other Parks
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Calcuttans have always had a soft spot for
sport, even if it is just watching and arguing about it, if one cannot play
oneself. The mix of cultures from
traditional Indians via colonial public school expats
to young nationalists intent on steeling their bodies, has led to a wide
variety of sports being played in the city.
The fact that the forties brought a large number of unattached men into
the city also helped with the upsurge in sports in those days. Calcutta in the
1940s played host to a large variety of sports, and taking part n them was an
important part in people’s social life, helping them relax from the stresses
and strains of life in those days.
[The
more important sport such a cricket, football and racing have got their own
pages.]
Top of page ● Cricket
● Football ● Horse Racing
● Boxing ● Wrestling
● Weightlifting & Bodybuilding
● Yoga ● Swimming
● Rugby ● Golf
● Tennis ● Rowing
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Football,
a great passion in today’s Calcutta was important in the sporting life of our
city even in the 1940s.
Top of page ● Street Football
● Football
● Mohun Bagan
● Mohamedan
● East Bengal
● Other Clubs
● The IFA Shield
● First Division Champion Ship
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Cricket although not such a preoccupation for the mass
of the people as it si today, still held a great
interest to many people in the 1940s
Top of page ● Street Cricket
● Test Matches ● Indian Matches
● The Ranji Trophy
● Eden Gardens
● The Bengal XI
● The Bengal Governor's XI
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Horse racing a great entertainment and hobby for the race horse
owning upper classes, but avidly followed by many all over the city, not a few
had money invested in it in forms of bets.
Top of page ● Racing
● New Year's Races
● Viceroy's Cup ● Betting
● The Calcutta Sweepstakes
● The Royal Calcutta Turf Club
● Polo ● Paperchasing
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Calcutta has
always been a port city where large riches and and
large impoverished rootless population sat very close together. The Social and moral rules of both India and
Britain were often weakened in peoples minds upon arrival in this extraordinary
city.
The war and the
resulting population pressure further increased both the desperation and
temptation for many to resort to crime.
All this and not
least the overwhelming influx of single young men, led to a great increase in
crime & vice.
The
1940s saw a boom in the criminal underworld in Calcutta. New victims and perpetrators where washed
into the city and the economic strains as well as the unprecedented influx of
money and materials provided endless incentives and opportunity for illegal money
making schemes.
The Calcutta Police undermined by
the political situation certainly had its work cut out for them and it changed
itself just as much a the criminal classes in order to
keep up with modern times.
Top of page ● Goondas
● Dacoity
● Burglary ● Theft & Pickpocketing
● Smuggling ● Blackmarket
● Gambling ● Pornography
● Opium Dens ● Brothels & Prostitution
● Sexcrimes
● Murder ● Espionage
● Calcutta Police ●
Surveillance
● Interrogation ● The Criminal Courts
● In Prison
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An overcrowded city in a tropical
climate, lack of food, and a large transient population with a great deal of
war-time and political violence thrown in; Calcutta’s health situation was on
the brink during the 1940 and many of those who lived through those days had a
tale to tell bout it. Many medicines
familiar to us today were not available then and disease was much more frequent
and more serious problem.
Overpopulation,
hunger and a certain amount of carelessness amongst many newcomers led to
further worries on this front.
On the
other hand Calcutta had, for Indian standards, a well developed health system,
which merits description.
Top of page ● The Climate
● Insects & Wildlife ●
Accidents & Diseases
● Medicines ● Ambulances
● Hospitals ● Nursing Homes & Institutions
● Recovery ● Charitable Homes
● Social Security ●
Crowds
● Beggars
● Sanitation & Public Hygiene
● Doctors ● Opticians
● Dentists ● Massage
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The war,
the famine, riots, crime and disease … Death held a rich harvest in the
streets of
Top of page ● Death in Calcutta
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The
political changes in 1940s Calcutta, such as independence and partition, led to many leaving
the city. It is in their minds that the
city they knew and so often loved lives on.
Top
of page ●
Leaving Calcutta
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The
political changes in 1940s Calcutta, such as independence and partition, led to many leaving
the city. Others took the conscious
decision to stay on and make Calcutta their hoe for good.
Top
of page ●
Staying in Calcutta
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Reference ●
Last
updated: 19-May-2009
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If there
are any technical problems, factual inaccuracies or things you have to add,
then please
contact the group under info@calcutta1940s.org