Footpaths, Frontiers & Forgotten Journeys, Kolkata

About this place

Gariahat, the bustling retail hub of South Calcutta, was not formed in a day. It took decades to plan—and many more decades to become everything that its makers never expected it to be. Step into the world of the frontier urbanization of post-British Calcutta, when the city became a network of routes for refugees and new economies gave rise to what would come to be known as the “informal sector.” The jostling footpaths of Gariahat offer cheap commodities to consumers and subsistence to hawkers. But what is the story behind this thriving, iconic presence in the city? Who actually created this boulevard of unbroken resource, and who settled in the bylanes behind it? Travel from the furious fifties to the stormy seventies, in the years after democracy had decisively toppled colonial power. Retrace the lanes of the breathless chases of Calcutta '71, and discover the homes of people who left a lasting influence on the urban geometry and culture of modern Calcutta. Come explore the Gariahat and Ballygunge bylanes with me—and uncover the stories of refugees, hawkers, movements, politics and urban transformation that helped make this part of Calcutta what it is today.