A HOTEL IN CALCUTTA

IRENE'S FOURTH MESSAGE FROM INDIA:

Yet another report from India:
With memories of "City of Joy" by Dominique Lapierre in mind, we expected to NOT like Calcutta and were steeling ourselves to its onslaught. On the cab ride into town we commented to each other about how we seemed to like the city already! That was a surprise. The city seemed more intimate and manageable than either Delhi or Mumbai. In speaking to Indians about their cities, a number of them referred to Calcutta as a "city with soul" and a "laid back atmosphere".

Yes, there are still slum areas in Calcutta but we did not see the miles of shacks that line the airport around Mumbai. Apparently in the 1970's as East Pakistan was fighting to become Bangladesh, more than 4,000,000 refugees fled to Calcutta and completely inundated the city's infrastructure. There is still much poverty here and yes, there are people sleeping on the sidewalks, but many of the shantytowns and slum areas have been cleaned up.

Traffic is less of a nightmare as bus lanes and taxi zones are being created. Somehow, the city is more approachable than some of the other chaotic places we have been to.

The Fairlawn Hotel:
We tried repeatedly to book a room at the classic and inexpensive historied Fairlawn Hotel and our efforts paid off. We had read that it was a quirky place to stay and were looking forward to the experience. We did not know what to expect as our cab rounded the corner of the white classic India Museum and turned up Sudder St. The sidestreet was lined with a mix of storefronts and 2-3 storied buildings that left little space for sidewalk. There was a green iron gate in a wall. The driver honked and someone opened the gate. The cab turned sharply in to a little courtyard. At the back was an area obscured by high shrubs and what appeared to be a 2 story victorian house with an open veranda and entry. The Fairlawn Hotel has been owned by Violet Smith's family since 1936 - and I do not think there has been a thorough housecleaning or garage sale since!

We presented our passports and signed the usual registration while trying to read framed histories of the building! Our double room with a/c was 2800 rupees (app.$67.00) including breakfast and high tea. We followed the bellboy up the carpeted stairs past hundreds of framed bits of memorablia that lined the walls - photographs of notables, framed letters from Dominique Lapierre, posters of "City of Joy". photos of film stars and actors, family photos of Violet Smith, her parents, her children and grandchildren, framed articles from newspapers around the world about the hotel...one could spend hours just getting upstairs!

The upstairs contained several guestrooms, each door hidden behind a floral curtain, as well as a large salon with Victorian settees, armchairs, and coffee tables and a canopied square veranda which overlooked the "garden" (now a beer garden!). Off the salon was a walkway which led to a 2 story row of guestrooms behind the main house. The walls of the public areas were also crammed with framed memorabilia as well as glass-fronted cabinets containing everything from boxes of souvenir silver spoons to oriental tourist tchatchies and children's school projects!

Our room was large with a sitting area as well as a desk and armoire. Over the bed hung a portrait of a turbanned maharaja with an imposing mustache. There would be no tomfoolery under his watch! Even though the linoleum on the floor was peeling in several places, the room was spotless. There was a glass bookshelf with a variety of books left by travellers of all nationalities. We left a large volume on Indian Tort law that Lewis had acquired in Hyderabad and been lugging around as well as the memoirs that an academic had gifted to Lewis and we borrowed a guidebook for a few days.

We enjoyed meeting Violet Smith. Approaching her 90th birthday, she still is downstairs at breakfast to greet her guests and go over the books with her staff. She is more than eager to relate the story of the Fairlawn...I think she enjoys the notoriety of her age and tells you lots of details whether you are interested or not. There were a few details which made us bond with the hotel.

The land was acquired in 1798 and the house was erected in 1803 by a British family and served as their home for a generation. Then the building was used a a court house, a "sadar" in Bengali. This became distorted into "sudder" and became the name of the street, Sudder St. As Calcutta grew, the neighbourhood became a Jewish enclave and the home passed through a succession of Jewish owners. 1915 saw a flood of Armenians flee Turkey and move to India including Violet Smith's parents and the area around Sudder St. absorbed them as well. Today Violet Smith is one of the last of the Armenians and Mr. Nahoum who owns Nahoum's bakery down the street is the last of the Jews.

Violet's mother began the hotel and built the annex at the back. During the second world war, the Fairlawn was used to house Canadian troops and was called Canada House for the duration. After the war, the hotel was restored to its intended use. It is one of those places where locals as well as tourists enjoy the atmosphere.

We met a number of other guests there including a judge from Texas, a woman from Brussels who had spent 2 years volunteering in Bengal at a handicapped children's centre and a Canadian woman from Stratford who was about to spend her week in Calcutta volunteering at Mother Teresa's hospital.

I will not be getting a commission from the hotel but would readily recommend it to anyone heading to Calcutta.

Best,
Irene