Caught Somewhere in Time
Early
Bengali Influences in the Commercial Heart of Shillong
Rahul Saikia
Rahul Saikia
The
fourth and final article on this forum has been written by the author of the
present introduction, and is entitled ‘Caught Somewhere in Time - Early Bengali
influences in the commercial heart of Shillong’.
1. Introduction:
Police Bazaar or
‘PB’ – is the main commercial centre of Shillong. To begin with, the bazaar may
be visualized as an elongated mountain of concrete buildings and business
establishments crammed within a network of crowded streets and narrow
alleyways. Walking through the main street, one is dwarfed under a canyon of
untidy buildings, and assailed by long lines of fellow pedestrians and
persistent hawkers. Residents have come to look upon such crowded scenes as
proof of the hill-station becoming ‘unbearable’ and ‘bursting at the seams’.
Fig. 1
Drawing its name
from the nearby police station, Police Bazaar was born in 1864, and is old as
the ‘hill-station’ itself. It grew slowly with the arrival of Bengali and
Marwari traders whose ‘general stores’ were initially patronized by British
soldiers and officers. In 1874, Shillong became the capital of the new province
of Assam. As the town grew into an important centre of colonial administration,
the marketplace started to expand. Starting from the first decades of the 20th
century, a string of different communities - Sindhis, Punjabis, Pathans,
Chinese, and later, Tibetans – all arrived to start businesses in the area.
Coming into the present century, a handful of large Khasi businesses have also
emerged onto the scene, while recent developments point to a spurt of
investments coming into market from the coal rich Jaintia Hills. Apart from
these ‘business families’ there have always been countless others; coolies,
cooks and construction workers, many of whom ‘have long since disappeared, as
silent as shadows.’
While all these
communities have shaped the market in various ways, this article attempts to
look at the prominent historical presence of some early Bengali business
families in the area. Prior to 1947, this community held a dominant position
within the emerging commercial landscape of the marketplace. Apart from owning
much of the prime land and real estate within the bazaar, they were also pioneers
in the fields of trade and transportation. Today however, this position of
early prominence has given way to an ambiguous sense of decline laced with
continuity. While some of the old business families still continue to have
important business concerns in the area, they have mostly been overshadowed by
the phenomenal success of other communities like the Marwaris and the Sindhis.
From a tiny
cluster of wooden structures about a century ago, the market has since grown
into a concrete and glass jungle. Seen through the crowded prism of the present
moment, these early Bengali influences emerge as a series of traces,
disappearances, memories and continuities, all embedded within the larger
contemporary landscape of Police Bazaar. These ‘stories in the landscape’
communicate the different experiences of the old Bengali community in ‘PB’
ranging from tales of complete effacement to those of successful continuity.
2. Traces,
Memories and Disappearances:
Fig. 2
There are
traces. At the western edge of Police Bazaar, the eyes of the visitor are drawn
onto the expansive first-floor remains of what used to be ‘The Grand Hotel’.
Even as the crumbling façade waits to be torn down, the intricate lattice work
below the windows is still intact. The structure was once part of the erstwhile
prosperous house of ‘NK Bhattacharjee and company’, which operated the popular
Shillong-Sylhet bus service for several years in the 1920’s. Looking up at the dilapidated
structure, one wonders if ‘NKB’ was trying to import some of that old colonial
charm from those larger contemporary trading houses in Calcutta. This once
successful business family seems to no longer have a presence in the area, and
I am forced to look elsewhere to find out more. This leads me to the residence
of Mr. Afzal Hossain; who lives in a large Assam type house located on the
outer fringes of PB.
Fig. 3
It is cloudy
outside, and inside there are memories. Upon entering the house, I am shown
into the main sitting room. Entering again, I find myself in a spacious room
that emerges more like a small provincial museum. The walls are covered with an
array of framed black and white photographs (both large and small). Hanging
next to one of the larger photographs, is an old iron lantern, put up there for
display. Immediately below, is a long shelf of books entitled mostly in Bengali.
Adjacent to the bookshelf, an old gramophone sits silently atop a small table.
With the sound of raindrops on the roof above, and a large portrait of Tagore
watching us from the background, Mr Hossain begins to narrate his family’s
history in Shillong.
Afzal Hossain’s
‘great-great grandfather’ – Golam Hyder Ali – opened the first shop in Police
Bazaar way back in 1864. This ‘departmental store’ was first located right at the
centre of marketplace, and would have initially been surrounded by forests in
every direction. There would have been a small path outside the wooded store,
which would have led westwards to the traditional Khasi market of Iewduh, and
up eastwards to the newly established sanitarium home for British soldiers. In 1887, Golam Hyder’s son, the late Haji
Kasimuddin Molla, introduced and operated the first Tonga Service on the
Shillong-Guwahati road. Later in 1906,
Kasimuddin also became the first to introduce an automobile service on the same
route. His son, Mowla Buksh went on to become a respected contractor who played
an important role in developing the town’s Golf-Links.
Each of these
pioneer endeavors is not only narrated to me, but also commemorated through the
photographs on the walls. There is a picture of ‘Golam Hyder’s Departmental’
store with a tag reading ‘established in 1864’. On the opposite wall is a much
larger group photograph which highlights the automobile service. It features
Kasimuddin and his family, surrounded by an entourage of drivers, and flanked
by two vintage automobiles (‘Rani’ and ‘Maharani’). I am then told that the
‘iron lantern’ that hangs next to the image was used in one of the earlier Tongas
which preceded the automobile service.
My attention is
then directed to a line of three photo-portraits which are hanging high up on
the adjacent wall. With the trio looking down at me, I am told their names –
‘Kasimuddin’ (every bit the pioneer with
his flaming white beard, fierce eyes and stern posture), his son ‘Mowla
Buksh’ (with that refined appearance
carried by certain Indian princes of the Raj), and finally, the almost
semi-formal portrait of ‘Aulad Hossain’ (smiling
generously and seeming much more relaxed than his predecessors). It is
interesting how the visual elements of dress, posture and facial appearances,
change from one generation to the next; so that when all the three portraits
are viewed in quick succession, one can trace the transformation of a
‘traditional business family’ into an established and comfortable business
house.
There is one
last photograph that catches my eye –it is an old picture of ‘Police Bazaar
point’ taken sometime in the 1940’s. The point itself is almost deserted except
for a few vehicles parked next to a large Assam type structure that is crowned
with an immense octahedral tin spire. I am told that the structure belonged to
‘Jamatullah and sons’ which housed the then famous ‘Shillong Tailoring Store’.
Next to Jamatullah’s is another wooden store which was ‘Abdul Gaffur’s
Pharmacy’. Like the erstwhile ‘Golam Hyder Departmental Store’ (see below),
neither of the two structures have survived into the present.
Fig. 4
While the Golam
Hyder departmental store closed down in the 1930s, much of the family’s
considerable land holdings were subsequently nationalized after Independence.
Seen through the
lenses of the contemporary moment, these preserved memories offer a window into
a world that no longer exists. To an extent, these ‘disappearances’ in the
landscape point towards a trajectory of decline with regards to some of the
older Bengali business families in the area. As mentioned earlier, this sense of
decline becomes all the more acute when compared to the relative success of
other communities within the contemporary landscape. Some of the reasons for this
‘decline’ may be listed here – (a) the overwhelming competition from the
Marwaris, (b) the effects of Partition, Nationalization and the anti-Bengali
riots of 1979, and (c) a certain cultural preference for ‘professional careers’
over ‘family business’. Keeping in mind
the constraints of the word limit, and wishing not to get into the
controversial soup of identity politics at this stage, the present article
briefly touches upon only the last of these above mentioned ‘causes’.
3. Context and
Continuity:
While the
narrative of decline captures an important aspect of the older Bengali
businesses in the area, it is not the only trend at work
here. Another important and counter-balancing trend for a large section of the
community is the strong preference for professional jobs and the lure of the
intelligentsia.
Within such a
cultural context, the pressure for subsequent generations to remain within the
family business is not as strong as compared to other traditional trading
communities like the Marwaris. So even as Afzal Hossain may not be a ‘pioneer
businessman’ like his forefathers, his present status as a ‘theatre baron’ and a
devoted social worker[1]
might even be seen as an advancement for the family legacy – progressing from
the narrow confines of profit to the more respected fields of cultural patronage
and humanitarian work. Seen from this perspective; the ‘trajectory of decline’ finds
itself inverted rather quickly.
There are traces
and memories, and then there are ‘continuities’. Caught somewhere in time,
between the disappearances and cultural preferences, these continuities are
best reflected in a small handful of old Bengali businesses which are still
operating in Police Bazaar today. Within this small group, there are specifically
two enterprises; the ‘Shillong Medical Stores’ (est. 1919) and the ‘Chapala
Bookstore’ (1936), which stand out with regards to the question of cultural
preferences. Ever since their inception, the respective core businesses of both
these establishments (i.e. medicine and literature) have remained unchanged. Put
in another way, it is precisely the nature of their specializations, centered
on the ‘highly cultured’ fields of medicine and academic literature, which have
allowed the two enterprises to survive for so long. It could perhaps be said that the allure and
duty of ‘cultural significance’ has allowed successive generations to continue
in the faithful service of both these businesses.
Fig.5
In 1919, the
late Dr.Pulin Bihari Dey started ‘Shillong Medical Stores’ as a clinic and a
pharmacy. For the next 25 years till his death in 1944, the doctor continued to
treat his patients at the clinic. Today, his grandson, Mr. Proteek Deb sits in
the pharmacy; while the chamber is manned by a doctor from outside the family.
In 1953, the original wooden structure was gutted in a fire, after which the
Assam government helped the family to rebuild the store as ‘Pulin Bhavan’. Since
then, the first-floor of the building has witnessed a succession of
governmental influences – housing the Accountant General’s office, followed by
the Central Excise office, and supplanted finally by the Oriental Insurance
Company.
Fig. 6
This
juxtaposition of various private and governmental influences is most clearly
evident in the building that houses the ‘Chapala Bookstore’. Looking past the
clutter of signboards and crumbling paint on the façade, the structure still
carries a distinctively modern appearance – even when compared to the new malls
and multiplexes that are converging all around it. The building itself dates
back to 1901, when it was opened to the public as the ambitious ‘Shillong
Banking Corporation’; subsequently going bust in 1920. Until 1954, the top
floor of the building was home to the ‘Assam Library’ – the precursor to the
state central library. At present, the structure is owned by a Khasi
businessman, and the tenants include two Bengali businesses (i.e. Chapala and
Arun Hotel) along with a Marwari medical distributorship.
From early
colonial influences and governmental interventions, to the successful
continuities of Marwari and Bengali businesses, and finally onto the increasing
local presence in the commercial area – the building seems to embody a range of
larger forces which have shaped the present landscape of Police Bazaar. In the same manner that Chapala Bookstores
carries on in the company of cultural influences both old and new; so it is
with the rest of the older Bengali businesses in the area, as they find
themselves juxtaposed within an increasingly changing commercial landscape.
For the few
other remaining businesses, the contemporary mass market has long since spilled
into the spaces of their shops. Located on the ground floor of a grainy old
building is one such enterprise, where the walls are lined with a variety of
home accessories; pressure cookers, electric sewing machines and blenders,
which then finally give way, to a small preserved section right at the end of
the shop. Here, the marching stacks of gleaming products seem to halt out of
respect for the elderly man who sits behind a table as he stares intently through
a set of magnifying lenses to fix an old wristwatch. He tells me that entry of
mobile phones has dealt a huge blow to the wristwatch market, and that his
family was forced to diversify into retail appliances before it became too
late. Above him hangs a collection of old antique clocks with the outer glass
panels all misty and golden with time. The dials on these clocks have all
stopped at different hours and minutes on different days and years – reminding
me of all those past endeavors and cultural influences that persist into the
present landscape of Police Bazaar.
[1]
In 2012, both Mr. Hossain and his brother were felicitated by the Bangladesh
Government for their humanitarian work during the 1971 War of Liberation. The
two brothers carried out relief work at border camps and took the lead in
cremating fallen freedom fighters.
Acknowledgement:
Ankush Saikia for the 1st photograph (Follow his photographs at http://instagram.com/ankushsaikia)
Author's Bio- Note:
Rahul Saikia is a M.Phil research scholar at the Department
of Geography, Delhi School of Economics.
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