I
discovered Bose House in Serampore purely by chance. Actually even using the
word “discovered” would be inaccurate. It would imply that I came upon
something, and knew what it was. I did not. I was doing my rounds of Serampore,
taking photographs of the town’s colonial era buildings, and just happened to
drive past the building on 22, T.C. Goswami Street. I was struck both by the
size and obvious magnificence of the structure, and it’s almost frightening
decay. I told the chauffeur to pull over, and entered to take some photographs
that I was pretty certain I would never use.
Inside
the compound was parked an auto-rickshaw (or Tuc-Tuc if you will), and an
ambulance. The people driving these vehicles were nowhere to be found, but
there was a group of men inside, sitting in a circle and smoking marijuana from
a chillum. They didn’t look like violent, crime-prone junkies, but they were
somewhat startled by my intrusion, and had initially thought I was a policeman.
Upon my assuring them that I was not, their genial smiles returned. They
noticed my rather bulky camera, and asked if I was from the press. They even
offered me the chillum, which I politely declined. They had just come back from
a pilgrimage to Tarakeswar, they said, and since marijuana was the intoxicant
of choice of Lord Shiva, the object of their devotion, this was as much a
religious session as it was recreational. Thankfully, short of the polite and
good natured curiosity that bulky camera wielding folks provoke in small towns,
they were happy to leave me to my devices.
It was
only much later, when I was looking at the shots of the crumbling mansion, and
trawling the internet for details on Serampore that I came across the report by
Flemming Aalund and Simon Rasten that identified this as Bose House. The
building shows up in a map from 1827, so it has been around for about 200
years. Decay has exposed the bricks in the walls and some parts of the building
appear to have been made from “lakhori” bricks. The standard Indian brick is
roughly 10X5X3 inches and was designed by the first qualified Bengali civil
engineer, Nilmoni Mitra, who designed Bagbazar’s “Basu Bati”. A “lakhori” brick
is slimmer and longer, and was mostly used in the 18th century. That
is when some parts of this building were built, it would seem, and alterations
and additions happened later. Given that time frame, this was probably
originally a Danish house. The grounds attached to the building and surrounded
by a boundary wall, were once probably a fine garden.
From
municipal records it appears Albert, Norman, George, Samuel, Daisy, Steela (Stella?)
and Grace Bose have been the residents of this building between 1947 and 1974. Bose
here is almost certainly the Bengali surname, and not the German “von Bose”.
The fact that all the names are Christian would seem to indicate that the Boses
were native Christians. Going by the condition of the building, and how far
plants have taken root, it would be safe to assume that the building has been
abandoned since then. No further information could be found anywhere, and as I
wandered the grounds, I tried to imagine this now ruined house as it once was. Was
there a beautifully manicured garden around the house? Did children run around
and play in it? Did horse carriages drive through the front gate? What were the
people who lived here, like? Did they have parties on the weekends with music
and food and wine? What would this house have been like when it was filled with
love and laughter?
Much of Bose
House remains standing and in fact, the front porch even has its fine flooring
mostly intact, although large parts of the roof have collapsed. Entrance to the
building is through two sets of fine pillared gateways, although the pillars
are all that remain. Gates from buildings of this era were mostly cast iron,
and hence valuable, so theft is not improbable. Given that the building has not
been altered, and most of its original architectural features remain, it is a
prime candidate for restoration, in spite of its ruined state. Perhaps it can
be turned into a museum? Or even offices, if the occupants promise not to make
changes to its basic character. In a town that is rapidly growing, surely, such
a large space going to waste and turning into a den for pot smokers cannot be a
good thing. But the usual hurdles remain. Securing funds, and most of all
fighting apathy and finding people who have enough passion for such work, is a
challenge. Let us see if Serampore manages to rise to it.
-
by
Deepanjan Ghosh
MORE ON
SERAMPORE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am
grateful to Supratim Chowdhury for being my guide around Serampore
SOURCES
Indo-Danish
Heritage Buildings of Serampore – Flemming Aalund & Simon Rasten
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