Grey Town: Maghen David Synagogue and Jewish presence in Calcutta

Apart from the White and Black Towns, Calcutta  had a "Grey Town" around the Bowbazar area that was inhabited neither by the whites/British nor by the blacks/ Indians/Bengalis. This area housed those who fell in between these two colours, like the Chinese, Muslim, Jewish, Parsi, Buddhist, and the Anglo-Indian people - giving it a very cosmopolitan culture akin to those in the South East Asian port towns like Singapore or Melaka.

JEWISH HERITAGE IN CALCUTTA

Magen David Synagogue is located at the junction of Brabourne Road and Canning Street in Kolkata. It is the second operating synagogue in Kolkata, the other being the Beth El Synagogue at Pollock Street.  Memorial plaques adorn both walls on each side of the entrance. The services of the Magen David Synagogue have long stopped but the interiors are astonishingly well maintained. The checkered marble floor, gleaming chandeliers, stained glass windows and ornate floral pillars shipped from Paris enhance its continental look.

Shalom Cohen (Shalom ben Aharon ben Obadiah Ha-Cohen) a flamboyant young Jewish trader arrived in Calcutta in August 1798 to deal in silk, spices, indigo and Arabian horses. He had travelled a long way from his homeland in Aleppo, Syria, to Baghdad to Bombay & Surat to finally arrive at Calcutta, the power hub of British India. Although there was a presence of Jewish merchants already in Calcutta his Baghdadi Jewish community settled down here only after the arrival of Shalom Cohen.

Maghen David Synagogue

David Joseph Ezra, who set up the Magen David in his father's name and who made his fortune in trading and real estate, has many prominent buildings named after him, like Esplanade Mansion and Chowringhee Mansion. Even Ezra Street now known for its electrical and light market is named after him.

Chowringhee Mansion

The number of Jews in Kolkata dwindled from 6000 during the 19th century to only 20 with half of them over 70. This decline in the numbers may be attributed to two semi-concurrent historical events – India gaining independence in August 1947 and the birth of Israel in May 1948. After 1947, many Jews left for their own Promised Land. Many among the current generation moved to Israel or to other greener pastures like USA or Canada. Today almost 100,000 Jews of Indian origin live in Israel.

Masood, one of the caretakers

Many of you probably know that this place has been looked after by a    Muslim family for ages. We met Masood, a history graduate, who along with his father-in-law, proudly takes care of the synagogue. He told us as a matter of fact, when questioned if they find it odd given the equation between these two communities, that it was a much better profession than working in a bar!

Here are some shots taken inside the Maghen David Synagogue in Kolkata. The second floor balcony was reserved for women. Apparently one of the reasons they were sent up was because they talked too much!! The men downstairs had to frequently sush them. 

The view from its terrace - if you dare to walk up its spiral metal staircase (ghorano shiri) - is very interesting. In full view, within a stone's throw from each other are a mosque, church, gurdwara and a Hanuman temple!

The church and the blue gurdwara

The green mosque

(All photos are mine and information from the internet)

Some further links

https://www.taleof2backpackers.com/jews-synagogues-in-kolkata/

https://thewire.in/urban/jewish-community-kolkata

https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/a-slice-of-jewish-calcutta/cid/1690472

My most treasured autograph

Song Sung Blue

Those were the crazy days of autograph hunting. Chasing cricketers (and footballers as well, in my case) to get their signatures in those beautiful autograph books. I went a step further. I also wrote to them whenever I could manage to get an address. That is how I have Neil Diamond's autographed post card. As well as those of Sunil Gavaskar and Prakash Padukone. Gavaskar used to have a customised cyclostyled template thanking his fans. He just added his signature below that. In my letter, I had asked for his wife and son's autographs too. So I have the privilege of getting a handwritten P.S. which read, Marshneil and Rohan are not in town, sorry I cannot enclose theirs. I guess you can now guess the extent of my craziness.

Cricket was big in Sharjah in the 80s. If I am not mistaken, a magazine called Indian Cricketer had just been launched around that time. It had a letter from the Don, wishing them success and it had his Adelaide address on it. So I just took a chance. Foreign mail was quite expensive those days but I somehow managed to convince my mom to give me some money but then quickly forgot about it. I simply remember addressing my letter thus: "Dear Grandpa Bradman, I wasn't born when you were creating history..."

Priceless possession

Many of you may recall something called 'bearing' mail when the sender didn't put adequate amount of postage. One afternoon, after I returned from school, Ma remarked,

"Australia theke ekta chithi eshechhe bearing e. Prothome bhablam, phiriye di karon okhane toh amader keu thake na. Pore mone holo, amar pagol meye kokhon je ki kore beray, jodi dorkari kichhu hoy, tokhon amar matha khabe! Pausing for me to open the envelope, she asked curiously, "Ke pathiyechhe re?"

The one and only

"A bearing letter has come from Australia. At first I thought of returning it as we do not have any relative living there but then I decided against it as I wasn't sure what my crazy daughter may have been up to. She would eat my head if it happens to be anything important. Who is it from?"

I snatched it from her, had one look at it and screamed at her in excitement, 'ETA JODI PHIRIYE DITE!' If only you knew what I would have done, had you returned this one! On hindsight, I wish I had kept the Australian stamp intact as well, but at that time, I was an avid philatelist as well.

The flip side of Neil Diamond's post card