We remember

GOOD MEMORIES! Of Calcutta, sent by Keith Hayward

We had a barber come to our home to cut our hair or we had it cut at Ennis
or AN John
Our parents bought medicines at Sahib Singhs
We heard our parents talk of Hall and Anderson
and Whiteway and Laidlaws
We know who Vasu Gulab is
We remember Wyse and Nahoums and D'Gamas
We remember swimming and tennis lessons at
Saturday Club or Calcutta Club
We remember when the Gandhi statue was at the
crossing of Chowringheeand Park Street
We remember the old man selling Russian children's
books at the same crossing
We remember the vultures on Zeerut Bridge
Minto Park was the building and not the park on Lower Circular Road
The building we lived in was more often than not named xxxx Court
We took a rickshaw to school when our road was flooded
We used Simpson's Egg Shampoo
We used Margo soap
We went to New Market to shop even if you lived in Alipore
We called them kathi kebabs and not rolls and ate them only at Nizams
We knew who the Crooner Miss Pam Crain was at Trinkers
We never heard of Salt Lake and Lake Town
VIP was the road to the Dum Dum airport and not an underwear
we watched the races in Barrackpore and knew who Rishi Kumar was
We knew what Hind Quilab Zindabad was
Our drivers wore peak caps
Our ayahs called us Baba and Baby Log
We ate great hot dogs at Gay before they called the
restaurant on the Strand Breezy and later converted
it into a horrid pizza joint
We jumped on to trams running on Howrah Bridge and Strand Road
We were cool if we had an inverter
We knew that Jai Bangla was highly contagious and
is not the slogan for KKR
we remember the streets being washed every day
We remember the man switching on the street lights at dusk
We know the fury of a Nor'wester
We ate Farinni ice cream
We ate chocolate bon bons from the Kwality icecream cart
We enjoyed dinner at Kwality's and Amber and
mid-morning treats at Sky Room
Those were the good days.