Clubs of Kolkata Spaces of Well Being

Love them or hate them (for being a hangover of a colonial mindset), but you can’t really ignore them. Yes, we’re talking of the famous Calcutta Clubs where the well-heeled gentlemen and women along with their brood, congregate for sports, spirits, and celebrations.

by Amit Aggarwal, a Kolkata enthusiast.

The wise say, if Kolkata residents enjoy a greater sense of well-being and contentment relative to other cities, some credit must go to the city’s club culture. These Clubs are unique in many ways, but mostly for their expansive spaces in a bustling city. Good food, great music, fun events for that perfect bonding with friends and family, and excellent sports facilities to take care of your physical wellbeing. These clubs even have libraries with real books (pun intended), which double up as an ideal place for quizzes and debates. What more can you ask for?

Contrary to perception, Kolkata Clubs are no longer an “elite only” institution. The sheer number of clubs has made their membership far more democratic across income classes.

Here’s a peek at the history of some lesser-known clubs of Kolkata with interesting fun facts.

The antecedents of CCFC go as far back as 1792 looking at the media records of the Calcutta Cricket Club playing a match. This makes it one of the oldest cricket clubs in the world, right after the MCC at Lords, England. The Calcutta

| CCFC: There are many restaurants in the club; live bands entertain twice every week and the club hosts events across festivals.

| Fun fact: They also have polo on cycles and not horses, and CCFC hosts a national cycle polo tournament.

Cricket Club later merged with the Calcutta Football club to form the CCFC as we know it today. The word 'Football' here actually refers to rugby and not soccer, as one would have intuitively thought, knowing Bengal’s love for the real foot and ball game!

CCFC is unique in being a rare Indian club focused on field sports like cricket, rugby, soccer, and hockey. The cricket ground is approved for 1st class matches at the national level. Rugby is another popular sport played here with national level tournaments.

CCFC also has Women’s Rugby, in addition to Women’s Soccer making it one of the early sports inclusive club. Fun fact - they also have polo on cycles and not horses, and CCFC hosts a national cycle polo tournament.

In addition to the professional teams, many of these sports have different categories of teams – A, B and C making it possible for members in their 30s and 40s and even 50s to continue with their sports passion. A lovely 500-meter walking track is well-used by members for morning and evening walks with friends, before sitting down for an adda (informal chat session) at the many restaurants or open spaces in the club. Live bands entertain twice every week and the club hosts events across festivals. Between October and December, members look forward to Sindoor Khela at the Bijoya get together, and rocking parties at Christmas and New Year.

Bengal Rowing Club (BRC) was set up as a place for Indians to come together and discuss matters of national importance.

DI prides itself on being a family club. Usually, families walk in together. You have to leave your work behind. In fact, laptops are not allowed to be used in the club at all.

The Dalhousie Institute (DI) over 150 years old, boasts a heritage building clubhouse. DI derives its distinctive culture from an initial strong membership of Kolkata’s Anglo Indian community.

We spoke to Jeet Banerjee, one of the club committee members who also runs the Kolkata Literary Festival along with his wife Malavika. Jeet says, “Both my sons played football for the club. I am fifty and I play cricket for the C team. CCFC is one of the anchors for my family in Calcutta and our quality of life is so much better because of it.”

It is common knowledge that prior to 1947, several clubs did not allow Indians to be members or guests. So, in 1929, a group of respected Marwaris of Calcutta led by GD Birla, a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi and a founder of the Birla business empire, KL Jatia and RP Poddar along with other Marwari families of repute, established the Bengal Rowing Club (BRC).

BRC was set up as a place for Indians to come together and discuss matters of national importance. Urban legend has it that significant discussions related to the Quit India Movement also happened here! BRC was set up as a purely vegetarian club with no alcohol allowed, and it continues that tradition to this day. While people across India know Kolkata for its legendary chaat, BRC is recognized as one of the best places to have this soul-filling Indian street food.

BRC gets going early in the morning with breakfast starting at 5.30 am! It’s perfect for senior citizens, who after their customary morning walk around the Rabindra Sarobar Lake, congregate at the Club for breakfast. During the day, the club sees quite a bit of sports activity – rowing, swimming, squash and table tennis. BRC has amongst the best rowing facilities in India, and their team recently won the gold medal at the inter-club championship in Chennai.

Manish Rungta, a well-known business leader of Kolkata and a member of the club’s committee quips, “Many of us Marwaris grew up in BRC. I would go there to swim everyday after school and some of my best childhood friendships were formed here. It is like my second home.”

The club is evolving with time and BRC is now leading the way on environment consciousness. It is perhaps the only club in the country with a LEED Platinum Green Building rating. BRC is also working actively to preserve the ecological balance of the Rabindra Sarovar Lake, with regular dredging, weeding/populating it with fish.

The Dalhousie Institute (DI), over 150 years old, boasts a heritage building clubhouse. DI derives its distinctive culture from an initial strong membership of Kolkata’s Anglo Indian community. Over time, the club prides itself as being a mini-India, with members of all faiths actively participating in different activities.

The big differentiator at the Dalhousie Institute is the music with live music thrice a week. One of India’s biggest jazz festivals is held here every November. DI is also well known for sports and has nurtured several sport stars of India from Leander Paes (Tennis), Gurbax Singh (Hockey), to Nafisa Ali (Swimming). Neil O’Brien and Derek O’Brien of the Bournvita Quiz fame are both from DI, and the club hosts 2 large quiz events every year. It goes without saying, this club also has an amazing library .

Samir Doshi, who has grown up in Kolkata and is a member of the committee at DI says, “DI prides itself on being a family club. Usually, families walk in together. You have to leave your work behind. In fact, laptops are not allowed to be used in the club at all”.

We say, cheers to that! For more distinctive stories on Calcutta Clubs (we haven’t even covered half of them) you simply must wait for our next issue. v