http://www.flickr.com/photos/23268776@N03/3030463591/http://www.flickr.com/photos/saug/190753398/

Whiteaway, Laidlaw & Co - Calcutta
Chowringhee Rd, Calcutta.
Whiteaway, Laidlaw & Co (nicknamed 'Right-away & Paid-for' because it operated on cash payments only, no credit) was 'the' colonial emporium or department store in India and became a household name throughout the East; it was founded in Calcutta by two eponymous Scotsmen in 1882 and also had branches in Bombay, Madras, Lahore and Simla as well as further afield in Colombo, Burma, the Straits Settlements and in Shanghai.

In his excellent book "Plain Tales From the Raj", Charles Allen records the recollections of Norman Watney who remembered that:

"Whiteaway's had acquired the distinction of being solely for those with small purses and had a large clientele of junior officers. Others in a more senior position used to go down the road about a quarter of a mile away to the Army & Navy Stores."

In fact, the other British-run department stores in Calcutta were the Army & Navy Stores on lower Chowringhee Road (see my photo at www.flickr.com/photos/23268776@N03/3197055722/ and Hall & Anderson on Park Street.

Catering almost exclusively to British tastes and clientele (as well as to the Bengali elite with Anglophile tastes), after Independence in 1947, most Anglo-Indians as well as British military and civilian staff left India to return 'Home' leaving venerable firms like Whiteaway, Laidlaw high and dry. This stately building has been largely derelict over the last few years and although it has received a fresh coat of paint, without a proper tenant, this grand lady retains an elegant but scruffy air.

A photo of this building taken by American war photographer Robert Keagle in 1945 can be found at the website of the Digital South Asia Library, or DSAL, a project affiliated with the Center for Research Libraries in Chicago at: dsal.uchicago.edu/images/keagle/large.html?id=0015

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/1444702

Futnani Chambers

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/20752921

http://www.flickr.com/photos/saug/190753028/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23268776@N03/3131136492/

North Gate to Government House - Calcutta - 1803
Esplanade Row, Calcutta.
Government House was the seat of the Governor of Bengal. Designed by Captain Charles Wyatt of the Bengal Engineers after Kedleston Hall in Derbyshire, its construction was commissioned by the then Governor-General of Bengal, Marquess Wellesley.

The size, extravagance and sheer cost of the building attracted criticism. Wellesley, himself, wanted a building to match the dignity and standing of his position.

There is an extraordinary photo of this Gate taken in 1944 by American war photographer Glenn S Hensley which is to be found on the website of the Digital South Asia Library, or DSAL, a project affiliated with the Center for Research Libraries in Chicago at
dsal.uchicago.edu/images/hensley/large.html?id=c011


http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericparker/3256973502/

Colonial Building
Chitaranjan Avenue, North Calcutta, 1996
View Large on Black

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericparker/3267443637/

Zakaria Street

Kolkata - Dakshineswar Kali Temple

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/5339317