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Life in Calcutta also allowed for a remarkable spectrum
of sports and recreational activities. One dimension of this
was represented by the social clubs established by the elite
society of Calcutta. The clubs set up by the British were
exclusively for the whites; some of them even sporting apartheid
notices proclaiming that dogs and natives were prohibited
entry. Replicating the lifestyle of the British elite, anglicized
Bengalis set up similar clubs of their own. In time a race
course and polo club were established through the patronage
of the native princes. Eden Gardens housed the Calcutta Cricket
Club from 1793 onwards., making it one of the oldest cricket
clubs in the world. The maidan was dotted with sporting clubs
playing cricket, football and hockey, and patronized by Bengalis,
also challenging what had hitherto been the exclusive preserve
of white teams.
Sporting spirit became naturally identified with nationalism.
When Mohun Bagan, the premier Bengali club of Calcutta, defeated
a white team to win the Indian Football Association Shield
in 1911 it was an occasion for the entire city to rejoice.
But the sporting field was also a scene of Anglo-Bengali camaraderie.
Thus Bengal’s first win in the Ranji Trophy , the national
cricket championship, was a combined effort of both English
and Bengali Players. The tremendous enthusiasm for sports
in the city, together with the weather, made winter in Calcutta,
especially in the 1920s and 1930s, a sporting extravaganza.
Racing, Polo and Cricket brought the princes and other dignitaries
to the city in droves. Christmas and New Year, the season
of burra din(big day) became a grand social occasion. |
