Heritage Meets Generosity

In Kolkata's iconic boi-paara, College Street, where the air is thick with the ancient smell of old, crumbling papers, the warmth of shortly pressed inked pages, and the nostalgic yet ephemeral history, the oldest surviving bookshop has stepped into a new chapter.

- BIDISHA GHOSH

In Kolkata's iconic boi-paara, College Street, where the air is thick with the ancient smell of old, crumbling papers, the warmth of shortly pressed inked pages, and the nostalgic yet ephemeral history, the oldest surviving bookshop has stepped into a new chapter. Dasgupta and Co., a cornerstone in the city's literary and academic sphere since 1886, has opened the doors of a free public library on its historic premises.

The initiative, as exceptional as it is generous, has already begun to attract more than a hundred visitors every week—among them students, scholars, and curious foreigners drawn by the allure of this cultural institution.

Seeing as modern bookstores allow patrons to either skim through best-sellers and long-standing classics, Dasgupta and Co., which is deeply embedded in the city's intellectual fabric, has opted for a more noble route. To date, the second floor of their heritage building is a public library and, as such, provides invaluable services to students who cannot afford to purchase books.

The way in which this particular bookstore, still owned by the members of the founding family, has shifted their legacy is truly astounding: transforming a commercial centre into a paradigm of education as well as solitary escapism.