China in town
The cuisine has become ‘Indo-Chinese’, a Kali temple has sprung up in Tangra and the city’s Chinese have become Kolkatans to the core. Mathures Paul spends time on the other side of the walls of little China High walls and reticence may greet you initially at Chinatown. But on a closer look, the transformation within Kolkata’s Chinese community – from workers at sugarcane plantations to tanners, and restaurateurs to teachers – has been phenomenal. The origins of contact between the two cultures may be traced to China’s commissioning of tradesmen and scholars to India from time to time. But Bengal got its first Chinese settler in Yong Atchew who arrived here around 1780. “The size of the community prior to World War II was estimated at 2,00,000 members. Most of these people resided around Burra Bazar and Tiretti Bazar. It was Mao’s Revolution that was largely responsible for the inflow. After the Sino-Indian war, the population dwindled to 20,000, leaving a bitter taste among many. “Man...