Delhi's Bengali club of 1925 vintage back in action

The 90-year-old Bengali Club at Kashmere Gate in the national capital's old quarters will be back in action from Saturday after a decade, starting with the celebrations of the Bengali New Year, Nabobarsho, and a Rabindra Sangeet concert, among other programmes.

"A part of our club -- the heritage building next to the Kashmere Gate wall -- had collapsed five years or so ago. But even before that we had to close down all club activities. The building was rickety. But the collapse proved our fears right," said member Dipayan Mazumdar.

"We had been running to various authorities to get it fixed," said Mazumdar. He said what helped eventually was a report by the Delhi chapter of the Indian National Trust for Arts and Cultural Heritage (Intach) to Delhi Development Authority. "Intach also took on the conservation work."

Now, besides the building the library, too, has been restored, club members said. While the club dates back to 1925, it is housed in a heritage building that was built in 1894, and is privately owned. A court battle is on with the owners who want the club out of their premises.

Regarding the celebrations, besides Nabobarsho, the capital's leading exponents of Rabindra Sangeet such as Sanjoy Sarkar and Jayati Ghosh will also be performing to mark the grand opening of the club.

--IANS

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