HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Bow Barracks is a locality in the central
Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
region. It is a small hub of mainly
Anglo-Indian Anglo-Indian people fall into two different groups: those with mixed Indian and British ancestry, and people of British descent born or residing in India. The latter sense is now mainly historical, but confusions can arise. The ''Oxford English ...
people who have lived there for generations. The families currently living there do not pay any rent for their stay as the building is owned by the KIT and have refused to accept a meagre amount of ₹30 paid as rent throughout the years without any increment in rent by the families for their stay.


Location

Bow Barracks is located in central Kolkata. It is behind the
Bowbazar Bowbazar ( bn, বৌবাজার, also spelt ''Boubazar''; formerly known as Bahubazar) is a neighbourhood of Central Kolkata, in Kolkata district in the Indian state of West Bengal. History On Lt. Col. Mark Wood's map of 1784, the portion o ...
police station, off the Central Avenue (now called Chittaranjan Avenue). The place is in a narrow lane between Hare Street and Bow Bazaar police station. The narrow lane is bordered by six blocks of old three-stored buildings. Their red brick color appear a bit shabby. The green windows frame gay curtains that catch the light breeze now and then. The Bow Barracks was a garrison's mess built for the army during World War I. But there are no written records to prove these facts. When the soldiers left India, they handed over the apartments to the Anglo Indians who took them on rent. Today, 132 families live in the Barracks. Of them, 80 percent of the residents are Anglo Indians. It has acquired a reputation of sorts for its Christmas celebrations.


See also

* ''
Bow Barracks Forever ''Bow Barracks Forever'' (2004) is an Indian film directed by Anjan Dutt about Anglo-Indians and their difficulties in retaining their identity since the end of British India. Plot The film is about the disaster of the human spirit. It is not ...
'', 2004 film named after this locality.


References

Neighbourhoods in Kolkata {{India-transport-stub