Frommer's Review
This stretch of road, deep in the heart of the university quarter, is famous for its 5,000 or so secondhand bookstalls, and for the renowned Presidency College, where India's greatest filmmaker, Satyajit Ray, studied. Many of the booksellers here are semi-literate, but remarkably, each is able to recall the titles and prices of thousands of academic and technical books, the volumes typically piled meters high. Look for the bust commemorating the father of Bengali prose literature, the reformer and philanthropist Pandit Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar, who also introduced a ban on forced marriages.
Meeting Bengalis -- The Indian Coffee House (15 Bankin Chatterjee St., first floor; tel. 033/2241-4869; Mon-Sat 9am-9pm, Sun 9am-12:30pm and 5-9pm), where the Young Bengal Movement started, is the quintessential College Street haunt. This is where M. N. Roy, founder of the Communist Party of India (as well as the Mexican Communist Party), Satyajit Ray, Nobel Laureate Dr. Amartya Sen, and a host of other famous personalities discussed the future of India over platefuls of fish fingers and coffee. A lone photograph of Rabindranath Tagore looks across a vast former 1930s dance hall with sagging ceiling fans and scattered tables around which men, young and old, demonstratively argue the issues of the day. Surly waiters plod around rather aimlessly, so be patient while waiting for your greasy pakora and a strong Coorg. Meals are not the reason to come, but it's a good place to strike up a conversation over a cup of coffee. For an even more animated and authentic interaction with locals, head for the Calcutta races (www.rctconline.com); ask any waiter or at your hotel about the next event. All walks of life are to be seen here, many in their finest glad rags. As everyone celebrates the chance to escape their dharma, the atmosphere is electric.
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