kolkata think pataldanga and who comes to mind who else but tenida leading an army of three with his war cry de la grandee mephistopheles yak yak make of that what you will thanks to narayan gangopadhyay and his famous four potoldanga has secured its place in bengali literature and that is fitting too considering its proximity to the citys biggest book bazaar college street literary pursuit though gradually losing out to the blaring television is still alive in the lanes and bylanes of this para the rows of book stalls leading to one of the largest wholesale paper merchants at baithakkhana road the famous mallikbari durga puja and the sense of history give this neighbourhood its unique ambience with the calcutta medical college on the western side and keshab chandra sen street and bowbazar street at two ends the para has been frequented by legendary personalities it is at the thakurdalaan courtyard where religious functions took place of mallikbari that tagore spoke to nearly 1000 students at the beginning of the century said jagadish basu mallik who belongs to one of the oldest families here and after whose forefather radhanath mallik a lane has been named in pataldanga adjoining bhishtipara brings forth images of bhishtis water carriers with their leather water bags and gas lights illuminating the streets in the evening ishwarchandra vidyasagar owned a bookshop at potoldanga noted surgeon prabhat kumar mukherjee lived here and zamindar families like the ghoshals kunjalal sen and sambhu sen have ancestral homes in this area we have heard that bankim chandra chatterjee had visited our house even though there are no written documents available said gautam basu mallik nephew of jagadish radhanath mallik the first indian dry dock owner settled here after shifting base from hooghly the dhaaker saaj on the durga idols at our home the famous dance hall and the huge feast arranged during this time attracted the local crowds said basu mallik it was the cultural activities that bound the para folk together strains of classical music washed over the whole neighbourhood during the annual concert where artistes like inayat khan rafique ali and nagen dutta enthralled the audience throughout the night recalled basu mallik concerts street theatre and performances by champatala sangha and shankar utsab made the atmosphere vibrant basu mallik remembers spending funloving moments with tenida a reallife person on whom narayan gangopadhyay went on to profile the legendary character basu mallik said that the para had a thriving mess lodge for students culture that attracted the youth intellectuals and budding writers and actors from all over the city if addas were a fixture so were the little food joints dotting the entire stretch some musthaves are mouthwatering sweets at putiram teaandtoast at favourite cabin or the famous ghol and sherbet at paramount paradise and paragon it is this combination of foodfunbooksmusic in short the quintessential kolkata spirit that has made pataldanga the para it is de la grandee to that