Calcutta in His Drawing Room. Interview. Personality. Aloke Kumar.

Filmmakers, researchers and historians working on subjects relating to Calcutta are frequently directed to Aloke Kumar's house in the city. The antiquarian owns a rich and varied collection on the British Raj in India, mainly Calcutta. He has assiduously built up the valuable collection on what was passed on to him by his father, Nirmal Kumar

The Delhi Durbar was set. The Queen of England, attired in her imperial robes, was seated on the throne. It was a red letter day for Colonel O.L.J. Milligan, a soldier in the British army. With measured steps the young colonel marched towards the dais. The Empress presented a sword to the faithful soldier in appreciation of his services to the empire. The ivory handled three-feet-long sword, which weighs 6 kg, bears a brass insignia of the Queen. The blade, which is totally decorative is also embossed with the same insignia that is on the handle. This decorative sword was a proud possession of the Colonel. After Independence, Col. Milligan set up home in Calcutta, in Esplanade Mansion. In 1980, Milligan, an old man by then, decided to leave. The Colonel, however, was too strongly attached to the sword. But he did not wish to leave it to his progeny, for they "did not care enough about it". And then he thought of Aloke Kumar.

Kumar's father had been a close friend and Milligan knew that his possession could not be in better hands. Recalls Kumar, "One evening, when I returned home from work, my mother told me that Col. Milligan wanted to see me urgently. I immediately went over to him. He told me that he was leaving for his home, Somerset in the UK. As a parting gift among other things he gave me this sword." And other things" included a Latin prayer book, and a bronze casting of King Arthur done in Sheffield. "Milligan's residence housed one of the most formidable collections on British India. His interests were varied--from the Mutiny (of 1857) to ornithology to collecting books on the origin of writing. He even had a volume dated as far back as 1620 AD," says Kumar.

In the year of the tercentenary of Calcutta there has been much interest in the city. Film director Ramesh Sharma, making a documentary on Calcutta for Doordarshan (to be screened this month), sent his team to the city. Professor Robert Hardgrave is working on Solvyns and wanted to get in touch with someone who could provide him further information on the French-Belgian painter. David Wallace of the British Broadcasting Corporation, who is making a film on monsoons in India came to shoot in Calcutta. He wanted someone who could talk about Calcutta in the documentary. Susan S. Bean, Chief Curator of the Peabody Museum, wanted some information for the records. Researcher Radhika Gupta working on ‘Nari’, an exhibition on 300 years of women in Calcutta, wanted some material. All of them found their way to the house of Kumar. The Kumars have a unique collection on Calcutta, built assiduously over the years. The first maps of Calcutta and Bengal, Kalighat pat, prints of Solvyns, rare paintings on Calcutta, all hang along with Col. Milligan's sword, rare plates and rows of books.

The collection was begun by Nirmal Kumar, Aloke's father. He wrote reviews of books, art material, Paintings, etc. for various journals and newspapers, including Rupam and Four Arts. Later, he turned into an antiquarian, dealing with books, maps, prints and other such things. He was affiliated to the world-famous auctioneers, Sotheby's, and the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association, headquartered in London. "But my father was no businessman. He never saw his collection as a business: it was his passion. Books were sold to people on merit. You couldn't just walk in and buy anything, to make money. People were invited to come and see the collection. I remember when my father bought the collection of Maharaja Tagore, eminent Calcuttans, including historians, collectors and booklovers were invited over to see the collection. There were rows of vellum on the shelf. I remember my father's friend R.P. Gupta, known to his friends as 'Satul, poring over the books. Gupta is a true bibliophile. He will travel miles to see a good book. His name should go down in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the man who has seen, felt and read the maximum number of books in the world."

Kumar was born in 1956 in Calcutta to Nirmal Kumar and Karuna. Karuna, who was a headmistress in a school in Adra, a small town on the Bengal-Bihar border, gave up her job to join her husband in Calcutta after their marriage. Recalls Kumar, "My father was a man of extreme leisure. He could always be seen sitting in his favourite chair, reading a book and smoking a pipe. In my school days, I was surprised that my father never went to office. He spent the whole day, sometimes even the nights, going through books and prints and sometimes talking to people. In fact, most of these meetings were accompanied by good meals. He was a gourmet and even had a collection of books on food—particularly old books on Bengali cuisine. In our old house on Lower Circular Road, we had a huge ‘takta-posh’ and everyone sat on it with books strewn all over. Kumar, now in a senior position in the marketing department of a Calcutta newspaper publishing house, remembering those old days, says, "I grew up in this room. And I was attached to my father. I must confess that in my early age, I was not a reader. My interest lay more in things around. I cannot pinpoint the moment this turned into a passion. I was more of a helper. Taking down books from the shelf and keeping them back. But of course, like all children. I too had been interested in 'picture' books. The great land of India seen through the eyes of DanielIs, Wood, and D’Oyley fascinated me. I loved Gould's books on birds and Roxburgh's record of the Botanical Gardens. In fact, much of my time after school was spent there. After my father's death, when I was looking after the collection, I received a letter from the well-known traveller Ella Maillart. She wrote that she remembered us as little children 'falling asleep amidst a pile of books'."

Kumar's collection is based, on the British Raj in India, mainly Calcutta, over a period of three centuries. Says Kumar, By 1980. I could think of concentrating on my collection—solely on British India, particularly Calcutta. Some interesting articles in his collection are:

• The first military map of Calcutta, printed during the Battle of Plassey (1757).

• The first decorative map of Bengal printed on January 1. 1786 by the Surveyor General of Bengal. James Rennell, FRS. A duplicate of the latter hangs in Satyajit Ray's house. These prints were made from the plate from the original maps. The originals, however, are no longer traceable.

• Prints of rare works of Solvyns and Belenos.

• A copy of the Abridgement of Johnson's Dictionary in English and Bengali, published in 1828 by Serampore Press.

• The Song Book of Hider (1931). Printed in millions of copies but after World War IL the copies were destroyed on a large scale. Kumar's copy was presented to him by Col. Milligan.

• Copies of Calcutta Review, a monthly journal published from 1790 to 1873. The journal used to carry reports on various aspects of city life—social, economic, transport, railways and postal network, which was in the process of being built up it.

• A transcription of the Koran done by Amir-ud Daulah, the court scribe of Wajid Ali's Grand Father. The volume, dated 820, is a magnificent hand-written volume which, as the preface tells us that it took 60 years to complete. In appreciation of his effort, the king had awarded Amir-ud Daulah some jagirs and gold mohurs.

• Linear Bible printed in Glasgow in 1820. The volume which weighs over 10 kg, was being used as a brick in a wayside shop in College Street to keep a curtain down in place. Says Kumar, "I was scandalised. The shop owner offered it to me free if I could replace it with a brick. Later, after I could verify its worth, I went back to the shop and paid the man about Rs 200. The current value of the book in India would be about Rs 25,000 and abroad it would fetch an even higher price."

• Coins dated 1835 issued by the East India Company. 'Many coins minted in Great Britain, had Urdu inscriptions and were in circulation in Calcutta along with the Mughal Emperor's coins.

• A piece of cloth in which silk is intenvoven with gold and silver threads. The cloth has almost disappeared with nine but the gold and silver threads have held on the images of dancing girls in coloured threads.

• Paraphernalia needed for serving paan (betel leaf). Paan-chewing and paan-serving had been developed into an art and a whole lot of accessories, including paandaan (box carrying betel leaf)

• Pen stand and different writing devices. The origin of the pencil which had a silver base, rounded lead and a silver top for covering.

• Palm leaf printed manuscript of Chandii which is more than 200 years old. "It appears that the printing was done on green leaves and then dried. Or else, it would have cracked," explains Kumar. But how can Kumar be sure of its authenticity? "Well, it is by constantly handling such things that I can be sure.

• very precious item in Kumar's collection is the Mutiny Scrapbook collated by G. Urmstrong. Perhaps an army man, Urmstrong collected clippings from various newspapers from all over the world on the Mutiny of 1857. "Perhaps he wanted to write a book on the Mutiny which he couldn't do for some reason," says Kumar. The clippings are pasted in a quarto book. The exercise book must have been an early class book for it has marks on Latin in school. Says Kumar, "My father had picked it up from an auction at Sotheby’s”.

“How does Kumar maintain his treasure? "I have a box made of camphor wood. Termites and insects cannot get into this box." And for the maintenance of antique books, Kumar has a few tips to offer:

• Keep books in the open, air them as much as possible. This prevents the pages from turning brittle. Leave gaps in between the books. This avoids forming 'frozen books'.

• When a book is kept airtight for a long time, it cannot be opened since there is no air between the pages. This is what happens in 'frozen books'.

• Keep books lying flat on the base and not standing. Otherwise the bottom edge of the volume is ruined and the pages bend at the top.

• Use talcum powder to turn pages. Never use saliva for the purpose as it damages the corner of the page and leaves bacteria to ruin the pages.

• While taking a book out of a shelf, hold it from the centre. This does not damage the edges.

• Never spray insecticides on books. Instead, make small bundles of neem leaves, ‘kalo jeera’ or dried chilli powder to keep insects away.

• Some very rare books can be wrapped in a piece of cloth soaked and dried in naphtha oil. But naphtha oil is not easily available.

• A very wrong conception is that books should be dusted. Let the thin layer of dust remain on the books because termites cannot penetrate it. Also, in the rainy season, the dust absorbs moisture.

• While arranging books on a shelf, leave little space in between.

Besides his collection of books, Kumar's other interests include music—especially western classical—plants and writing. As far as the last goes, Kumar makes a distinction between personal and professional writing. His personal writing is not meant for publication. Kumar has also published a monograph on Daniells and is currently working on Bishop Heber. The last Lord Bishop of the Church of England, Hebber, toured India extensively. All through his travels, he maintained a diary in which he penned everything he saw, heard and felt. After the Bishop's death, his diary was published by his wife, Emily, in 1820. The Journal of Bishop Hebber, as it is called, was printed in limited numbers. A copy of the book came into Kumar's possession in 1980 when he purchased it for Rs 500 from an antiquarian in north Calcutta. The present cost of the book in the market is estimated to be about Rs 20,000.