Everyone knows about Kolkata’s traditional Coffee Houses. After College Street, Jadavpur, and Srirampur, a memory-laden Coffee House was inaugurated in Diamond Harbour a year ago. In the blink of an eye, it has completed one year and has already become a beloved spot for many. Alongside various types of coffee, nostalgic foods like chicken sandwiches, kabiraji, chicken omelets, and fish fry are available at this Diamond Harbour Coffee House. You can also enjoy these foods by ordering online from the comfort of your home.Today’s event at the Coffee House was graced by the presence of eminent poet Prasun Bhowmik, the honorary advisor of the College Street Coffee House Cooperative Society, local municipality chairman Anup Das, two local female councilors, and Dr. Himadri Pal from Diamond Harbour Medical College. The highlight of today’s event was the duet of poetry by poet Shri Prasun Bhowmik and songs by the young singer Rishika Bhowmik, titled Father-Daughter Dialogue, which mesmerized the audience. Later, Tirtha Biswas enchanted everyone with his collection of folk songs in Sahaj Manush.
The entire event was skillfully conducted by renowned poet, playwright, and political activist Soumit Basu.Nur Islam Laskar, the owner of Diamond Harbour Coffee House, said, “I used to visit Kolkata’s Coffee House with friends before. When the opportunity arose, I brought the Coffee House to Diamond Harbour. A year has passed, and during this time, we’ve received a lot of love from everyone, and we want to continue moving forward like this.”It is worth mentioning that standing amidst the bookshops is an ancient history. The historic Coffee House, transformed from the former Albert Hall in Kolkata, became a hub for freedom fighters. Every table at this traditional Coffee House has silently witnessed many revolutions, be it the Naxalite movement or the creation of new writers and little magazines, or any cultural, literary, or intellectual rise.
Overnight, the cups of infusion brewed the dreams of Kolkata’s intellectuals, poets, writers, artists, and college students. Accompanying them were dishes like kabiraji, chicken omelets, and Mughlai. This room, from the ancient Albert Hall to the present-day Coffee House, has been graced by luminaries like Rabindranath, Subhas Chandra, Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak, Mrinal Sen, Soumitra Chatterjee, Sunil Gangopadhyay, Shakti Chattopadhyay, and Amartya Sen. Initially, the Coffee House was under the guardianship of the Indian Coffee Board, but later, in 1958, with the intervention of the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and the assistance of West Bengal’s Chief Minister Bidhan Chandra Roy, the Coffee House’s management was handed over to the employees’ cooperative. Since then, it has been managed by the Coffee House Cooperative, run by its workers and employees.