India’s only Chinatown in Kolkata is disappearing

Paul Wayne (71) has difficulty walking even with a stick in his right hand. He has lost most of his eyesight due to diabetes. He stops at a tea stall to take breath and talk to people passing by. On a chilly winter morning, when a cold wind blows through Kolkata in January, Wayne says that despite the difficulty, he takes a walk every day, because there is no one left in this world to share his life with him.

Wandering the streets of Tereti Bazaar, also known as Old Chinatown in North Kolkata, is his only social life. Wayne’s father immigrated from China during World War II and Wayne was born in Kolkata. With no living family or many friends, he depends on food that community members cook for him.

“In my heyday, I was a Chinese cuisine chef at the Great Eastern Hotel (a luxury hotel chain) in Dalhousie. Even during the Chinese New Year coming in mid-February, I have no family to look forward to,” says Wen, as he sits at a tea stall wearing his tattered orange cap, a worn-out black T-shirt and torn beige trousers.

An equally fragile 73-year-old man passes Si Ip (1882), struggling to take every step, as he returns to the Chinese Buddhist temple he now calls home. Like Paul, he too has no family left.

There is another Chinese settlement in Kolkata, about 5 kilometers from Tereti Bazaar, called Tangra or New Chinatown, on the eastern edge of the city. The number of people of Chinese origin living in these has reduced to between 1,500 and 2,000. Community members say the number was more than 50,000 in the 1960s.

In the Special Intensive Review (SIR) in West Bengal, 484 people of Chinese origin (252 men and 232 women) were removed.The findings come from an analysis by the Saber Institute, a nonprofit that uses data for social justice. Of those removed, 389 have been classified as untraceable or absent. Unattended or absentee voters are those who have not collected the SIR enumeration forms.

Ward 58 councilor and local leader of the area, Sandipan Saha, says that the declining numbers have become the reality of the Chinese community. “Only the older generation is left,” says Sandipan.

There are several reasons for the declining numbers: racism after the India-China war in 1962, migration of younger generations in search of better opportunities, increasing population, lack of facilities and development in the Chinatown area. Although it is the oldest recorded Chinese settlement in India and the country’s only Chinatown, it lacks preservation, and the community fears that their numbers will dwindle to near zero in a decade or two.

India-China war as a rupture

Monica Liu, one of the last survivors of Rajasthan’s Deoli detention camps, says, “I can’t eat potatoes and bottle gourd. That’s all I ate for more than 5 years in the detention camps. Our entire family was picked up one day and shifted to Deoli.” Monica, who lived in extreme poverty, now owns a restaurant in Tangra.

In 1962, due to the India-China war, hundreds of people of Chinese origin in India were taken to a detention camp in Deoli, Rajasthan, where they remained for years. This led to active racism and became an issue of alienation for many people. A large influx of youth began when many people said that relations had deteriorated beyond repair.

Monica was 8 years old. Now aged 70, she feels at home in Kolkata, where all her children live, and is hailed as Chinatown’s most famous businesswoman. Her employees affectionately call her “Mommy” because she strikes up a friendly conversation with them as their workday begins and they get ready to serve customers in the restaurant.

Binny Law (55), president of Kolkata-based Chinese Indian Association, says that the India-China war played a big role in the declining population. Many lost their homes when they returned to Kolkata after their stay in detention camps; They lacked work opportunities due to deep-rooted racism after the war.

Binny says, “I have had meetings with the youth to let them know what we can do to keep them here. But if I’m being honest, there was no one there. I even tried to start a business to sell traditional Chinese products here in Chinatown like all the other Chinatowns around the world, but that failed within a few years.” He came back from the US to be with his community in India, but he is not stopping his children from leaving the country, he added.

Lack of development and facilities

Red Chinese community houses with high metal gates line the narrow streets of Tangra. Chinese inscriptions on flags pasted over doors remain indicative of their lineage and origins. However, residents say the number of homes owned by the Chinese community has declined. High-rise buildings have sprung up in every alternate corner of the neighborhood. As community residents move out, landowners begin looking for their lands, leading to rapidly rising real estate prices in the area.

Many community members live in houses surrounded by warehouses and warehouses and the roads leading to their homes are in poor condition, with many parts lacking amenities. Sure! Roads. There are heaps of garbage on many parts of the roads. Houses are crumbling and falling apart, roads are narrow, and the everyday fabric of the neighborhood reflects neglect.

There was a major impact on work for the community when the leather factories in the Tangra area were closed and they were asked to shift to the Kolkata Leather Complex, about 15 km away. These tanneries were mostly owned and operated by the Hakka Chinese community and remained a thriving business before being relocated between 1996 and the 2000s. The Supreme Court passed an order in 1996 to relocate the tanneries due to excessive pollution and environmental concerns.

Only small eateries and sauce makers remain. Many eateries also have permanent “Sorry, we are closed” signs on their doors. Now, many Kolkata residents do not know that a Chinatown exists in the heart of their city. Only a few social media influencers and people who come to these parts to taste Indo-Chinese food visit.

“They used to call us ‘Momo’ and ‘Chowmein’ on the street,” says a man in his 30s, requesting anonymity. Such casual forms of racism have become so common that many in the community have learned to shrug them off. Most of his family now lives outside India. “There is not much left for us here anymore,” he says.

a closed school

The few places that remain have become inaccessible due to the dwindling numbers of the community. A school that had stopped functioning as an educational institution years ago but continued as a community centre, is now closed for them after the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) set up camps in the wake of the RG Kar rape and the protests that followed.

The Supreme Court on 20 August 2024 asked the CISF to take over security at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital following a mob attack following the rape and murder of a trainee doctor, as the police was criticized for failing to secure the premises.

“They asked for a school space for two months. Now they have been here for the last 18 months. They behave as if we are outsiders here. We built this school as a community. We donated our land and built it with our own money to help our children learn the Chinese language,” says Monica, who is also on the management body of Pei Mei Chinese High School in Tangra. They have now moved the Calcutta High Court seeking intervention into the long-standing CISF camp and demanded that their community space be returned to them.

Councilor Sandipan agrees that the school should be handed back. He says, “Since it is not a government school, I cannot interfere. But if they want my support, I will help them in any way I can.”

The struggle to keep traditions alive

As community spaces shrink and access becomes more restricted, the battle to maintain identity extends beyond buildings. It now comes out in smaller, more delicate ways through culture, memory and tradition. Traditions that once belonged solely to the Chinese community are now being kept alive in unexpected ways.

The lion dance, a traditional performance of Chinese New Year celebrations, is now performed mostly by non-Chinese boys, trained by James Liao, a member of the Chinese community, one of the few remaining patrons of the art in the city.

Inside a dark alley in Tengra, James has converted an old factory into his lion dance practice studio. With vibrant red and yellow giant masks, the Bharat Hồng Dé community practice their art every evening. Youth from the Tangra region sit to brush the yellow hair on their lion masks after practice. They do this with a soft hand, making sure the prop doesn’t give up before their performance.

While some traditions are being passed down through such makeshift spaces, others persist more quietly.

There are more than 10 Chinese Buddhist temples and Christian churches in both the old and new Chinatown areas of Kolkata. But the custodians of these places, some of which are nearly 200 years old, are more than 50. But they gather in groups of 5-7 and visit temples every morning and evening to pay respect to the deities and ancestors.

At Fo Guang Shan Kolkata Buddhist Temple, a group of Chinese grandmothers and two young women gather together sorryA sweet and salty biscuit, usually enjoyed during Chinese New Year in mid-February.

Keep rolling until fragrant and crispy in between. sorryAt around 9 in the morning, women stop to worship the Buddha statue in the complex. They sing hymns together and offer holy water to the visitors. They will continue to make these traditional food items for the community for the next 3-4 days depending on the orders.

“Our children used to come back during the New Year. The place used to be full of noise, friends and family during this time of the year. But that too has started coming to an end. Last year the numbers were so low, there is not much hope this year too,” said a woman drawing designs. sorryBefore frying in hot oil.

As the New Year approaches, the rituals continue like clockwork, carried out carefully, almost deliberately, by the survivors.

shrabana.chatterjee@thehindu.co.in

Edited by Sunalini Mathew