Calcutta Connection

Anindita Mazumder

“Eta ki 2441139
Bela Bose tumi parcho ki shunte
dus barobar wrong number periye tomake peyechi …”

This song by celebrated director-actor-singer, Anjan Dutta have immortalised Calcutta Telephones in an era when mobile phones were yet to be discovered or gain popularity and cross connection and wrong numbers were the order of the day before telecommunications took such giant leaps. Calcutta Chronicle traces the journey of Calcutta Telephones from its initiation in the later part of 19th Century.

In 1880, two companies – Oriental Telephone Company Limited and Anglo-Indian Telephone Company Limited – approached the British Government for license in order to establish telephone exchanges in the country. Initially, the permission was refused, however, the government reversed its decision in 1881 and granted license to England-based Oriental Telephone Company for opening telephone exchanges in Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, Karachi and Ahmedabad.

The inauguration of the first telephone exchange on January 28, 1882, was attended by the city’s elite; communication was initially established with the office of The Englishman, Spence’s Hotel and The Great Eastern Hotel along with several other offices in the city. The Englishman wrote the next day: “The speaking power of this extraordinary instrument was tested without the slightest interruption manifesting the extraordinary rapidity with which the connections were formed and conversation carried on.” The central exchange was located at 7, Council House Street.

Interestingly, the first telephone exchanges in Madras and Bombay were declared open from Calcutta, capital of British India after the inauguration of the exchange in Calcutta. The Bengal Telephone Company was formed in 1883 and the new company took over the existing system of telephones from the Oriental Telephone Company and the purchase price was Rs 7, 60,000.

By March, 1882 Calcutta Telephone Exchange had 50 subscribers. The only Indian entrepreneur in the first 50 subscribers was Shib Kisto Daw & Co of 29 and 30, Clive Street. The first Indian to be provided a connection individually was Babu Sagore Dutta residing at 14, Gopal Chandra Lane in Colootola area. His telephone number was 50.

Initially and even in the early 20th Century telephone was considered more of a status symbol and a privilege of the rich and the elites. Only after independence it became a necessity. Calcutta Telephones had a number of important and well known subscribers. Tagore’s telephone number was 1945 which was under Burrabazar Exchange while that of his close friend, Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose was 1309 under the same exchange. Other celebrated subscribers were Sir Asutosh Mookherjee (646), Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das (618), Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy (1517), AK Fazlul Haq (735 and 96) and Sarat Chandra Bose (3772). Till 1990s the Calcutta Telephones employed six digit numbers but with digitalisation this had been converted into seven digit numbers.

Till late 1940s Calcutta Telephones used the manual system where you had to talk to the operator first who would then connect you to the number you want but it was replaced by the automatic system in which you could directly call the other subscriber without the operator.

In 1941 the government began acquiring the shares of the Telephone companies in Calcutta, Bombay and Madras and set up Government Telephone Board. Calcutta Telephone got its own building in 1918 with the construction of its own building, Telephone House at 8, Hare Street originally called Bankshall ka Dukhin Rastaa. However, what is seen today to be a bizarre decision, ruining the heritage character of the Dalhousie area, the Dalhousie Institute – a quaint structure of British era – was demolished in 1950s to construct a modern building, Telephone Bhawan to accommodate the increasing number of employees of Calcutta Telephones.

Calcutta Telephones has gone through number of ups and downs when fire ravaged its exchanges and water logging damaged the paper insulated cables throwing the system out of gear. In 1946, for a whole year the exchanges were closed down for non essential traffic due to riots in the city. Every subscriber has memories – some quite funny others frustrating because of frequent cross connections, dead telephones and bad connections.

Today, the onslaught of mobile phones is slowly throwing the landline out of vogue. But the romance and nostalgia of the black instrument which brought good tidings as well miseries has been immortalised in the soul of every Calcuttan.