Loudon At Random

Arjun Mukherjee

Legacy

Does anyone know that Loudon Street was essentially known as ‘Loudoun’ Street?
It was named after Lady Hastings, wife of the Marquis of Hastings, who by lineage was the Countess of Loudoun.
Gradually the second ‘u’ in the name simply disappeared.

In 1967, Loudon Street was renamed after Dr. U. N. Brahmachari, the physician who invented the drug Urea Stibamine as an antidote for the then rampant malady Kala Azar.

He was a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine, and was later awarded the Knighthood in 1934.

So much for history.

Unforgettable
Memories of Loudon Street slip easily into focus.
St. Xavier’s had a goalkeeper called Ali with legs like springs.
He identified a Loudon Street garage for his much touted ‘Jean Junction’.
His jeans did sell fast, but his shop disappeared faster.

Loudon Street had another joint called ‘Deli’.

The place supplied delectable Frankfurters to me and to the KLM flight from Calcutta. KLM stopped their flights. My ration of Frankfurters vanished abruptly.

Hotel Rutt Deen on Loudon belonged to the Ruttonjee family, owners of Olympia (now Olypub), Calcutta’s iconic watering hole.

Ruttonjee was a nice man with an extra large middle. He always wore something that resembled a white uniform.

Reason why I once confused him with a waiter of similar width.

Tailpiece
To others Loudon will remain just another street.
To me it’s where birds used to come home.
Flowers used to open up.
Where a much advertised ‘Nature Park’ simply used to be a pond full of fishes.
Where I just used to be.