General Manager
CurrentOwing to his love for the old structures of Kolkata, Iftekhar Ahsan, founder of Calcutta Walks, bought a ninety year old dilapidated house, and is currently occupied with renovating and transforming it into a heritage bed and breakfast set up. Located in Radha Kanta Jew Street near Shyambazaar, ‘The Calcutta Bungalow’ is a project that aims to bring back the very essence of ‘purono Kolkata’ (old Kolkata), while providing a much-needed boost to tourism in the northern part of Kolkata.‘The Calcutta Bungalow’ will be an interesting blend of Kolkata’s traditional heritage and its growing modernism. With long, iron-wrought balconies and elegant lunettes, not only will this building resemble old Kolkata in its décor, but will also retain that old world charm in its atmosphere and the food. Authentic Bengali cuisine with its wide array of mouth-watering dishes shall be served to the guests to enhance the Bangali (Bengali) experience. There are plans of a curio shop for locally developed souvenirs linked with Calcutta, something the city lacks at the moment. Setting up an all-day café has been envisioned as well. ‘The Calcutta Bungalow’ is set to have its own perfumery, an innovative idea on account of Calcutta’s rich history of creating perfumes. “A lot of our senses are guided by scents,’ says owner Iftekhar Ahsan, who has a vast knowledge and interest in perfumery. In addition to that, he plans on producing traditional Indian perfumes with as many real ingredients as possible.‘The Calcutta Bungalow’ is not just a business venture comprising of brick and mortar, but a project built with love and care. By using original materials, Ahsan aims to make Calcutta Bungalow a spot of beauty so that it becomes a beacon of hope for that entire region, and to make this initiative a good beginning to the movement in North Kolkata of restoring buildings and modifying them.
