Clad in a pale green silk gown with a matching hat and sporting white elbow-length gloves, Elizabeth was a picture of poise and grace. Suddenly, Her Royal Highness and the Duke of Edinburgh appeared on the horizon riding the passenger seat of a light-coloured convertible with an open hood from the Shyambazar end on our right-hand side. “Almost an hour passed, which seemed ages to us. Can we join your family?)’ Mashima was gracious enough to welcome and lead us upstairs. Aapnarao dekhben toh (We want to watch the Queen’s cavalcade from your first-floor verandah. A domestic opened it. ‘ Baarir Ma-er saathe dekha korte chai aamra (We want to meet the mistress of the house).’ She disappeared and a minute later, an elderly sari-clad lady appeared at the door. ‘ Mashima, aamra Rani ke dekhte chai aapnaar uporer baranda theke. “Making our way across the road, we knocked on the main door. One of us luckily spotted a corner house with a portico standing diagonally opposite the Vivekananda Road-Central Avenue crossing, which could be no less than a perfect vantage point.Ĭentral Avenue (later renamed Chittaranjan Avenue) in Kolkata Wikimedia Commons Almost sprinting down to Central Avenue, we realised that we stood little chance of spotting the Queen properly amid the surging crowds flanking the avenue. “That very moment, my hostel roommates and I knew it was a now-or-never opportunity. They were en route from the Dum Dum airport to the Great Eastern Hotel in Dalhousie. One afternoon in February, word got around that the Royal Couple would be passing in a grand parade down the then Central Avenue (later renamed Chittaranjan Avenue), which lay barely metres away from our hostel on Vivekananda Road. “In 1961, I was pursuing my bachelor’s degree in Botany honours from North City College on Amherst Street after completing my Senior Cambridge. And why wouldn’t they? After all, she was one among the lucky Calcuttans to watch the passing cavalcade of the 34-year-old British Monarch and her dashing Royal Consort, the Duke of Edinburgh, in north Calcutta. Warm memories of a late winter afternoon in 1961 still haunt Ranjana Karmakar (nee Dhar), an 80-year-old retired school teacher. ![]() Two Kolkatans share with My Kolkata their memories of what was, no doubt, an experience of a lifetime. ![]() Starting from Delhi, the royal couple visited the Taj Mahal in Agra, Jaipur, Udaipur, (then) Bombay, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Madras, (then) Calcutta and Benares in a series of engagements full of parades, banquets, processions and receptions amid cheering crowds. ![]() The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh began their State Visit to India in January 1961, at the start of an extensive tour of India and Pakistan and State Visits to Nepal and Iran, which eventually ended in March. Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip in Manchester, May, 1961, after their extensive tour of India and Pakistan and State Visits to Nepal and Iran Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesĪmid the outpourings of grief and glowing tributes being offered to Queen Elizabeth II from across the world, a few Kolkatans have been nurturing fond memories of catching a glimpse of the graceful British Monarch during her visit to the City of Joy in 1961, a little over 13 years after Independence.
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