Trisha De Niyogi
(trishaniyogi@niyogibooksindia.com)
Unveiling the hidden narratives of 19th-century Kolkata’s unsung adventurers, who shaped its cultural tapestry.
Niyogi Books takes pride in launching its latest title under their Paper Missile imprint, Harry Hobbs of Kolkata and Other Forgotten Lives by Devasis Chattopadhyay.
The book is an attempt to humanise the historical narrative of the complex metropolis of Calcutta through the lens of unique European personalities and their contributions and exploring the social fabric of 19th-century Kolkata by focusing on mufti expatriates overlooked in mainstream historical recognition—a throwback to the then-contemporary life of the populace under strict colonial rules.
Author of the book, Devasis Chattopadhyay, when asked about the book, said, ‘My latest book, Harry Hobbs of Kolkata and Other Forgotten Lives, has essentially been an individual effort since 2020 when I got out of the corporate world, and the cosmos put me into solitary confinement. I needed a purpose to ride through the pandemic. And the idea of the book started to germinate as I loved hearing stories since my childhood, and my father had narrated many stories about Kolkata to me. The love for such stories and the 19th-century history of Kolkata stayed with me.
‘When I started contributing articles and opinion pieces in Indian media, I wrote about them. These narrations are not randomly chosen. These are stories largely unknown to the researchers and historians, even though the protagonists in my stories have left visible marks on Kolkata, her history, and their times.’
Commenting on the publication of the book, COO of Niyogi Books, Trisha Niyogi, says, ‘Conjuring the forgotten secrets from Kolkata’s archives, bar rooms, and by-lanes is no easy feat, and yet Devasis Chattopadhyay has accomplished it with a flair. We are proud to bring out this book about the Europeans in colonial Kolkata and the watershed changes they brought about in this fascinating volume.’
About the Book
Harry Hobbs of Kolkata and Other Forgotten Lives is a fascinating collection of nine carefully curated chronicles related to the city in the 19th century. They are rare to find. Some of them were discovered inside dusty files in government archives, many were retrieved from the pages of old newspapers, and others were prised out of private family memoirs. They tell us relatively unknown narratives about Kolkata and the fascinating accounts surrounding them.
The protagonists are middle- to junior-level civil or military officials and puisne judges, along with an opera impresario, an entertainer, a piano tuner, a mercenary, a hotelier, a writer, a publisher, a lawyer, and a real-life police detective-cum-crime writer.
Through this book, we step back in time to look at this period of change and upheaval, when Kolkata’s syncretic identity was moulded in part by these European and American settlers when the things we take for granted today were yet to be invented or experienced. And yet, they made astonishing contributions. These are those forgotten stories.
About the Author
Devasis Chattopadhyay is an author and a columnist by passion. By profession, he is a corporate reputation adviser and a brand strategist. He is a bilingual writer and writes both in Bengali and English. He began writing nonfiction features in the mid-1980s and continues writing them in various newspapers, web portals, and magazines. He writes on facets of urban history and culture and public relations and communications.
In 2017, Devasis published his maiden novel, Without Prejudice (Niyogi Books), in English. The novel was translated into Malayalam (Nisha Narthaki) in 2022. Harry Hobbs of Kolkata and Other Forgotten Lives is his second book and first non-fiction monograph.
His other title published by Niyogi Books
About the Publisher
An internationally acclaimed publishing house, Niyogi Books, established in 2004, has more than 700 titles today. It not only specialises in textual content but also strives to give equal importance to visuals. Niyogi Books purveys a wide range of content on art, architecture, history, culture, spirituality, memoirs, and every aspect that connects with our rich heritage. Under its umbrella, it has fiction and non-fiction that cover books on social science, cookery, and self-help, as well as English translations of modern classics from different Indian languages. Niyogi Books, after having launched four imprints: Olive Turtle (English fiction), Thornbird (English translation), Paper Missile (English non-fiction), and Bahuvachan (Hindi translation: fiction & non-fiction), has launched its newest imprint, Perky Parrot, with an aim to provide fun reads for children and young adults. Also, it has co-published a number of critically acclaimed books with reputed institutions like the British Library, Rietberg Museum Zurich, IGNCA, National Gallery of Modern Art, Ministry of Culture (Govt. of India), National Manuscript Mission, Sahitya Akademi, among many others.