This story is from January 21, 2020

Kolkata: At 200, resting place for the dead to become a park for the living

A two-century-old place in the heart of the city for the dead that went to the seed decades ago has metamorphosed into a new space for the living.
Kolkata: At 200, resting place for the dead to become a park for the living
Charles Bruce, who set up Kolkata Scottish Heritage Trust in 2008 to salvage the cemetery
KOLKATA: A two-century-old place in the heart of the city for the dead that went to the seed decades ago has metamorphosed into a new space for the living.
The Scottish Cemetery, where 4,000 people had been laid to rest before being abandoned in the 1950s, has become a park in one of the most congested city neighbourhoods. Over 90% of those buried bear recognizably Scot names, such as Anderson, McGregor, Campbell and Ross, while the rest were Bengalis.
“If you restore something that represents a large part of history, you have to make it relevant to people,” said Lord Charles Bruce, who has helped salvage the 6-acre cemetery that had turned into a rubbish dump and haven for anti-socials and drug-addicts.
Bruce, whose great-grandfather, Victor Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin, and great-great-grand grandfather, James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin, served as Viceroys to India during the 19th Century, set up the Kolkata Scottish Heritage Trust in 2008 after reading an article by Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson Gopal Krishna Gandhi, then governor of Bengal. “He wrote that if sites, like the Scottish Cemetery, disappear, an important part of Kolkata’s heritage would be gone. It was a call to action and I responded,” said Bruce, who lives in Broomhall House, a 300-year-old mansion in Fife, Scotland.
None of his relatives though is among the 3,000-odd Scots, many of them from Dundee, buried there. The rest are Indians, who had embraced Christianity. James Bruce, after whom Elgin Road is named, is the only Viceroy to be buried in India, in Dharamshala. Three of James’s cousins, who had died in Kolkata before the Scottish Cemetery was built, are buried in South Park Cemetery. Initiating a worldwide connect with the cemetery, Bruce garnered funds from descendants of people who had served in India. “Kolkata had a very distinct Scottish commercial presence with firms, like Burn Standard, James Finley, Andrew Yule, Inchcape, Mackinnon Mackenzie & Co and Bird & Co. Scots also established schools and colleges, like Scottish Church College and Hindu College, which was later renamed Presidency College,” Bruce said.
Nearly 3,500 tonne of debris was painstakingly excavated and removed by hand. Then began the restoration of tombs. Restoration architect Neeta Das, who is spearheading the work, said, “Unlike the restoration of a building, which can then be used or maintained by the owner, maintaining an abandoned cemetery after it has been restored is a challenge. An urban conservation project like this requires involvement of local community. In a neighbourhood such as this, open space is clearly a premium and the cemetery had a great opportunity to offer that to residents,” she said.

The trust now employs 20 people and spends around £25,000-£30,000 a year on the project. Locals have been trained as gardeners and stonemasons. Horticulturist Biswajit Ghosh has planted hundreds of trees and shrubs to turn the cemetery into a garden. “We now have 10 varieties of palms, eight varieties of fruit-bearing trees, 10 varieties of flowering trees and nearly 25 varieties of shrubs. In a corner, we have also set up a garden for vegetables and medicinal plants,” Ghosh said.
Social projects have been set up to bring the surrounding community into the cemetery. Of the 270 families around the edge of the cemetery, around 115 are participating in the project. Around 70 children study in the Santiniketan-style open-air Saturday school at the cemetery, where classes on drawing, dance, literacy, maths and personal development are offered.
“The outreach programmes have won over the illegal, displaced inhabitants. A necropolis has been converted into a space for the living where the past is also remembered,” said architect Mukul Agarwal, who along with other members of Calcutta Heritage Collective, spent an evening with Bruce to figure out how to raise funds and take up similar urban regeneration projects.
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About the Author
Subhro Niyogi

Subhro Niyogi is a Senior Assistant Editor at The Times of India, and his job responsibilities include reporting, editing and coordination of news and news features. His hobbies include photography, driving and reading.

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