Educational Excursion by Department of English on 26th February, 2020

The teachers of the English department, Shibpur Dinobundhoo Institution (College), took the students of Semester 2 and Semester 4 on a day tour to make them familiar with Kolkata’s heritage architecture which is a combination of Colonial European style and traditional architecture of Bengal. The locations were chosen in order to enlighten the students about cultural as well architectural heritage of Bengal in the 19 th Century. Both Jorasanko and Swami Vivekananda’s Ancestral House are iconic monuments. The former houses a museum which displays precious collections ranging from Rabindranath Tagore’s personal belongings to Abanindranath’s painting kit and the latter has also been recently turned into a museum displaying objects and models relating to Swami Vivekananda’s life. History comes alive through museums. Students who are now getting initiated into Indian literature of the 19 th and early 20 th century must gain significantly from an experience like this where they may actually see the objects that have been instrumental in making history. The death-bed of Rabindranath Tagore, for example, could help them visualize the landmark event of the poet’s death that brought an end to an era. Other things like the poet’s iconic dressing gown and Swami Vivekananda’s sports-items helped students engage with their cultural past in a more tangible and less abstract manner. Marble Palace, a specimen of Neo-classical architecture dating back to the 18 th Century, left students in a state of wide-eyed wonder. They could not believe that such a massive, sprawling and grand building with a private zoo could exist in the heart of the congested, narrow-laned business district of Kolkata. As students of English literature, they saw many paintings and sculptures collected from many countries in Europe. A guide from the department of Tourism, Government of West Bengal showed the students through the palace compound. The walking tour was particularly rewarding as students got a chance to see old neighbourhoods of North Kolkata as they crossed Chitpur, Sovabazaar and Vivekananda Road during their itinerary. Students took photographs and by the day’s end they were exhausted but enriched with a new way of gaining knowledge.