23 Scott Lane, Kolkata


Aurobindo Ghose (Sri Aurobindo) was born on 15 August 1872. He was an Indian nationalist, poet and yogi. Many years later, India became independent on 15 August 1947, freeing herself from the atrocities of the British empire. 

Sri Aurobindo was one of the first Indian Nationalist who stated clearly that the entire nation of India (Akhanda Bharat) should work together to free themselves from the British Colonization. He resided at many locations in Calcutta including 23, Scott Lane. 

I visited 23, Scott Lane in 2020. The building is located at the end of a narrow lane behind Bangabasi College (amidst Baithakhana Bazar in Sealdah), somewhat hiding and not visible from the main street. Initially, I failed to pinpoint the exact location of this building as Google Maps clearly betrayed me and the house numbers in this region don't follow a linear order. Local people in this area consist of local residents, businessmen, publishers and wholesale dealers having scanty idea about the vast history of the neighbourhood, in general. I was somehow lucky that way because I did my Bachelors from Surendranath College (only few walks away from 23, Scott Lane) and was pretty well-acquainted with this area.

The building at 23, Scott Lane fortunately exists and underwent little external changes with some striking addition of billboards and air-conditioners. I am not sure how it escaped from the clutches of the city promoters. I have posted an old and a current photograph of the building for visual comparison.

23 Scott Lane
Photo Courtesy: sriaurobindoinstitute.org

23, Scott Lane
Photo Courtesy: © Abhishek Ghosh, 2021

Indian Nationalist Bal Gangadhar Tilak once visited Sri Aurobindo in this house, when Aurobindo was taking his advanced lessons in Tamil language. Later, he translated some heavy weight works from the Tamil Literature into English.

15 Aug 2021 marks the 75th Independence Day of India. This independence is the sum total of infinite sacrifices of thousands of fellow Indians. As a child, I was fortunate to hear some of the stories of pre-independent India and its challenges from my grandfather, Sri (Late) Satya Priya Ghosh who served as an Advocate at the Calcutta High Court.

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