When smoke gets in your eyes, head to this old Kolkata bar, Chhota Bristol – Happytrips

How serious are you about drinking? Deadly serious? Then there is no other place you would want to visit more than one of the oldest bar in the city of Kolkata. Located on Esplanade, inside the Metro
gully, Chhota Bristol, or Shaw Brothers is one of the last watering holes where drinking is a passionate pastime. The bar dates back to the 1800s when Kolkata was Calcutta, and it finds its name Chhota Bristol from the legendary Bristol Hotel that once existed in this building. There is nothing that will prepare you for it, because in this city, oddities are a norm.

Touched by the
god of wine, the bar is an escape for hundreds of men who have a penchant for alcohol. No shine, no glamour, nothing about this place tells you that this is where you should spend your evenings drinking. But ask the tired officer-goer, the college student, the struggling poet, and they will all tell you that it is their dreamscape, where they put off their last cigarettes at the end of a long day.

At Chotta Bristol you ought to follow the rules of the place. You have to know what you want to drink, so that you can confidently place your order when the waiter shows up at your table. Payment for drinks is done as soon as you order. The waiter will return with the drink of your choice, and the change. The drinks are cheap, the air is smoky, and the conversations are loud. Here, all the food that you order is brought in from the stalls lined up on the street outside.

Filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak was often found here at a table. The maverick filmmaker would even indulge in heated arguments with his friends, and sometimes walk out, only to return after a while.

In its over 140 years of existence, the bar has played host to countless young men, and I say men because you will not find a woman here. This is where men come to hide away from women, it is dedicated to the men who belong to the screaming disharmony of a collapsing world. The world has moved ahead, leaving these men behind in the hallowed space of Chhota Bristol, and they are only trying to overcome this disquieting factor.

If ever you feel the need to subdue the disquiet, without having to show-off, without having to even spend too much money, then this is where you head to. Right across the Lenin Sarani tram lines, dive into this staggeringly honest atmosphere. As that song by The Platter’s rightly goes,
when your heart’s on fire, you must realize, smoke gets in your eyes. I say, everytime you feel the burn from that smoke, there is always the good old Chhota Bristol to shelter you, and perhaps rub your eyes for you too.