Look Back In Wonder: The Calcutta Boxwallahs’ Mellow Autumn – Times of India

Calcutta, christened Kolkata as recently as 2001, was once the glittering imperial capital of Britain’s Indian Empire. Delhi’s political status was elevated in 1912 but arguably Calcutta’s glamour wasn’t tarnished. After London, Calcutta remained second city of the British Empire. The King-Emperor reigned while Westminster ruled the Raj via Calcutta-based Viceroy of India.
Foreign big industry, mainly headquartered in Calcutta, ran handsomely well. Competition was tame. Easy prosperity of major commerce in tea, jute, cotton, indigo, coal and more planted laidback British colonial management culture in Calcutta, a city boasting finest turf, polo, golf and highsociety clubs. Yes, life in Calcutta was good.
A practical business problem arose. Manning companies with expatriates was a costly affair.
Yet it was absolutely imperative for Britain to keep the Indian Empire’s commercial revenue base stable. The advent in Calcutta of Indian boxwallahs resolved the headache. Who, why or what were these quaintly named “natives”? Hobson-Jobson Anglo-Indian Dictionary described a boxwallah as “an itinerant pedlar who sells cutlery, nick-nacks and small wares of all kinds”.
Of course, a Calcutta boxwallah was none of these! For an authentic answer there’s none better than senior-most surviving boxwallah Sukhendu Ray who happily turns 100 years on 29 November. Boxwallahs were elitist Indian gentlemen perfectly suited for employment in British companies and agency houses. Well educated, often in Britain, scions of upscale families too well-bred to be crassly money driven, inevitably these young men were keen sportsmen too.
Yet, despite perfect credentials it wasn’t always easy for them to obtain jobs they sought. Ray was armed with chartered accountancy credentials earned in 1950 from England and Wales when he returned home to look for work. Over 70 years later, he admits it wasn’t easy. Many young men wanted “glamour and glory” of employment in a British business house. Cutting through clutter, as it were, Ray approached pucca British-owned engineering firm Guest Keen Williams (GKW) “through someone I knew and immediately got the job”. Sukhendu Ray, boxwallah, was born. He was destined to be burrah sahib of GKW in 1977.
Ray’s near contemporary KSB Sanyal, 91, performed brilliantly as chairman of Andrew Yule Group during tenure in 1980s spilling on to 1991. Sanyal pulled the piteously loss-making conglomerate out of the red. More, profit was large enough to provide dividend. This feat was appreciated by then prime minister Indira Gandhi who graciously accepted the dividend cheque personally from Sanyal, his lifetime honour.
An outgoing personality, matchless boxwallah Sanyal held three prized honorary public offices simultaneously in 1988—sheriff of Calcutta; president, Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry; president, Tollygunge Club.
For a change, let’s come closer to the present by meeting an octogenarian after a centenarian and then a nonagenarian. Here we do touch upon Andrew Yule for a bit but that’s coincidental.
Lad from Patna Asoke Dutt, now 83, was a gifted sportsman from late teenage. That’s early enough! Cricket topped his list of interests. Dutt played for Patna University in the national level Rohinton Baria Gold Trophy inter-university cricket tournament from 1957 to 1961 and during these years, also for Bihar for the Ranji Trophy. Mind you, he was only 18! Dutt’s haul of 6 wickets for 16 runs in the Bihar vs Orissa Ranji match in 1957 stands out among records.
Not at all surprisingly, Asoke Dutt turned boxwallah in 1962 when he was handpicked as Senior Staff Probationer by Bengal Coal Company, premier corporate in Andrew Yule’s managing agency phalanx. He retired in 1998 as Executive Director of an important Andrew Yule Group company. Keeping alive a melange of social commitments true to boxwallah tradition, Dutt served three club tenures as president, Tollygunge Club; president, Calcutta Cricket and Football Club; managing member, Calcutta Club. Asoke Dutt is a true-blue boxwallah.
Having said that, a wide swathe of consensus seems to have grown currently that boxwallahs’ days are numbered. The logic is simple. The boxwallah theorem stands on the axiom that employed gentry won’t move. Therefore unshakeable loyalty to one’s employer is permanent. Today, benefits of job-hopping are rising rapidly in an environment where uncertainty reigns supreme. Into future corporate ambitions are being factored opportunities that didn’t exist before. So no boxwallahs tomorrow, Q.E.D.
Life moves on. NextGen guys will possibly find newbie Sukhendu Ray’s early crisis at work disgusting, not humorous. His first cocktail party invitation from GKW burrah sahib mentioned dress code as “black tie”. Ray didn’t have the right attire and there was barely time to get one done. He rushed in panic to a top Park Street clothier and pushed him to deliver it in three days flat. Sukhendu Ray began life at GKW in a tizzy.
Upon retirement in 1983, the utterly content former boxwallah, Ray, adopted creativity as his mission. Strongly encouraged by wife Bharati, renowned academic and scholarly author, he translated works of Tagore and Saratchandra from Bengali to English. Not satisfied, Ray took up children’s classic Thakurmar Jhuli. He turned next to painting and sketching, learning techniques from YouTube. He’s at the easel every day. For music, he plays violin and flute.
Sukhendu Ray urges each business whizkid who cares to listen, be honest to boxwallah virtues, don’t stop learning and fulfil all four seasons right up to your mellow autumn.