The last of the Armenians
MADHURIMA NANDY
The Times of India
TIMES NEWS NETWORK TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2004 03:15:04 AM
Eighty-three-year-old Charles Sarkies misses his friends who used to join
him for a quick game of bingo at the Armenian Club on Park Street. “There
are no births, weddings or engagements but only deaths of Armenians in the
city now.
The few left are just waiting to get six-feet under. Even the Armenian Club
is nearly non-functional,” reminisced Sarkies, who lives with 15 Armenians
at the Sir Catchick Paul Chater old-age home near Park Circus.
Sadly, even the much-popular Armenian rugby team in Kolkata has ceased to
exist now. Earlier, older students of the Armenian College who used to play
the game, along with professional players from abroad, are no more there.
“Unfortunately, the college had closed down for four years and that’s how
the team ceased to exist. I’ve managed to reopen the school in 1999 and
hopefully in the next two years we will get back our rugby team,” said Sonia
John, honourary manager of Armenian College and chair person of the Armenian
Church. The Church that was built in 1724 is possibly the oldest in the
city. Incidentally, there are about 100 Armenian students who now come from
Iran and Armenia to study here on scholarships.
It may be a forgotten history, but Armenians were the first hoteliers in the
city who set up landmark hotels like Grand, Kenilworth, Carlton and
Fairlawn, to name a few. They were known for their great communication
skills and fine sense of cuisine. John, who once owned Carlton Hotel in
Chowringhee, said, “Most of us sold our hotels off or just closed them down.
But like the Swiss, who were unparalled as the first confectioners in the
city, there is no match for Armenians in the hotel industry.”
Interestingly, of the 100-odd members of this community who remain here
still, only five are probably true blue Armenians who still speak in the
Armenian language. “Most Armenians have had inter-community marriages
because they couldn’t find partners from their community here. As a result,
the community is not very close-knit anymore,” said John. The Armenians, who
came here at the end of the 16th century, were as many as 20,000 in number
before Independence. However, post-Independence, moneyed Armenians started
migrating to USA, Europe and Australia.
From: Baghdasarian