ARMENIANS TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE 400 YEARS IN KOLKATA
By Samrat Banerjee Kolkata

UNI (United News of India)
November 14, 2008 Friday 2:15 PM EST

The natal star of the Armenian community in Kolkata appeared a
century before the earth could make 300 revolutions after the city
was born. Hundreds of Armenians across the globe, including the UK,
US, Turkey, Iran and Australia, gathered in the city to celebrate 400
years of the community here on Wednesday. Passers-by were liable to
mistake the city’s Armenian College Ground on Free School Street as
a neighbourhood in Armenia.

All of them ambulated to attend the quadricentennial celebration,
which was realised in a host of cultural programmes. Many of them
were the students of the Armenian College many years ago. " Oh the
times! Oh the manners! The city once teemed with Armernians and some of
them even owned the bungalows and bread-and-breakfast joints dotting
the city. Today I see none, " exclaimed an Armenian, who landed
the city’s soil after 50 years. Taking a stroll down memory lane,
another Armenian, a septuagenarian, said, " The Armenian community,
which witnessed its height of glory in the 20th century, also led
an active club life. The Armenians built most of the ghats on the
banks of Hoogly. But now, the Armenian community is reduced to 35
families. " Meanwhile, the celebrations reached its climax when His
Holiness Karekin II, the worldwide religious head of the Armenians,
came all along from Armenia and graced the occasion. Karekin II urged
the Armenians in the city to help preserve their national identity
and values for the prosper of the community. " The Armenian monuments
should not be the only thing that makes the city remember about our
community, " he said. It is noteworthy that racing mogul J C Galstaun
and realtor tycoon Arathoon Stephen were among present in the gala
event, which was attended by 30,000 people. According to Karekin
II, India bears a special significance for the Armenians as it was
in Chennai in 1773 the intellectuals of the community scripted the
constitution of a liberated Armenia and the first Armenian periodical
was published in 1794. Interestingly, the Holy Nazareth Church on
Armenian Street in Kolkata has crossed the milestone of 300 years on
the cityscape, heedless to the altering trends of its denizens.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress