College Street Bengali: কলেজ স্ট্রীট is a street in north Calcutta. It stretches (approximately) from Bowbazar to Mahatma Gandhi Road crossing. The road north of M.G. Road continues as Bidhan Sarani (Cornwallis Street). It houses many centres of intellectual activity in the city. Well-known academic institutions such as Presidency College, Sanskrit College, Scottish Church College, the Bethune College, the Medical College Kolkata, the Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management, Presidency College, Hare School, Hindu School and the University of Calcutta are situated on this street. The Indian Coffee House, a cafe that has attracted the city's intelligentsia for decades, and numerous bookstores are also located here.
The College Street is most famous for its bookstores. Many bigwigs of the Bengali publication industry (like: Ananda Publishers, Abhijan Publishers, Dey's Publishing, Rupa & Co. etc.) are situated here. The street is also dotted with countless very small book kiosks which sell new and old books. An article in the journal Smithsonian described College Street as "...a half-mile of bookshops and bookstalls spilling over onto the pavement, carrying first editions, pamphlets, paperbacks in every Indian language, with more than a fair smattering of books in and out of print from France, Germany, Russia and England." It is the largest second-hand book market in the world and largest book market in India and collectively boasts of a collection of almost any title ever sold at Kolkata. One can buy rare books at throw-away prices and extensive bargaining take place.
Dominating the center of the area is the Vidyasagar Sarovar, traditionally known as the College Square. It's a large tank that is used by numerous swimming clubs and coaching institutes. The leafy walk surrounding the tank is occupied by various people spending their leisure time.
In 2007, College Street featured among the famous landmarks of India which have made it to Time Magazine’s “Best of Asia” list.
Famous quotes containing the words college and/or street:
“I never feel so conscious of my race as I do when I stand before a class of twenty-five young men and women eager to learn about what it is to be black in America.”
—Claire Oberon Garcia, African American college professor. As quoted in the Chronicle of Higher Education, p. B3 (July 27, 1994)
“You had such a vision of the street
As the street hardly understands;
Sitting along the bed’s edge, where
You curled the papers from your hair,
Or clasped the yellow soles of feet
In the palms of both soiled hands.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)