How long will the lions continue to dance in Chinatown?

Thru’ the Looking Glass

Earlier this week, boisterous costumed lions romped through the lanes of Kolkata’s two Chinatowns to usher in the ‘Year of the Tiger’. Prancing rhythmically to the beat of drums and cymbals, they visited Chinese temples, businesses and homes to bestow prosperity and good fortune. A popular fixture on the city’s event calendar, Chinese New Year celebrations extend across several days, with live performances and food festivals at various venues.

Many people are surprised to learn of the centuries-old Chinese community in Kolkata, myself included. Wedged between the stately structures of Kolkata’s colonial past and the faded glory of aristocratic Bengali mansions is one of the most culturally diverse districts in the world. Known as “grey town”, an eclectic mix of foreign immigrants settled there from the late 18th century onward, attracted by the city’s flourishing industrial growth and grandeur as the capital of British India.

The district’s various neighbourhoods hold traces of about 16 different communities, including Jews, Armenians, Greeks, Portuguese, and Parsis. The Chinese, along with the Anglo-Indians, are the only remaining viable ones, though. A guided walking tour of the area provides great insight. Tucked away in the vicinity of Sun Yat Sen Street in Tiretta Bazaar, I came across customary welcoming red doors, strings of Chinese sausages hanging from shop windows and a handful of Chinese temples that serve as social centres. The most accessible of them, Sea IP Church, dates back to 1882 and contains a fascinating array of old war weapons, as well as statues of gods and goddesses.

Until recently, I was unaware that Mumbai also once had a thriving Chinese community and two Chinatowns, albeit smaller than those in Kolkata. Like in Kolkata, the British brought the Chinese in to work for the East India Company. Now, the last vestige of Mumbai’s Chinese community is a single temple and cemetery.

The decline of the Chinese community in India commenced with the Sino-Indian war in 1962. Many Chinese were forced to leave when relations between the two countries soured and negative sentiments arose. Against all odds, some have remained here though. After all, they’re Indian citizens who regard India as their home. They’ve integrated themselves into India’s cultural fabric and contributed much in the process. Chinese food, adapted to suit the Indian palate, is widely consumed and enjoyed across the country. In Kolkata, members of the Chinese community offer noodles and other traditional dishes as prasad to the city’s patron goddess, Kali, in the temple they built for her decades ago. The community takes care of the temple, performing daily Hindu rituals with Chinese touches, such as Chinese incense sticks.

Kolkata’s Chinese Kali temple is a testimony to assimilation and unity. However, ongoing conflict between India and China has perpetuated distrust of the Chinese, and unfortunately, the pandemic too has added to it. Indians who view China as the enemy don’t want to celebrate a hostile country’s new year. Regrettably, it is relations between ordinary people that suffer as a result of politics that is out of their control. In this case, despite being peaceful and uninvolved in government clashes, the Chinese community has to face the brunt of them because of their ethnicity. Many members are now choosing to migrate to other countries for better opportunities.

Prior to the pandemic, extensive plans were afoot to redevelop Kolkata’s dwindling Chinese neighbourhoods into vibrant heritage and tourist hubs under the Cha Project. Sadly, the slow-moving project has stalled, but hopefully not forever. It would be a shame if the city’s unique Chinese legacy is lost to prejudice and abandonment.

(The author is a travel writer from Down Under who has made Mumbai her home is trying to make sense of India one ‘Like That Only’ at a time)