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  • The last of the Armenians

    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
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