📜 Ancestor anecdotes and more

 From Sudeshna De:

An anecdote…Dr Ishaan Tosh Mittra was my maternal great grandfather. The guest house in New Delhi Kali Bari called Ishaan Tosh Hall is named after him and his wife! 

(Edit: This Kali Bari came up around 1930)

The story goes: they were thinking of buying land and building a house in Hailey Road, Delhi. Mrs Mittra was speaking about it to her dear friend Mrs Lala Shriram (unsure on names) who must have mentioned it to her husband. Then, she called up Mrs Mittra and told her that Lalaji has suggested that they invest in Curzon Rd ( KG Marg) as something called Connaught place was going to come up and therefore the land would appreciate more on Curzon Rd. So the land was bought and the house built in 26 Curzon Road.

(Edit: Connaught Place (now called Rajiv Chowk but still CP to most) was built between 1929-1933. Curzon Road, now Kasturba Gandhi Road, is one of its radial roads. 90 years hence, these are prime locations of Delhi. Lalaji was absolutely right!)

(Edit 2: Here is an interesting article written about Curzon Road by someone who saw its growth from the initial residential bungalows to the towering commercial area it is now)

Another famous ancestor was Shri Nandalal Ghose (d. 1904). 

Shri Nandalal Ghose was my paternal grandfather's grandfather. He was a lawyer and was good friends with Vidyasagar who officiated at his wedding. They used to meet often and have discussions over drinks though Vidyasagar didn't drink. 

(Edit: Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was a famous Indian educator and social reformer in the nineteenth century. More about Vidyasagar here.)