A Mishthan Bhandar’s Tryst With 1857 Barrackpore Sepoy Mutiny   

Barrackpore (West Bengal): A small roadside shop without a name, devoid of any signboard, with bricks emerging out of a cemented wall, blackened surface, its shed standing on bamboo poles and a person frying kachori. 

The shabby introduction is of one of the oldest sweet shops in the state of West Bengal situated in Barrackpore.

Established in 1832, after two and a half decades of the shop's existence, undivided India witnessed its first spark of independence against the British raj.

Located just opposite the Barrackpore railway station, the Satyanarayan Mishthan Bhandar also known as Adi Jalua Mishthan Bhandar, looks an unattractive and underrated entity.

At the entrance of the shop stood Nitai Chandra Mondal, 65, welcoming the guests.

Mondal, with a short height and cheerful appearance, offers the best of hospitality to all visitors, serving them some of the ‘famous’ dishes of the shop, namely, kachori-dal, rasogolla and rabari.

Pic: Nitai Chandra Mondal Pic Credit: Saurav Kumar

A resident of Chandannagar, Mondol, at the age of 8 years, facing abject poverty and helplessness in sustaining his family, ended up at the doorsteps of the nearly two-century-old sweet shop.

Since then, he has served thousands of customers who are fond of kheer mishti and rabri.

Having committedly worked for six decades, he fondly recalls the manifold rise in stature of the shop in 190 years.

Recalling the past, Mondol told NewsClick, “the sweet shop was the lone shop when it got established in the midst of a bushy and dense jungle-type surrounding. Then it witnessed the establishment of the railway network.”

In the contemporary world, it is the other way around, where the marketplace erupts surrounding a railway station or network. 

“We have served famous personalities, like singers Mohammad Rafi and Mukesh. Many Tollywood stars visit the shop as the taste of items being made in our shop has been attracting people for ages,” he says.

Rabri, Chana Dal, Kochori and Kheer Rasgulla are the famous items of the shop.

Pic: Left to Right Kheer Rasogulla, Rabri and Dal-Kachori. Pic: Saurav Kumar

A staff member at the shop claimed that the rabri’s taste even compelled India’s late President Pranab Mukherjee to be a lifetime customer of the shop. 

The shop, at present, has six staff members, all having passed nearly 20 years of serving sweets and crispy kachoris to the people of Barrackpore and its visitors. 

Pic: Bharat Sau, Owner of Satyanarayan Sweet Shop Pic Credit: Saurav Kumar

Behind the glass-cum-wooden shelf full of sweets stands the shop's owner, Bharat Sau. 

The 59-year-old is the current owner of the shop and has been handling the iconic eatery heritage after his father passed on the business baton to him. 

In the span of 40 years since Sau took charge, the shop has stood up as a popular food junction for uncountable visitors and natives of Barrackpore. 

Bharat Sau told NewsClick: “It is a great responsibility and treasure for us, which was started by Hari Lal Sau, my great-great-great-grandfather. Customers visit the place due to the same unforgettable taste of the food and also due to its glorious past.”

He said he heard tales of many people during Barackpore’s sepoy mutiny visiting this shop but could not confirm the visit of Mangal Pandey, who triggered the mutiny against the British raj in 1857.  

Pic: Barrackpore station. Pic Credit: Saurav Kumar

Besides the Sepoy Mutiny, the shop has also witnessed major historical events related to Benga,l such as the Bengal famine, the Naxalite movement, etc.

Recalling historical anecdotes shared by his grandfather, Sau said: “Mangal Pandey shot the first bullet of the mutiny at Lieutenant Henry Baugh in the vicinity of the shop that had its wooden stove being lit for cooking food.”

The shop being witness to a glorious chapter of Indian Independence fills Bharat Sau and his employees with pride.

The most intriguing part of the shop is its colossal recognition bypassing the market phenomenon. The sweet shop has defied all conventional norms of modern-day business, such as marketing, advertisement and glossy visibility. It has been swiftly running its business with the ‘word to mouth’ no-cost advertisement. 

Pic: Mangal Pandey. Pic Credit: India Today

On March 29, 1857, Mangal Pandey came out with a loaded musket and threatened to shoot the first European he saw that day. The reason behind the threat was cartridges of the Enfield P-53 rifle, which was to be introduced to the army that year, contained grease made from the fat of cows and pigs. This was offensive to both Hindus and Muslims.

The Sergeant-Major’s adjutant Lieutenant Henry Baugh arrived on a horse and then Pandey shot at him. This is referred to as the first gun fired on an Englishman during the course of the Revolt of 1857. Pandey missed hitting the lieutenant and instead hit his horse.

(The writer is an independent journalist.)