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Keeping up with the times

With so many years having passed by, Kolkata has kept the old elite spirit alive through various tangible and intangible ways. The premier clubs and institutions in the city remind us of all brilliant facilities and service that we have received from them since their inception.

Established in 1938, the 'Calcutta Punjab Club' is one of such premier club in the city. Although the name might lead people to think of it as a club restricted to Punjabi members, it is by all means a cosmopolitan one. Located in the heart of Ballygunge Circular Road, the journey of the club over the last seven decades has been studded with achievements and it has gained numerous accolades to its name.

"The club was an initiative of the Punjabis, who came to India from the other side, with the hope of enjoying their evenings together post work," says A S Dhanjal, current President of the club, while naming some of the estimated forefathers like K C Thaper, N L Puri, Rai Bahadur, M S Oberoi, Col Sir R N Chopra among many other luminaries. Spread over a considerable area of land, the club provides its members with extra-ordinary facilities. "We provide extremely well planned facilities to our members because clubs are generally our second home and we even have plans to implement a bunch in a year or two" says Sanjay Lamba, one of the Vice-Presidents of the club.

It offers facilities for temperature controlled swimming, darts, lawn tennis, and table tennis. There is also a well-equipped and extensively used gym with trained instructors. In the coming year, the management has plans of setting up badminton court inside the club premises exclusively for its members.

It has a beautifully designed cards room, a billiards room, a business lounge, two banquet halls for members to conduct functions as needed, separate salon and a spa centre. One can also visit the club and enjoy a good game or a drink as the club has two bars – one which is the main bar and the other one is a lawn bar along with a mini-pub. As a result, bar-nights on weekends with the Djs playing popular songs have become quite popular among club members.

With two restaurants – 'Jharoka' and 'Tangerine'– the club is much appreciated for its mouth-watering dishes. In addition, it has a bakery named 'SL Chocolates,' where people can choose from a great collection of cakes and puff pastries.

As far as membership is concerned, the club accommodates around 2200 members and does not have plans to increase the numbers at the moment. "The management has currently closed the process. It is kind of restricted," says Lamba. "As of now, membership for corporate houses and family members of the existing club members is only allowed," he adds.

Besides these, the club provides residential accommodation. It has 12 newly furbished rooms for members and their guests. The members of the club also celebrate different festivals such as Lohri, Basant, Gurupurab, Diwali, Holi, and Cheti chand to name a few. However, wedding functions are not allowed in the premises. "One can have a quiet reception but we don't allow people to play loud music and these kind of events can only take place on a Monday when the club remains shut.

Otherwise, for a small party, we have banquets halls which the members can easily avail," says Dhanjal.

The 'Calcutta Punjab Club' has surely carved a niche for itself in the city with their events and the amazing food that is available. "Although the Punjabi culture is rooted in the club, inter-religious marriages have also taken place from here," states Dhanjal, when asked what makes this club unique. The members are keen to keep this tradition alive. He further said that the club is free of politics unlike other clubs in the city. "We have completely wiped out politics from this club."

This reflects how the members of the club make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace.

Over the years, the committee members have worked diligently to bring new improvements to the club and have always looked forward to introduce new facilities necessary for members and their guests. Hence we see, the club culture in Kolkata is still intact and clubs are fast enough to keep up with the changing times.

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