ShaneraDeF at 03:53, 24 September 2025

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{{Short description|Swim club in Kolkata, India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Infobox swim team
| clubname = Calcutta Swimming Club
| fullname = The Calcutta Swimming Club
| short name = CSC
| image = Calcutta Swimming Club (14652809420).jpg
| imagesize = 175px
| founded = 1887 (as the Calcutta Swimming Bath); 1923 (as the Calcutta Swimming Club)
| city = [[Kolkata]]
| home pool = 1, Strand Rd, B.B.D. Bagh, Kolkata, West Bengal 700001
}}
'''The Calcutta Swimming Club''' (often known by the abbreviation '''CSC'''), is a [[social club]] in [[Kolkata]] (formerly Calcutta), India. The club is located on the [[Strand Road, Kolkata|Strand Road]] near [[Babughat]]. The club is the oldest swimming club in India.<ref>{{cite book |year=2000 |title=Students' Britannica India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DPP7O3nb3g0C&pg=PA94 |location=New Delhi |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica (India) |volume=Five (S to Z) |pages=94– |isbn=978-0-85229-760-5}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Bajpai|first=Lopamudra Maitra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rg40EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA123|title=Stories of the Colonial Architecture: Kolkata-Colombo|year=2019|publisher=Doshor Publication|isbn=978-81-939544-0-9|pages=123|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Myer|first=Hanna|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F_BtAAAAMAAJ|title=India 2001: Reference Encyclopedia|date=1995|publisher=South Asia Publications|isbn=978-0-945921-42-4|pages=23|language=en}}</ref>

== History ==
[[File:Swimming bath, Calcutta, a photo by Bourne, c.1870's.jpg|left|thumb|The Calcutta Swimming Bath]]In 1886, the ''[[The Times of India|Times of India]]'' reproduced a report from ''[[The Statesman (India)|The Statesman]]'' the on a meeting held by a group of Englishmen to establish a "Swimming Bath" in Kolkata. The report stated that a site "at the extreme north-easterly end of the Eden Gardens" had been finalised. The report identified the merchants GWF Buckland and AH Wallis as the key movers behind the initiative.<ref>{{Cite news|date=27 October 1886|title=Bengal|work=Times of india|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/234594182|id={{ProQuest|234594182}} |url-access=subscription}}</ref> Buckland and Wallis intended to provide amenities for their junior assistants, who lacked the social standing and financial means to gain admission to older and more expensive clubs.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":12">{{Cite web|title=The Calcutta Swimming Club|url=https://www.calcuttaswimmingclub.com/club_history/|access-date=2021-11-21|website=www.calcuttaswimmingclub.com}}</ref> Accordingly, the Calcutta Swimming Bath was established in 1887, by order of the [[List of governors of Bengal#Lieutenant-Governors, 1854–1912|Lieutenant Governor of Bengal]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":12" /> An editorial in ''The Statesman'' welcomed its establishment.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":12" /> In 1897, as a result of a [[1897 Assam earthquake|a major earthquake]], the club's pool suffered serious damage in the form of a large crack.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Doyle|first=Patrick|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mzPnAAAAMAAJ|title=Indian Engineering|date=1898|pages=133|language=en}}</ref> The club, in its present form was founded in 1923 by Walter Davis, a partner of Hamilton & Company, who was also the first secretary of the club <ref name=":12"/> The Lieutenant Governor of Bengal was the head of the club from its inception until 1923 when N. Hamilton was elected as its first president.<ref name=":12" />

The Calcutta Swimming Bath initially comprised only an indoor pool, while an outdoor pool was constructed in the 1930s. From the mid-1920, ladies were permitted to use the pool during specified periods and mixed bathing was allowed once a week.<ref name=":12"/> In 1941, in appreciation of the club's contribution to the war effort, a fighter aircraft was renamed the"Calcutta Swimming Club".<ref name=":12"/> The club's membership today is predominantly drawn from the [[Marwari people|Marwari]] and [[Gujarati people|Gujarati]] communities of Calcutta.<ref name=":23">{{Citation|last1=Gupta|first1=Nilanjana|title=Just for Fun: Changing Notions of Social Forms of Leisure|date=2011|url=https://sk.sagepub.com/books/locating-cultural-change/n10.xml|work=Locating Cultural Change: Theory Method Process|pages=243–269|place=New Delhi|publisher=Sage Publications India Pvt Ltd|access-date=2021-11-21|last2=Gopalan|first2=Devlina|doi=10.4135/9788132107637 |isbn=9788132105763 |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Swapan Seth clubs them all together|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/entertainment/swapan-seth-clubs-them-all-together/cid/1498517|access-date=2021-11-21|website=www.telegraphindia.com}}</ref>

== Facilities ==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="150">
File:Calcutta Swimming Club (32511952932).jpg|Old photograph of the Calcutta Swimming Club
File:The Swimming Pool at a British Club (BOND 0029).jpeg|The Calcutta Swimming Club during the Second World War, used by Allied soldiers
File:Calcutta Swimming Club, Kolkata - panoramio.jpg|Outdoor pool of the Calcutta Swimming Club
File:Indoor Pool (14859634373).jpg|Indoor pool of the Calcutta Swimming Club
</gallery>

Writer A. Frank Thompson has described the Calcutta Swimming Club as "an unlikely oasis of beauty and comfort in the centre of old Calcutta".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Thompson|first=A. Frank|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LvDYAAAAMAAJ|title=The Bairagi Madonna: Leaves from a Calcutta Notebook|date=1997|publisher=ISPCK|isbn=978-81-7214-372-5|pages=30|language=en}}</ref>

== Events and Activities ==
[[File:Mussuck Race at the Calcutta Swimming Bath.png|thumb|Mussuck Race at the Calcutta Swimming Bath (1894)]]
In 1894, the ''[[Scientific American]]'' reproduced an article from the British publication ''[[The Graphic]]'' about a "mussuck race" taking place at the Calcutta Swimming Bath, involving a mussuck ("a tanned goat skin, which, when used by water carriers, has all the openings sewed up except at the neck").<ref name=":1" /> The race required participants to ride a mussuck (inflated with air) in the water "in full costume, with boots and tall hats, any competitor being counted out who arrives at the goal-one hundred feet from the starting point-with head uncovered".<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|title=A Mussuck Race|volume=LXXI|page=297|work=Scientific American|issue=19|publication-date=10 November 1894|url=http://chesswanks.com/SAW/1894-11-10.pdf}}</ref> In 1927, the Calcutta Swimming Club organised a "Calcutta vs Rangoon" water polo match, where a team from the club played against a team from the Kokine Swimming Club in [[Yangon]] (both teams comprising British and Europeans). The match reportedly attracted a large audience.<ref>{{Cite news|date=17 Oct 1927|title=Water Polo Match: Rangoon Beaten Again by Calcutta |work=The Times of India|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/750627306|id={{ProQuest|750627306}} |url-access=subscription}}</ref> Today, the club organises colourful Christmas and New Year parties every year.<ref>{{Cite web|title= 31st Nite at the Calcutta Swimming Club |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/entertainment/the-telegraph-31st-nite-at-the-calcutta-swimming-club/cid/1390077|access-date=2021-11-22|website=www.telegraphindia.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Telegraph 31st nite at the Calcutta Swimming Club|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/entertainment/the-telegraph-31st-nite-at-the-calcutta-swimming-club/cid/1413527|access-date=2021-11-22|website=www.telegraphindia.com}}</ref> Another tradition is a ''hasya'' (humorous) ''[[kavi sammelan]],'' where prominent Hindi poets and satirists such as [[Chirag Jain]] and [[Arun Gemini]] have participated.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Club sandwich - A laughathon with humour poets|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/entertainment/club-sandwich-a-laughathon-with-humour-poets/cid/1564406|access-date=2021-11-21|website=www.telegraphindia.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Hasy Kavi Sammelan is back at the Calcutta Swimming Club this Sunday|url=https://www.indulgexpress.com/events/kolkata/2019/mar/02/hasy-kavi-sammelan-is-back-at-the-calcutta-swimming-club-this-sunday-13146.html|access-date=2021-11-21|website=www.indulgexpress.com|language=en}}</ref>

== Notable guests and patrons ==
Famous Indian guests and patrons of the club have included the famous Olympian swimmer D.D. Mulji<ref>{{cite web|title=Swimming in Kolkata|url=http://swimminginkolkata.weebly.com/college-square-swimming-club.html#/|access-date=4 January 2018|website=swimminginkolkata.weebly.com}}</ref> and swimming champion and actress [[Nafisa Ali]].<ref name=":23"/> Among notable overseas guests, the legendary British wartime singer [[Vera Lynn]] visited the club while touring India in 1944.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Warner|first=Guy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cLLNDwAAQBAJ|title=From Auster to Apache: The History of 656 Squadron RAF/ACC 1942–2012|date=2013-05-10|publisher=Pen and Sword|isbn=978-1-4738-2246-7|language=en}}</ref>

== Racial discrimination ==
[[File:Chester Bowles, Ambassador of the Unites States of America to India, in 1951.jpg|thumb|181x181px|US Ambassador to India [[Chester Bowles]] objected to the club's racial admission policies]]
[[File:Jagaddipendra_Narayan_at_his_coronation,_c._1936.jpg|thumb|158x158px|The [[Jagaddipendra Narayan|Maharaja of Cooch Behar]] was the club's first Indian member|left]]
Like many British social clubs established in colonial India, the Calcutta Swimming Club historically had a whites-only admission policy. Along with Indians, African-Americans were also denied admission to the club.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Leggatt|first=Tim|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mJE7WdTE8dgC|title=Connecting with E. M. Forster: A Memoir|year=2013|publisher=Hesperus Press|isbn=978-1-78094-034-2|language=en}}</ref> The club would not accept Indians as members even after independence. In 1959, the Calcutta Municipal Corporation passed a resolution condemning racial discrimination practised by the club.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wuYmAQAAIAAJ|title=Civic Affairs|date=1958|publisher=P. C. Kapoor at the Citizen Press|pages=110|language=en}}</ref> A few years later, to protest against such discrimination, the then American Ambassador to India, [[Chester Bowles]], directed American diplomats to withdraw their membership of the club.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FMEDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA53|title=Jet|date=1964-05-28|publisher=Johnson Publishing Company|pages=53|language=en}}</ref> According to the ''[[The New York Times|New York Times]],'' the Soviet Ambassador refused to follow suit and "at least a dozen Communist diplomats, including Soviet Consul Rogov, were conspicuous users of the Olympic-sized pool."<ref>{{Cite news|date=27 June 1965|title=Exclusive|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/116900805|id={{ProQuest|116900805}} |url-access=subscription}}</ref> The situation changed in 1964 (around the time of Bowles' directive), when the [[Jagaddipendra Narayan|Maharaja of Cooch Behar]] was inducted as the club's first Indian member. In 1976, PT Basu was elected as the first Indian president of the club.<ref name="a">[http://www.calcuttaswimmingclub.com/index.php/pages/club_history The Calcutta Swimming Club-History]</ref> A controversial event in connection with the club's racial policies was an incident involving the Marxist politician (and five-time [[Member of the Legislative Assembly (India)|MLA]]) [[Ram Chatterjee]] in 1969. Although the club had by then admitted Indian members, it was still dominated by British and Europeans. To protest against this, Chatterjee brought a busload of [[Santal people|Santhal]] village men, wearing loincloths and armed with bows and arrows, to the club. Chatterjee, together with the village men, barged into the club and jumped into the pool.<ref>{{Cite web|title=559 Swapan Dasgupta, An exile's view|url=https://www.india-seminar.com/2006/559/559%20swapan%20dasgupta.htm|access-date=2021-11-21|website=www.india-seminar.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Hruska|first=Miki|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EDHeDwAAQBAJ|title=No Way Back Home: The Unexpected Life of a Czech Family in India (1938-1977)|date=2020-04-22|publisher=FriesenPress|isbn=978-1-5255-6029-3|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Akbar|first=M. J.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t95lAAAAMAAJ|title=Blood Brothers: A Family Saga|date=2006|publisher=Lotus Collection, Roli Books|isbn=978-81-7436-439-5|pages=310|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Ray|first1=Rajat Kanta|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3PobAAAAIAAJ|title=Entrepreneurship and Industry in India, 1800-1947|last2=Ray|first2=Professor and Head of the Department of History Rajat Kanta|date=1992|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-562806-7|pages=213|language=en}}</ref>

== Dress code controversies ==
In independent India, the Calcutta Swimming Club has occasionally attracted public controversy over its dress code. In 1987, the musician [[Ananda Shankar]] was denied admission to the club for being dressed in a [[kurta-pyjama]] and [[Flip-flops|''chappals'']] (the dress code permitting a [[dhoti]] or a [[sherwani]] but not a kurta-pyjama). Shankar complained to the press and then attempted to enter the club yet again, dressed in the same attire. This time, a group of around 500 workers of the [[Indian National Congress]] party, led by [[Paresh Paul]] (now a member of the [[All India Trinamool Congress]]), followed Shankar and forcibly entered the club. Paul and his group broke vases, furniture and flower pots, and then jumped into the pool fully clothed.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|date=16 Oct 1987|title=Fracas at Calcutta Swimming Club|work=The Times of India|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/616812910|id={{ProQuest|616812910}} |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Aslam|first=Mohammed|date=1 Nov 1987|title=Centre-Stage|work=Times of India|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/614161410|id={{ProQuest|614161410}} |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|author=Kamaljeet Rattan David Devadas |date=November 15, 1987 |title=Western bias in dress rules still persists in Indian clubs|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/living/story/19871115-western-bias-in-dress-rules-still-persists-in-indian-clubs-799523-1987-11-15|access-date=2021-11-21|magazine=India Today|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite news|last1=Hazarika|first1=Sanjoy|date=1987-10-25|title=Furor in Calcutta Over a Dress Code |language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/25/world/furor-in-calcutta-over-a-dress-code.html|access-date=2021-11-21|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Shankar distanced himself from the violence and Paul was subsequently arrested.<ref name=":4" /> The club's then president, Mahabir Prasad Jalan, later clarified that no insult was intended to Shankar and that he was welcome to attend in his "usual clothes".<ref name=":3" /> In 2017, various news outlets reported that [[Art of Living Foundation|Art of Living]] instructor Khurshed Batliwala had been denied entry into the club for being dressed in a kurta-pyjama.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-12-16|title=Author Khurshed Batliwala allegedly denied entry to Calcutta Swimming Club for 'wearing kurta-pyjama'|url=https://www.firstpost.com/india/author-khurshed-batliwala-allegedly-denied-entry-to-calcutta-swimming-club-for-wearing-kurta-pyjama-4262095.html|access-date=2021-11-21|website=Firstpost|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Writer cries foul over denial of entry to Calcutta Swimming Club for wearing kurta-pajama|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2017/dec/17/writer-cries-foul-over-denial-of-entry-to-calcutta-swimming-club-for-wearing-kurta-pajama-1729824.html|access-date=2021-11-21|website=The New Indian Express}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-12-16|title=Author dressed in kurta-pyjama denied entry to Calcutta Swimming Club|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/author-dressed-in-kurta-pyjama-denied-entry-to-calcutta-swimming-club/story-Nw8ZNrmJdP0OmRsfGMV64N.html|access-date=2021-11-21|website=Hindustan Times|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=Dec 16, 2017|title=Kolkata: Author Khurshed Batliwala allegedly denied entry to Calcutta Swimming Club for wearing kurta|url=https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/news/india/kolkata-author-khurshed-batliwala-allegedly-denied-entry-to-calcutta-swimming-club-for-wearing-kurta/articleshow/62095917.cms|access-date=2021-11-21|website=Mumbai Mirror|language=en}}</ref> However, in 2014, the club had invited the then sports minister of West Bengal [[Madan Mitra]] to inaugurate a swimming competition and allowed him in wearing a kurta-pyjama (although Mitra apologised if he had inadvertently broken the dress code).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Madan sorry for club dress|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/west-bengal/madan-sorry-for-club-dress/cid/1289930|access-date=2021-11-21|website=www.telegraphindia.com}}</ref>

== The Calcutta Swimming Club in film ==

The Calcutta Swimming Club has served as a shooting location for various Bengali films. Notable among them are [[Satyajit Ray]]'s ''[[Seemabaddha]]'' (in a scene where the protagonists discuss the club's erstwhile racial admission policies)<ref>{{Cite web|last=Sanyal|first=Devapriya|title=Camera and action: The Soumendu Roy-Satyajit Ray teamwork that produced some of our greatest films|url=https://scroll.in/reel/852490/camera-and-action-the-soumendu-roy-satyajit-ray-teamwork-that-produced-some-of-our-greatest-films|access-date=2021-11-21|website=Scroll.in|date=3 October 2017 |language=en-US}}</ref> and [[Salil Dutta]]'s ''[[Ogo Bodhu Shundori]],''<ref>{{Citation|title=Ogo Bodhu Sundori Part 3 {{!}} ওগো বধূ সুন্দরী ভাগ ৩ {{!}} Comedy Jukebox {{!}} Echo Bengali Movies|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiufsvYGkgM|language=en|access-date=2021-11-21}}</ref> during whose shooting the renowned Bengali actor [[Uttam Kumar]] died.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{coord|22.5675|88.3416|type:landmark_globe:earth_region:IN|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calcutta Swimming Club, The}}
[[Category:Sports clubs and teams in Kolkata]]
[[Category:Swimming clubs in India]]
[[Category:1887 establishments in India]]
[[Category:1887 establishments in British India]]
[[Category:Swimming venues in India]]
[[Category:Sports venues completed in 1887]]

Calcutta Swimming Club - Revision history

ShaneraDeF at 03:53, 24 September 2025