The Telegraph Huntage, presented by Kwality Walls Cornetto, drove around the city on March 15 with 151 teams in the hunt. The cars lined up at Club Verde Vista, 9.30am sharp, with their clue sheets containing riddles and clues to the seven heritage spots. The goal of the race was to reach all seven spots in chronological order, get the clue sheets stamped at each spot and gather at Eco Vista, New Town, within three hours. So off we went, in a Nano, with Google (and curious bystanders) playing lodestar! How many can you guess?
Clue 1: White and Gold + Nippon + D_ _ _ _ _ _ _ Lake + Fuji
This was really the only clue that was worked out in a minute. We raced to the Japanese temple near Dhakuria Lake, almost swerving through a no-entry road. But the rules had warned us that breaking traffic regulations would not be condoned. I do wonder though, how many Huntage cars ran a red light or two on that peaceful Sunday morning.
(We needed to catch our breath and tackle the next toughie)
Clue 3: St. G.G Road +
Tax Collector + Well + Elijah
Er…what? Frantic research led to the knowledge that Sir Elijah Impey had sentenced Maharajah Nandakumar, a tax collector, to death by hanging. A well (on St. G.G. Road) was built to hang him. It’s a nondescript place, easy to miss. We stumbled upon it quite by accident.
(The world slowed down as the second clue made our heads swim)
Clue 2: Seamen + Market + attached to an old school + prakShepatr girja ghar
Seamen … Lascar War Memorial? But where was the school? And what in god’s name was a prakShepatr? It is, in fact, a rocket in Hindi! St. Stephen’s Church attached to St Thomas School, Kidderpore (near the docks), is also known as Rocket Church because of its unique structure. Try speeding through Kidderpore market and then reversing out of there while fruitsellers yell obscenities as an unfortunate fruit basket tips over!
(This one had us all haring to the wrong place)
Clue 4: BS 141 + one of the oldest in the world + negative positive + Calcutta Panaroma
Google led us and other Huntage participants to believe that the Town Hall was the answer. Official photographers, probably tipped off by wily organisers having the last laugh, photographed the befuddled cars circling the Town Hall. And then a luck-by-chance brainwave found us. Bourne and Shepherd (BS) is one of the oldest surviving photographic studios in the world. Bourne shot the first panoramic photo of Calcutta from the Ochterlony Monument (Shahid Minar). It is now located at 141 S.N. Banerjee Road. Run, Nano, run! The clock was racing.
(This one had us dumbstruck)
Clue 5: 1893 + ______ Charades + Khamoshi + APC
Dumb Charades? It’s a game we’ve all played. Where in the city was the film Khamoshi shot? That threw us off a little. 293 A.P.C. Road was the answer. It’s the address of the Calcutta Deaf & Dumb School, established in 1893. It was on the main road too! No lanes and alleys and reversing into fruit baskets.
(We weren’t so lucky with this one)
Clue 6: Near Leper’s healing point + English and French + bone yard + Toru
Toru, as some of you might guess, is Toru Dutt. She wrote in English and French and was buried in the Christian Cemetery behind the Leprosy Mission Hospital, in Maniktala.
I’ll leave you to figure out the last clue — Two overlaid equilateral triangles + flower garden + slayer of Goliath + G_ _ _ _Y_ _ D — while I relax on the accelerator, on my way to the finishing line — Eco Vista, Rajarhat.
All 14 spots on Huntage 2015
- Aliah University (Taltala),
- Bourne and Shepherd (S.N. Banerjee Road),
- Choong Ye Thong Cemetery (Tangra),
- Calcutta Deaf & Dumb School (APC Road)
- Gandhi Bhavan (Suresh Chandra Banerjee Road)
- Jewish Cemetery (Phoolbagan)
- Bagmari Burial Ground (Kankurgachhi)
- Maniktala Christian Cemetery (Maniktala)
- Shiv BhukailashTemple (Kidderpore)
- St. Stephen’s Church (Kidderpore)
- Tipu Sultan Masjid (Prince Anwar Shah Crossing)
- Japanese Buddhist Temple (South End Park)
- Ronald Ross Memorial (Bhowanipore)
- Maharaja Nandakumar Hanging Well
