Youths from the region at Bikramgarh. Telegraph picture

Calcutta, July 13: Walk through this locality and you could be pardoned for thinking this a city in the Northeast. The road is crawling with youths from the region — walking, playing, travelling on rickshaws and autorickshaws. Bikramgarh, a silent stretch on the southern fringes of Calcutta, is considered a home away from home for many youths of the Northeast. The nearly 1,000-odd youngsters, who have travelled to the Bengal capital for higher education or jobs, or both, have found a haven among people from their home states.

Sarbananda Koch, a 21-year-old from Assam’s Sonitpur district, who was hanging out with his friends at a tea stall, said, “It is like a home away from home for us. Every year hundreds of students and professionals come to Calcutta for higher education and more attractive employment opportunities. You can’t find the comforts and luxury of home in another city but at least here we find like-minded friends from Assam as well as other states of the Northeast.”

“I study BCom (2nd year) in Goenka College. Our seniors in college told us about this locality. The metro station is just an auto ride away. Jadavpur University is just a walk away. So most students prefer Bikramgarh, with the rent being affordable too,” Sarbananda said.

For Rupa Marak, 23, however, it is just about getting a new place to stay. “I am in Calcutta for the past five years. I did my BCom from St Xavier’s College and completed my Masters this year. I used to stay on Anwar Shah Road. However, I am looking for a new flat. I like this locality. Its quiet,” Rupa, a resident of Shillong, said.

Kuku, who hails from Mizoram, was ambling around on his bike. When approached, the 25-year-old BA final year student of Bijoygarh College stopped for a quick chat with this ‘outsider’. “I like it here. I stay with my friends from my state. You feel homesick but its nice to have others around who feel the same,” Kuku said.

Not surprisingly, there are three momo shops in the tiny locality. One is run by a Nepali, another by a guy from Kalimpong. The third is owned and managed by a Bhutanese, Navin Chetri, 24, a BCom student at Ashutosh College. Navin’s shop, which he runs with the help of three employees and his friends in the locality hailing from Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal, Bhutan and North Bengal, offers momo and thukpa and makes around Rs 4,000-Rs 5,000 daily.

“Most of my customers are friends from the Northeast. They come in the evening, hang out and eat here,” Navin said.

The other two momo corners, too, are busy all day with the footfall keeping the staff on their feet and on the edge of the frying pan.

But why are they living in a single neighbourhood? Is assimilation with people from the rest of India or primarily from Bengal a problem?

A professional from Shillong, who was in Delhi as a student, says various factors are responsible for this attitude of “sticking together”. “Firstly, people feel secure and confident around known faces. When you are sick, a friend from your state will take care of you in a city thousands of miles away from home. If you need monetary help, he will be there too,” he said.

According to him, once you move out of the Northeast, you feel like a minority. “People tend to look down on you. You get reassurance from the fellow minorities.”

“Thirdly, when I was in Delhi, every week we used to have get-togethers. Those gatherings and dinners were signs of solidarity by the Northeast community.” They are common in all cities.

He said students move out of the Northeast to metros like Calcutta and Mumbai because of the opportunity to earn good money through part-time jobs. “In the region, you either work or you study. There are very limited choices. However, in big cities you have a plethora of options. You can work at a call centre or the hospitality sector and study as well.”

With additional reporting from Andrew W. Lyngdoh in Shillong