G C Laha

Before Amazon and Instagram stationery brands were a thing, a majority of artists and creatives in Kolkata would rely on Esplanade store G.C. Laha, to stock up on their monthly supplies. The fine arts material store had a roster of rather noteworthy regulars. Besides Rabindranath Tagore and Abanindranath Tagore, several modern art pioneers like Nandalal Bose, Bikash Bhattacharjee, Maqbool Fida Husain and Ganesh Pyne have also visited the store.

Satyajit Ray has been a part of G.C. Laha’s legacy too. “I have served him myself,” says Siddhartha Laha, the third-generation owner.

The heritage store still stands today, having survived the digital boom and is still a haunt for artists looking to buy their watercolours or Brustro drawing papers. The Victorian chequerboard floors have seen the footsteps of quite a few giants and there are probably more yet to come.

Past and present

For generations, Girindra Coomar Laha’s family had been in the paint-making business. Girindra Coomar joined his family’s business as a young boy, but he also harboured a deep interest in the world of art. In 1905, when he was all of 16, he was able to set up his own art supply shop, and it’s quite a story.