User:Arijitadhyasubarnabanik/sandbox

in traditional bengali society "bene" the trading community of of suvarna baniks, and others dealing in spices and conch-shells, were a target of derision and envy. envy because of their obvious opulence and enterprise. as the reformed lefts are promoting virtues of entrepreneurship in the world of babudom, interest is renewed in the baniks of bengal. according to bimal dhur, renowned publisher, the precursors of the suvarna baniks probably migrated rajasthan in the 11th or 12th century, and settled in east bengal as well as in west bengal particularly in hoogly and later in kolkata. with the arrival of the british, families like the bysacks and seals, the lahas and the mullicks soon earned trust of the new rulers particularly the agents and officials of the east india company, by acting as under-writers of imported goods, guarantors of loans and also as money lenders. the valued banians of the east india company- popularly known as 'bene', soon started anglicizing their names. basak to bysack, laha to law and mondal to mundle. in the process the community grew in wealth and social position, and as expected of the babus of the times, became patrons of music and art, education.apart from building palaces of european architectural styles in north and central calcutta,the suvarna baniks acquired houses in other parts of the city. rupchand dutta, secretary of the subarna banik samaj feels that there are atleast 30 major families, of whom the lahas of cornwallis street and the mullicks of muktaram babu street and coolotola are the fore-most.the marble palace of the mullicks and it's collection of paintings, sculptures and objects of art is world famous. the lahas or laws were perhaps the most enterprising in their interests. prem krisna one of the forbears, established a flourishing business in the import of textile from the lancashiremills, while two of his succes-sors both named gc law were pioneers in paints and pencils.the same family produced some exceptional brothers and cousins. " u.n dhur and sons started as importers of belgian glass before world war i, then everything crashed and my grand father had to start it all again," dhur recalled. he started his own publishing house and organised the first book fair in calcutta in 1976. do the baniks retain their enterprising skills? yes, dutta insists, though the attitudes have changed following property transfers and changes of profession.but there are families still bear the torch of their ancestors.p c chandra group which has emerged as jewellery exporters, adiar dutt and company is a big name in gun manufacturing, to name a few. dhur's son dipankars plan to sell rasgollahs to new yorkers has not changed, even after the kamikaze attacks on the world trade center.