Once a popular gathering place for intellectuals, authors, poets, cultural activists and politicians, Old Dhaka's Beauty Boarding still lives up to its traditions.
Beauty Boarding, a boarding-cum restaurant located in Shris Das Lane in Old Dhaka, over the years has witnessed many famous personalities visiting and staying in the lodging.
Renowned poets, singers, actors and other artistes and people from the media used to regularly hangout at the place which orgiginally housed the office of ‘Sonar Bangla’ publication which moved to Kolkata before 1949 when the residential hotel was launched by the Saha family’s two brothers - Prahlad Chandra and Nalini Mohan.
Shaheed Quadri, Shamsur Rahman, Sayed Shamsul Haq, Belal Chowdhury, Hasan Hafizur Rahman, Sayed Atiqullah, Alauddin Al Azad, Abu Zafar Obaydullah, Sanjib Dutta, Nirmalendu Goon, Abul Hasan, Probir Mitra, Zahir Raihan, Samarjit Roy Chowdhury, Fazal Shahabuddin, Burhanuddin Khan Jahangir, Santosh Gupta, Foyez Ahmad, Helal Hafiz and Devdas Chakraborty are just to name a few renowned people who used to come here to meet each other for social exchanges.
After a long passage of time, nowadays, this place is no longer a venue for the social gathering but the restaurant continues to serve people most of who come to visit the famous place.
At the centuries old yellow structure still standing by the River Buriganga, people still visit, roam around inside the boarding, take selfies, group photos and take snacks while enjoying the mangnifiently preserved courtyard in front of the building surrounded by a mango tree.
The Father of the Nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman used to visit the place to organize meetings and to give instructions to his followers. Abdul Jabbar Khan, a renowned Bangladeshi filmmaker, commenced writing the first Bengali language feature film, "Mukh O Mukhosh" to be made in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in Beauty Boarding.
At the beginning of the war of 1971, the West Pakistani Military force drove a hellish massacre in Beauty Boarding killing the founder of the boarding - Prohlad Saha along with 17 other people. After the independence Prohlad Saha's wife Protiva Rani Saha re-opened the boarding house.
People who love to revisit the golden past also visit the place today to imagine stories and activities revolving around the boarding. Some of them become very nostalig while seeing the place.
Pranta Das Gupta, a JnU student had come to visit the place with his friend outside Dhaka.
Pranta said, "Beauty Boarding is a picturesque place. We love to visit here. Whenever we get free time in Between class schedules we come here and take pictures, refresh our mind and then go to the campus again."
Another visitor, Nowshin Rahman shared her thoughts about beauty boarding. She believes that because of social media advancement people now have a great tendency of taking photos and sharing them all on social media.
"Beauty Boarding has lost Its historical attraction but in this age it has got a different attraction in a different way," she said.
She further added, "It's not necessary to be the same in every generation and every age. Because, every generation's taste can never be the same."
Time has changed and at the same pace people's taste has also changed. Though the purpose of visiting Beauty Boarding has almost changed, people from every age return home with a smiling face.
