The Story of a Century Old Shop

Agnibh Dey
May 4, 2025
2 min read

Situated in a back alley of College Square in North Kolkata, this 107 year old shop serves fresh Cold Drinks and Syrups to this day. But unbeknownst to the common man's eyes, this shop hides a secret.

Paramount Cold Drinks and Syrups started in the year 1918 by revolutionary and freedom fighter "Mr. Nihar Ranjan Majumdar". Originally from Barishal, Bangladesh, he started out by naming this shop as Paradise. Paradise was a very small sherbet shop but that shop was just a front. It used to be a covert meeting ground for revolutionaries and fellow freedom fighters who were fighting against the British back in the day. The owner of this place used to be a member of the "Anushilan Samiti" which was a prominent revolutionary organization in Bengal, India, formed in 1902 by Satish Chandra Bose and Pramathanath Mitra.

The owner of this place was later caught by the British which then had to change the name of this place to Paramount. Once you enter this shop, you will notice that the premises are so narrow that you have to twist and turn to be able to sit. You will notice portraits of Bengali freedom fighters and people who have shaped Bengal's history such as Sarada Devi, wife of Swami Ramakrishna Paramhans and Swami Vivekanand hung up on the walls. Also hung up on these walls are animal head trophies. This shop has withstood time and wars, all of which couldn't ruin the recipes which to this day has been the same. Apart from this, you can see a list of all the legendary humans who have visited this place.