‘Yusuf Building’, the last heritage building of Patna’s historic Dak Bungalow area, has now become history. This building, a witness to the country’s independence, has been demolished whose old shops on the ground floor had become a source of livelihood for the refugee families who came from Pakistan after partition.
According to many local residents, the work to demolish the building had started two days ago. On Sunday night, a bulldozer razed a large part of a three-storey building to the ground.
‘Yusuf Building’ was situated opposite the famous 19th century Dak Bungalow. That British-era bungalow was also demolished by the District Board authorities in 1990 to build a high-rise building.
PTI had visited the Yusuf Building in May and spoke to the descendants of the Kapoor family, which ran the renowned department store ‘Roshan Brothers’ on its ground floor for three generations. ‘PTI-Bhasha’ visited the building in December.
Roshan Lal Kapoor, grandfather of Rakesh Kapoor (62), came here and opened a shop after partition. Rakesh Kapoor had a “huge emotional connection” with the building, so he is deeply saddened by its demolition.
Rakesh said, “I passed by the pile of debris of the building and the remaining part of ‘Yusuf Building’. It feels as if one’s own body has been injured… as if one has lost a member of one’s own family.
Apart from ‘Roshan Brothers’, till recently ‘Khanna Stores’, Lucknow Xerox House (earlier Lucknow Sweet House) and Prakash Studios were operating on its ground floor.
Rakesh said that if certain steps had been taken earlier, the building, which was an “iconic heritage of Patna” and “the last historical landmark at Dak Bungalow Square”, could have been saved from collapse. He said it should have been preserved.
Rakesh also said that despite the legal troubles, he and his family members have “very cordial relations” with the building’s owner, a well-known family of Patna. He said, “Our relationship is several generations old. The building may not be there, but the warmth in relations will remain.
Rajeev Soni, 71, from Kolkata, a retired marketing professional and writer, said hearing the news of the demolition of the “last historical landmark” of the Dak Bungalow area brought back old memories for him. Soni had left Patna in 1988 itself.
Soni told PTI, “I came to know about the family that owned ‘Yusuf Building’ only in the 1970s, but the shops running in this building, as well as the adjacent ‘JG Carr’ & Sons’ and ‘Sunshine Dry Cleaners’, were memories of our childhood in Patna.” He said, ”I was six years old in 1959 when we left Patna and I would often visit ‘Roshan Dry Cleaners’ with my parents. Used to go to Brothers’ place.
