Calcutta Season Calendar
Current to the morning of Sunday 9 October 1814.
See the prop edition — the season as the cards on the hall table
June to September in Bengal is rain, misery and almost no entertaining. The monsoon breaks in mid-to-late October and the city erupts. The party landed on 8 October, at the exact pivot — so the calendar is about to accelerate around them whether they want it or not.
This page lists what the party knows about. It fills in as invitations arrive.
Fixed points
| Date | What | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sun 9 Oct, morning | St John’s — morning service | Attended. Pastor Jessop read the newcomers from the chancel. Attendance is not optional if you intend to be received anywhere |
| Sun 9 Oct, evening | Dinner with the Magistrate | Mr Ashworth extended the invitation by card, delivered to the compound on Saturday evening |
| Wed 12 Oct, 6pm | The Zorab private sale | Advertised publicly in the Calcutta Gazette, 5th and 8th October. A dead man’s effects, sold off |
| Tue 25 Oct | Kali Puja | The festival of the goddess Kali, kept on the new moon at the end of the rains. Lamps, offerings, and rites at the burning ghats. The whole city will be out |
Standing rhythms
- Sunday service at St John’s, every week. Who sits where is the settlement’s power structure drawn as a seating plan, and being absent is itself a statement.
- Morning calls, most days. Meg Cavendish runs the party’s introductions and knows which committees are about charity and which are about rank.
- Riding on The Maidan, early, before the heat. Pratap Singh is arranging horses.
- The Gazette carries advertisements, arrivals, sales and notices. It is the fastest way to find out what the city is doing.
Sixteen days
From the morning of 9 October to Kali Puja on the 25th is sixteen days. Every evening spent in a ballroom is an evening not spent on the river.
See also
- The City of Palaces — Bengal in 1814, and what you have walked into
- Calcutta City Map — the city, and where things are
- Cavendish Compound — the party’s household
- Chapter 04 Session 08 Wrap Up — what happened on landfall