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…come again to my humble little tea shop at Four Mangoe Lane.

B.M. Khaitan

he largest private tea company in the

world has its headquarters at Four

Mangoe Lane, Kolkata. The story of the

office and address is an interesting one – it is

believed that the street on which the building

is located was lined with mango trees and

presumably took its name from these; what is

baffling to all is why or how the ‘e’ which normally appears only in the plural

form should have been added. Another tale lost to posterity!

Originally a private residence known as Hampton Court, the

Company leased the property in 1894.The double storey colonnaded

office was occupied by the clerks on the ground floor and the senior

executives on the first floor. An elegant round table occupied the

lobby – today it dominates the

entrance to the ninth floor in

the new building.

Mr B.M. Khaitan initiated the

construction of the new

multi-storied premises; his proposal was to rent out the lower

floors and occupy the top floors as offices for the Group.

The foundation stone of the building was laid by Partner

Mr O.J. Roy’s wife in 1966 and completed in a record period of

two years.The offices were officially opened in December 1968,

to coincide with the Company’s centenary celebrations.

The inaugural ‘bash’ was followed by a debate on what the

building should be called. As there was no consensus over a

name the building continued to be known by its address.

Over a decade later Kolkata’s municipal authorities renamed

the lane and in one stroke Mangoe Lane became Surendra

Mohan Ghosh Sarani. Demonstrating a keen sense of

tradition the Company chose not to give up the century-old

identity and christened the building, Four Mangoe Lane.

Vidya Kaul

Four Mangoe Lane

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