The largest book market of the country, College Street, offers an unmatched variety of new and old books for the happy reader. In colloquial language, it is called ' Boi Para', which roughly translates into book locality. It is said to be the brains of the cerebral city and many believe that if you can't find a book in college street, it probably hasn't been printed. College Street is considered as the largest second-hand book locality in Asia. Visitors can shop for books to their hearts' content and then unwind with a cold beverage in Paramount Cold Drinks and Syrups, one of the oldest sherbet joints in the city. It has been visited by famous names like Subhash (Subhas) Chandra Bose, Satyajit Ray, Saurav Ganguly, Uday Shankar. There are several Bengali publication houses here. Tourists can also visit Vidyasagar Sarovar known as College Square, and the well-known hub for intellectuals  the Indian Coffee House.

 

Many prominent institutes of the country dot this area, including Calcutta University, Presidency University, Sanskrit College, Scottish Church College, Medical College, Vidyasagar College, Hindu College, Bethune College, Indian Institute of Social Management and Business Management and University and Hare School. College Street runs from Bowbazar to Mahatma Gandhi Road crossing in North Kolkata.

 

A stone's throw from College Street lies Baithakkhana, meaning parlour. It is the largest paper market in Asia and you can find a wide variety of paper here. Shop for different sizes, textures, colours, thickness and quality. Paper from this market is sourced to College Street and is used by publishers to print the books sold in the market.

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