This is the story of Tagore’s first publisher—the man they called a legend in printing. Having learnt his trade at The Pioneer, Chintamoni Ghosh founded the Indian Press on 4 June 1884 in Allahabad when he was just thirty years old. 

It is the story of the Indian Press, yes, but also of the house that Chintamoni Babu built to shelter his family. A memoir of its times, it evokes the way families once lived together in the great houses of Allahabad—drawn from the recollections of Chintamoni Ghosh’s children and grandchildren who grew up in an atmosphere few families could claim to have, including royal weddings, dips in the Mahakumbh, brushes with political unrest and more.  

Tagore’s classic Gitanjali was printed at the Indian Press, and the poet himself was a regular visitor to the house the Press built. As Chintamoni Ghosh told his son Hari Keshav, to whom he entrusted the running of the Press: 

‘This is not merely a press. It is a permanent contribution to the nation.’