Dear Listers, I found the following interesting account of Dwarkanath Tagore and his hospitality to the British in the Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register, January - April 1834. He was one of the earliest Indian entrepreneurs and the founder of the famous Tagore family which later produced Ravindranath Tagore, and much later Sharmila Tagore, the actress. Arvind Kolhatkar, Toronto, January 05, 2008. < A garden-house, about four miles from Dum Dum, on the road to Calcutta, the occasional residence of Dwarknauth Tagore, a rich and highly intelligent native gentleman, possesses many attractions to Europeans, who gladly avail themselves of the hospitalities of the courteous owner. Dwarknauth Tagore converses fluently in English with his guests, whom he receives entirely after the European fashion, permitting (although a Hindoo) fowls and butchers' meat, with the exception of beef, to appear at his well-covered table, at which he occupies a seat, challenging the company, the ladies especially, to take wine, but refraining from the more solid food which is placed before him. The house is a beautiful and commodious structure, furnished in the best taste, and strictly in accordance with our ideas of Asiatic luxury, though differing widely from the real state of things in native houses; sofas, stools, and ottomans abound; some of the rooms are hung with fine engravings, and others are decorated with the best specimens of original paintings which Calcutta can afford ; several excellent portraits, from the pencil of Mr. George Beechey, and some clevrr productions from other European artists who have bent their steps to India. The tables are covered with books of prints, and portfolios of the most splendid description ; in short, it is a most delightful retreat, the gardens and pleasure-grounds being laid out in a style correspondent with the interior. The entertainments given by Dwarknauth Tagore, at this charming mansion, are very frequent, and he delights in obliging his friends by lending it for the wedding-abode of brides and bridegrooms, who, in India, are rarely so fortunate as to be enabled to follow the English fashion of making an excursion during the honey-moon, on account of the scarcity of hotels and country-houses at their disposal. Ishara, Barrackpore, Dum Dum, and Garden Reach, afford asylums for newly-married couples, who are blessed with accommodating friends ready to vacate and lend their houses for the occasion ; but these lucky individuals bear no proportion to the numbers who, after the celebration of their nuptials in the cathedral, are compelled to retire quietly, and without the slightest eclat, to their own bornes, and to fall in at once to the domestic routine, for which it is considered more advisable to have some preparation. No place in the neighbourhood of Calcutta can be better suited for the scene of bridal happiness than the delightful country-mansion of Dwarknauth Tagore. Here are charming gardens to walk in, secluded rides and drives for evening exercise, and books and pictures to supply subjects for conversation, when those sweet topics are exhausted which, only in the days of courtship, are believed to afford never-ending resources. >