At age ninety-seven, he stands tall
Not frail and feeble, but standing tall
Through an era of colonization and strife
His journey to freedom, a long and hard life
He holds the heritage of his land with pride
And in his timeless spirit, it will abide
For though the years have come and gone
His legacy endures, forever strong
This clock was installed in Howrah Station in 1926, with its two faces called “Twin-faced.” It is made of strong wooden frames and there are two sets of “Giant Clocks” like this one. One is outside the station building and the other is inside. The clock inside has become famous because of its location. The clock’s position at such a place in the station has made it an iconic landmark. In the era of smartphones, people may no longer need to look at a clock to tell time, but the clock in Howrah is still significant to them.
One face of this clock, that is, a dial, is facing the direction of platforms 1 to 8, while the other face is facing platforms 9 to 15 (but it is actually 12, not 15). Still, it will only be visible to the passengers on platform 12 if they stand right on top of it. Otherwise not). The dial of this clock at the station is 4 feet, its hour hand is 18 inches long, and its minute hand is 24 inches.
The clock was made by Gent’s Company in London. The clock was installed at Howrah Station by Roy Brothers and Co., a famous watchmaker of that time, Debaprasad Roy. This pair of clocks, which is kept outside the station, is a bit bigger in size — 6 feet. It also has two faces — one towards the Hooghly River and the other towards the Howrah Bus Stand. This electro-mechanical clock was controlled from the railway control office by a pulsar device. Later, when a problem was seen in its cable, that device was installed in the clock itself.
Everyone usually looks at this clock. Because even today it is the only and unique meeting point in that square. But which way does the clock look? It looks at this sea of miserable people, at this moving society-history and life. It has been looking like this for 97 years, maybe it will look like this for a long time. And below it will meet the life of the passengers of this city on the way.