The bar at the Jairath home. Picture by Aranya Sen

The larger-than-life Dindas and Bikashes sit pretty on the walls of the expansive apartment alongside the rare crystals culled from distant corners of the globe. The plush sofas are set against tasteful artefacts adorning the quaint teak tabletops strewn strategically across the sprawling living room.

Nestled snugly at the far end, the trademark bar beckons with its lavish array of single malts and Rieslings.

Meet Preeti and Sangeet Jairath, an affluent couple representing the highly cosmopolitan breed of Hindu Punjabis residing in Calcutta ? a segment that now accounts for 2-2.5 lakh of the city’s population.

A significant chunk of this community lives in swank apartments in the city’s southern quarters after the earlier generation had flocked to “the place to do business” in the forties and fifties.

“My father P.C. Jairath had migrated from Bijwara in Punjab in 1942 as a bachelor and started his chemicals business here, putting up on Mission Row. He later shifted to the tannery trade, the first Punjabi to do so,” says the 47-year-old Sangeet, who is also into leather goods export.

While leather is a favoured area of business for many, auto parts is another popular calling. “Burrabazar was the hub in the late forties when the migration gathered momentum following Partition and those coming from west Punjab mostly settled in that area,” says Satish Kapoor, the former president of The Punjab Club and the Punjabee Bradree.

The Punjab Seva Samity, which came up in Burrabazar during that period to cater to the needs of the incoming Punjabis, still exists in the same area. However, the group started shifting out and headed towards south Calcutta in the late sixties and the seventies. “And our preference has always been for apartments, never bungalows,” says Kapoor.

While price is obviously a consideration, safety and security are also important purchase points.

“A large drawing room with a built-in bar is very often a defining element in our apartments since we love to entertain guests and there are card parties almost every week. A terrace garden for barbecues is another welcome feature,” adds Preeti, the daughter of former ambassador to Germany J.C. Ajmani.

The Jairaths had shifted to their present address, Vedant Apartments, on the Ballygunge Circular Road plot that used to house Suchitra Sen’s bungalow. “After our marriage, we stayed in our two-bedroom apartment on Syed Amir Ali Avenue. But after our daughters were born, space was a major constraint there,” recalls Preeti, who had scouted from Alipore to Salt Lake for her dream flat.

Space is the watchword as most Punjabi families moving to south Calcutta go in for large apartments, “often 3,000 sq ft and above”, says Pradip Chopra of the PS Group. A spacious bath and kitchen, a puja room and a study are other features the Punjabi community looks for in an apartment, according to Rajesh Malhotra, who moved with his family to Gurusaday Road from Burrabazar in 1992.

The cosmopolitan streak and exposure to western culture ? members of the generally affluent community are often well-travelled ? mean they are not finicky about their neighbours and there is no hard-and-fast preferences in terms of residential location.

“We are capable of adapting to any culture and there’s no compulsion to stay next to a Punjabi family. In fact, my father (the late Prannath Kapoor) was very keen to learn about Bengali culture and read Bengali literature. Right from the fifties and the sixties, our community has become one with the Laha and Banik families,” says Kapoor who lives in his 4,000-sq-ft Mayfair Road apartment.

Chopra, who has provided living space for a number of Punjabi families in his properties, agrees. “They are extremely cosmopolitan and adjusting, which make them good neighbours and also makes things easier for the developer. However, most of them are conscious of the address and would prefer the ‘saheb paras’ like Ballygunge Circular Road, Rowland Road or Loudon Street. And they would usually prefer more than one car parking slot.”

The ladies, who are often the decision-makers when it comes to choosing an apartment, are usually an outgoing lot. “Be it kitty parties, dining out or going to the club, we are always doing something or the other. There’s great camaraderie and never a dull moment as we keep ourselves busy, and as a community, we are extremely inclusive,” says Neena Arora, a resident of Heysham Road.