This afterword reflects on the intellectual life of Chanchalkumar Chattopadhyaya who died at the age of 89 in 2004. Mr Chattopadhyaya, who lived in a small flat in north Calcutta, taught himself Greek, Latin and French, and it was the learning of the Italian language which introduced him to his life's great love, Dante. His other great love was western classical music. Mr Chattopadhyaya, who I refer to in this text as Chanchalbabu, represents a lost sensibility which was once integral to the culture and history of Calcutta. Despite being scoffed at, he, along with the other marginal characters in this anthology who are navigating, moulding and defying mainstream aesthetic narratives in Calcutta, remained committed to the passionate pursuit of knowledges which drew upon the best of European culture. © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.