Trincas: 60 years of bringing music to Kolkata, night after night

For 60 years Trincas has been bringing music to Kolkata, night after night. Ishita Ayan Dutt on the iconic restaurant and its star, Usha Uthup

Before launching her singing career at Trincas, Usha Iyer (now Uthup) had to sign a permit at the Kolkata Police headquarters in Lalbazar. It had two important clauses: a singer couldn't sit with a customer at a table; and she was not allowed to solicit. But Uthup, a sworn rebel, didn’t give a toss about these rules.

"I solicited and I sat at the table, but not in that order," she says, adding, "The only scandal I had, I married." She met Jani Uthup at Trincas, married and made Kolkata (she’s originally from Mumbai) – and Trincas – her home.