Calcutta South Club

About the Founders — Anadi Mukherjee & Ganesh Dey

The story of Calcutta South Club doesn't begin in a boardroom or a business plan — it begins on a bicycle, on a quiet evening in 1920, with two friends and a moment of quiet, dignified defiance. Anadi Mukherjee and Ganesh Dey were cycling along Woodburn Road in Calcutta when they spotted a large, lively gathering inside Woodburn Park — a tennis club entertaining delegates from Punjab who had come for the Indian National Congress.

Inspired by what they saw, the two friends asked to join the club — only to be turned away. The club, they were told, was restricted to certain communities. That rejection, rather than discouraging them, lit a fire that would burn for over a century. Rather than accept the slight, Anadi and Ganesh refused to walk away from the sport they loved.

They approached Mr. Chapman, the District Engineer of Calcutta Corporation, and successfully secured a tennis court in the very same Woodburn Park — open to all, regardless of community, background, or social standing. That single act of determination laid the foundation for what would become the most historic tennis club in India.

The club was named Calcutta South Club at the suggestion of founding member Ananto Mookerjee, with Mr. R. Daglish named its first President. What began with just five members and a collected sum of Rs. 35 grew, year by year, into a legendary institution of Indian tennis — one whose founding motto of "Justice to All" still echoes through every court and corridor today.

Anadi Mukherjee and Ganesh Dey never set out to build an empire. They simply refused to be told they didn't belong. And in doing so, they built the greatest tennis club in Indian history — a place where every player, from every background, has always been welcome.