Tipsy Night School is Kolkata’s very own lecture-in-a-bar experience, launched by Out In Kolkata. We invite academics to deliver talks in bars and restaurants, and audiences listen, ask questions, and make observations — all with a drink in hand. 

About the lecture: 

The Opium Eater's Confession: Vice and Virility in Victorian Calcutta by Dr Sarbajit Mitra

How opium fueled the British Empire, and how Calcutta became its main hub for the trade, is a story that's been told many times before. The imagery of exotic, smoke-filled opium dens is probably familiar too. This presentation, instead, keeps its focus on Calcutta but looks at something different: how unease and discomfort around opium use gradually took shape. By zooming in on the experiences of locals, it shows how these anxieties about the drug were tangled up with wider worries about male sexuality, marital and reproductive health, and the ways women were being controlled and oppressed, situating all of this within the broader history of anti-drug movements.

About the speaker: 

Dr Sarbajit Mitra teaches history at St. Xavier's College, Kolkata, and finished his PhD at SOAS in 2024, digging into the social and medical history of intoxicants in nineteenth-century colonial Bengal. He writes in both Bangla and English on topics ranging from urban history to print culture and the history of cricket to old film memorabilia. Beyond that, he's into the history of medicine, local heritage, and visual culture, and when he's not doing that, you'll probably find him quizzing or out on a long walk.

Event details: 

Date: 8th October, Thursday

Time: 7 PM to 8.30 PM

Venue: Olive Cafe & Bar  

The ticket price includes a redeemable F&B voucher by Olive Café & Bar included for the value of INR 499

About Tipsy Night School: 

Tipsy Night School is a flagship lecure-in-a-bar series launched by Out In Kolkata on 31st May. Multiple editions have taken place across the city’s top bars, featuring experts from various disciplines. 

Out in Kolkata, founded by Proiti and Analina, is an initiative aiming to dispel the myth of Kolkata as a ‘boring city where nothing interesting ever happens.’ They promote curated lists of events taking place across the city, and design fun but meaningful experiences for engaged audiences.