Reminiscences of my journey to the 'City Of Joy'

Prologue
The plan to visit Kolkata began to take shape when a friend invited me for his wedding there. I had another long pending invitation from a friend to visit Kolkata. And this all coincided with the long weekend of 26th Jan. These reasons were good enough for me to get the return air ticket booked.

So it began..My flight was to take off at 1440 Hrs. It was a hurried day at the office. Had to get out at 12 noon. After oversleeping in the morning got to office at 10. There were just too many things to do. Checking all the important mails. Damm !!! Why does the client has to send a 20 page document today itself. Finally after reading and replying all the mails and delegating some of them (yeah !! the team lead designation has some advantages, albeit very few) finally switched off my PC. Then there was a courier to do. Packed the documents to be couriered kept them at the counter. Left after saying goodbye to all my Bengali colleagues and told all of them that I am off to Kolkatta (don't know why them). Finally got to the airport for the flight just in time, which was delayed by 30 mins anyways.

Day 1 - The Arrival
First thing you notice while landing at Kolkata's Netaji Subashchandra Bose international (Dum Dum for those who still like the old names) airport is the greenery around. Or was I mistaken ? Whatever. Then, there just are so many people. My flight landed at about 5PM by which time it was almost dark.
My friend was waiting for me at the reception. He said he wanted to go to town to buy something and asked if I would like to come along. Though I was tired I didn't want to miss a single moment and agreed to accompany him. Then came my first ride in the bicycle rickshaw. I asked my friend if there was any other way to get to "Ek Number" (pronounced as 'Oek Nomber') ? He said not to worry as whole of the Kolkata travels this way. It weighed heavily on my conscience. So I didn't bargain for the money the bicycle-rickshawalaa asked for. I think I probably paid 5 Rs. more.After traveling half the city that night itself my friend took me to his house where lots of roshogullas were awaiting me !!
After spending the night there. Next day I had decided to see the city on my own and take all the public transports that it has to offer, 'cause I wanted to experience it. Except...the trams, as I had reserved it for the next day.I had Science City on my agenda and if time permitted to decide impromptu on the next move.

The Day 2 - On my own in the new city
The Science City was good. Principles of mechanics that once I had studied in school and fundamentals of Light Physics I had studied with in college suddenly began to confront me. One has to really be a kid to enjoy it..so I decide to be.. :)) Took the roller coster ride just for the heck of it. Made strange faces in the mirrors....After having some snacks it was time to decide on the next move. I wanted to go to Esplanade and visit Victoria memorial etc..yeah.. by this time I was quite well acquainted with the orientation of city :). But, again.., it was reserved for the next day.
So Botanical Garden was taken as the next destination. Then were the rides through buses which dropped me somewhere near 'Eden Gardens'. I had to get to 'Babu Ghat' to catch a ferry to Howarh. Incidentally it was Saraswati Visharjan that day.. and the 'Shibur Ghat' at Howrah was probably at its dirtiest. That reminded me of the Ganesh Visharjan in Mumbai, but Shibur Ghat was much worse. I reached Botanical Garden 5 mins before the closing time and the officials were not ready to give me a ticket as it was too late. But there was no way that I come this far and go back even without entering the garden. So I just went in without ticket. what to do ?? I tried but they refused to give me the ticket!! Albeit just for 15 mins.. :(




The Day 3 - Meeting a friend
The next day was reserved for meeting a friend who would also be my guide that day, and I was looking forward to it. We visited Museum, Victoria memorial, St. Paul's Cathedral, etc.. and yes.. finally the tram journey that I was awaiting for so long. My friend made me eat all the sweets that Kolkata had to offer. Though constantly worrying about the calories I was putting on, I thoroughly enjoyed the sweets. They were awesome !! Had a lunch at Udpi hotel though I wanted to treat my friend at some place lot better than that, but alas!! I had no knowledge of any nice places around. Nyways...




Day 4 - The wedding
I will keep this short as this needs a seperate post for itself. I was one of the Bhoir Bandhu (dont know if I got the spelling correct, though it means groom's friends that accompany him) cum Photographer cum person for all jobs at the wedding. After the wedding we friends along with the groom were supposed to spend night at the bride's place and were supposed to enjoy the hospitality and also be subjected to pranks etc, but we all slept peacefully. I guess everyone else was as tired as us to engage in any pranks. I am lucky that unlike my two other friends from Bombay who attended the wedding I was not a mere spectator but an active participant in it, helping the groom's family in every preparation that was supposed to be done. Buying fish from the fish market (which I know nothing of, being a veggie), preparing all the decorative stuff that was supposed to be delivered to the bride's house and enjoying the hospitality that the bride's family had to offer. It was a great experience.

Day 5 (The last day) - Showing my friends around the city
By now I was quite an expert in knowing my way around the city. Also, had picked up few Bengali words :) We went around the "Maidan", pronounced as "Moidan". We had planned to visit Belur Math. But that was a too optimistic plan. And, after a round of beer we decided to skip it. The next stop was Howrah railway station and Howrah Bridge. The Howrah station is awesome. It's amazing that the station that was planned and started more than 100 yrs back, in Dec. 1905, could be so scalable as to cater to the demands of the population now. This was the first time I saw a barber shop inside the railway station. Lastly, we had a walk on the Howrah Bridge. Where I clicked few pics.. Shhhh... dont tell anyone. Its not allowed.

After lots of struggle in managing time and chaos we got back to airport just in time to realise that the flight was delayed by 2 hrs.. :(






Observations..
The buses in Kolkata are almost wooden, designed to carry as many ppl as possible rather than for comfort. Most of the buses are private. The interiors are also made of wood. The overhead grip bars are very smartly placed. Almost half of the seats are reserved for women (even in private buses) and most of the times men dont occupy them, even if they are empty. Even the private bus providers give a small chit of paper which is supposed to be the ticket. Every bus has two conductors who are more interested in standing at the doors and getting in as many passengers rather than giving tickets. All the buses are very colourful, painted in contrasting colours with blue, green and dull red being the prominent ones.
The city still runs steamers which are very convenient way of transport between Kolkata and Howarh and are quite cheap.
Amidst all these age old transports runs an underground tube railway, the Metro. Cant believe that something like this exists. 'ts a contrast to the city. This is very similar to the one that is in London. The tickets are to be fed to the machines which allow you either in or out. There is nothing more to write about the Metro. Look at any modern urban underground tube rail and is just like that. But hey, there are no public toilets in any of the metro stations. And for that matter anywhere in Kolkata (atleast I didnt see any) ! Which is really strange. Where does the city relieve itself while travelling ?
Kolkata seems to have more Ambi's than all the India combined. Taxis, private cars are all Ambis. The Birla's probably have a strong clut over the city ;)

People are quite helpful and I had no problems finding my directions in the new city. The language was not a problem.

There are women in every part of life and even in political rallies too. I was surprised to see truckload of women along with men participating in the political rallies and shouting slogans. This was on 26th Jan near Eden Gardens. They looked dangerous. All the women I saw in metro dress very well. Probably every woman I saw was well groomed. Large bindi on forehead, hair properly set, saree worn very well. Well.. I could go on and on....

Sweets Kolkata has to offer are awesome. Roshogullas, Mishti Dhoi, Shondesh. They taste very different from what are offered in Bombay as they are made differently and are at least thousand times better. They are made from date syrup (Khajur) unlike sugar syrup in Bombay. I actually hate Jalebies and used to do it till the time I ate them in Kolkata. This was probably the first time in my life that I relished them. At my friend's place, where we were staying, we ate sweets for breakfast, for lunch, for evening snacks, for dinner as well. And if someone felt that I had less through the day they would force me to eat some Roshogullas before going to bed. I think I would have gained at least 5 kgs of weight in 3 days. No wonder Bengalis have such chubby cheeks !




Epilogue
This is a city of paradoxes. Here there is an underground tube rail, the Metro, as well as hand pulled rickshaws. Here in the land of communists there are more private buses than the state owned ones. The city has a distinct character of its own.

So, did I like Kolkata? This city could do with a little change and a little cleanliness. It should get out of its shell and welcome some new and practical changes in almost every part of life. Rather than carrying those over just for aesthetic purpose, or it might soon be left behind in the race of modernization. But my heart says.. NOOO!!! Let it remain as it is..I am sick of the consumerism and 'spend-the-weekend-at-the-malls-and-multiplexes' attitude of other big cities.

So this "City Of Joy" which still has the old world charm, where people still travel in trams and steamers, where tea is still served in earthen bowls (kulladhs, I guess), where women put large bindis as a tradition rather than fashion... comes across as a refreshing and a welcome change.

Yes, I liked Kolkata.