Kolkata is a unique city that seems almost left behind in time .
Unlike my reviews on other cities , I will start with the negative aspects of the city first , so that I can end on a positive note.
1)The worst of India is at its fullest display in Kolkata. This city is as if it is a “hole in the heart of India”. This ‘damned’ city is a litmus test for visitors, some of them are only too happy to get the next flight and fly away. Na, Kolkata is not a good introduction to India, you can check in here only after you have experienced some of the country’s extremes.
Calcutta’s roads are freeze frames of 1960’s milieu.The moment you step in, you get sucked in a time warp.The Ambassador taxis are falling apart and can come to a grinding halt anytime.As you drive through the filth and mire you encounter hybrid traffic, buses (look like chicken cages) auto rickshaws, tongas, bullock carts, cars, trams and jay walkers.
Traffic progresses at a snail’s pace especially as evening dawns on. It takes ages to reach your destination. I missed my flight twice because the roads were blocked. Life never stops here, at any point of time there is something going on – a demonstration, a cricket/football match, a festival , a vernissage or some labor unrest. With such roadblockades it is too bad if you have a train/flight to catch or having a heart problem or urgently need to clear your bladder or bowels !
As you trudge through the jumble of roads and streets and look around, there is pile of rubbish everywhere containing anything and everything, rotten food products, plastics, polythene, pulp, attracting flies, dogs, crows and many diseases. As you hold your nose in the awful stench and stink, horns blow your ears out at every place. Don’t be surprised if you encounter dangerous death traps in the form of open manholes. DANGEROUS for children.
Can you believe Kolkata still has ‘open drainage systems’, and just imagine, during monsoons more than half of Calcutta is waterlogged. In what times are we living? Even Indus valley people had closed drains!
Trams turn into nightmares especially in narrow congested roads, they have stops right in the middle of the roads, and commuters ‘disembarking’ cause a lot of ch
2)Kolkatta also suffers economically more than any other city in India. The pathetic power generation system sums up the worst of economic ills. Practically every place hotel, shop, small business, theatre are run on standby battery powered system due to prolonged power cuts. Thanks to the chronic labor unrest and one organization blaming the other, power cuts are a way of life in Kolkata. Potable water is another problem. Always carry mineral water, don’t even touch the municipal water.
3)Population: A city designed for two and half million is a home to twelve million !!! As it is bursting at the seams and trying to cope with its myriad problems, threats of floods or famines in nearby villages send hordes of refugees streaming into the city. This urban pressure is a drag on their available resources.
The attitude of people to visitors is also different compared to other cities. As they themselves say
“Notun kenite Bangalir Utkuy nu,
Kitutu ekti jinesh she chare na,
Sheti tar bangalitto.”
(Bengalis are ready to take in the new, but they never give up one particular thing- their ‘Bengaliness’). You must carry a Bengali phrase book.
The city has an abrasive ethos and their attitude of “ Self-righteousness’ rubs on you. The other aspect that puts me off is dirty graffiti scrawling on every possible place. Party slogans, unauthorized ads, doodling for fun, perverted comments on women- all on newly painted walls. Even toilets in Five star hotels are not spared ! Ami khub dhukhito ! kolkata members .
4)Cheap eateries, bars and Pubs are thick on the ground in Park Street, Kolkata’s entertainment strip (no pun intended) They typically describe Kolkata bars as
Chitkar, checha mechi bastota
Ei tin niye holo Kolkata bar
(Hurry, scurry, humdrum – these three comprise Calcutta bars).
Well, it may not be correct to generalize based on one’s personal experience, but nevertheless I will give my experience in a typical pub.
As the flights from Kolkata to North Eastern places are invariably delayed, rescheduled or cancelled, I had to stay back in Kolkata several times. With no official work to do, I made my obligatory pilgrimages to several pubs . Except for SOMEPLACE ELSE in the Park hotel, all other pubs, Olypub, Cecil Bar, Blue fox, Chota Bristol, Mocambo are all shady waterholes.
I will share my experience of Olypub. Since drinking at home is not a custom in Calcutta (coming home drunk is almost a universal practice), many do not miss to stop at this pub.! After the humidity of the city and the dust and chaos of Esplanade, the locals find this place an oasis.
This pub practically remained mostly unchanged since my last visit here a couple of years back, the yore, shady ambience, the striking dilapidation of the building and the cheap and frayed coir mating remained the same! The old sofas with stuffing threatening to burst at the same, a stray rotating fan almost falling and bright tube lights (designed to allow city’s culturally conscious intellectuals to read the small print in the second hand books ) complete the décor of the place.
I could see a sample of humanity here, I saw one lone drinker seated in a corner staring fixedly at some point on the wallpaper and scribbling on paper napkin.
The clairvoyantly standing waiter over my head told he is a Bengali poet! A group of wide-eyed left leaning Bengali girls were reading their college-mate’s doggerel on one of the marble topped tables. They were stared into oblivion by an earnest group “ stuck up and snotty nosed “collegians sitting next to them.
What about Music? You must be joking !.The only music you here is jostling of the” scholars “with writers (local name for bank clerks) for a place and jingle of the cash registers.
Don’t judge a book by its cover ………….
Don’t let the first impressions put you off this city. It has some plus points too !
1)Once described as the jewel in the Crown of the British Raj, Kolkata retains the aura of days long gone , weaving the past and the present into a charming fabric. Some of the places of interest include:
a)Victoria Memorial :Built on the lines of Taj Mahal in memory of Queen Victoria it houses art gallery of historical value and is topped with a moving angel.
b)Metro rail: The underground railway is worth a visit, you feel far removed from the chaos that reigns overhead.
c)Howrah bridge: this huge cantilever bridge is a engineering marvel and the busiest bridge in the world.
Other places of interest are The Science city, Birla planetarium , Dakshineshwar, etc. , If you have time do take a boatride to The Sunderbans, the great swamps habitat for the Royal Bengal tiger.
b)Kolkata is the home to four Noble Laureates- Ronald Ross, Tagore, Mother Teresa and Amartya Sen . It is undoubtedly the nerve center of intellect and human values , where many modern movements began in art, cinema and theatre.
Your first impression of Kolkata is unlikely to be a good one , particularly if it also your first impression of India.