Calcutta Diaries:The Beginning

Kochuri shops, Hindustan Ambassador taxis, red brick buildings falling into shambles, chae wallahs (tea shops) at street corners,  thick crowd always in a hurry and jostling for space, the road side hawker ferrying his merchandise, narrow roads filled with taxis at a standstill, smoke belching from the exhaust of a public bus; streets, so crowded that the cars can hardly cross; smoke and dust. And people with an everlasting smile.

Across The River Ganges

Yes, you are in Calcutta.

I remember the first time I came to the city and stayed in a Hotel in Sealdah and the thing that crossed my mind was - I will never ever come to the place ever. But such is life, that I have got stuck in Calcutta. Without regrets.

After residing in the city for over 12 years now, I have developed a certain liking towards the city - its culture, heritage, tradition and its revered colonial era buildings and lineage.  Even though its impossible to remotely link it with England, but the colonial heritage still thrives in some part of the city. I somehow like the kochuri shops and have learnt to adjust with the crowd. The same things which I detested when I first arrived.

I have also seen so much change in the city that sometimes I do get a feeling that the city, which is so steeped into tradition might in future become unrecognisable. So, it was with that intent that I wanted to keep the Calcutta I had seen in my own diaries - the basis of the following chapters.

Hope you like it.