Between two angular hanging bridges on the river Hooghly in India, a city moves and pulsates with life from different angles. Yes, it is Kolkata, the erstwile capital of British India where the old and the new brush shoulders with equal aplomb. During a recent visit to the city where I was born several years ago,I set out like a tourist. I discovered glimpses of Kolkata from a moving window as I criss crossed across the city.
I walked through its many alleys on foot and sometimes watched life go by availing many modes of transport. It is the only city in India where trams and hand pulled rickshaws can be seen doing brisk business through the day. Walking through the narrow lanes of North Kolkata where sunlight peeps in through precarious angles, I was overwhelmed by the sounds and smells of creaky doors, street corner adda (banter) and noisy kitchens. At the end of the lane, the hard working rickshaw puller made his way through the crowds with a not so light passenger occasionally ringing his hand bell to make way.
I stood there for a while and then boarded a nearly pre-historic tram which rumbled through busy traffic of familiar yellow taxis, private cars and multitude of different sized public buses. Trying my best to relax on the hard wooden seat to the sound of “ting -ting-ting”wondering how far to go, the familiar sights of years gone by appeared at the window side.
The sights of a man struggling to pull an overloaded 3 wheeler cycle drawn van , the one on the cycle competing with the bus and the one abundantly using water from the overflowing street corner pipe that sprayed water in a trajectory. Each one of them immersed in their own world of survival with an idle observer in me, the tram moved on.
I got off close to the river front from where the suspended cantilever Howrah Bridge can be seen. As a child I often thought it would fall down someday just like the London Bridge in the nursery rhyme.
Deeply relishing my fill of mouth watering street food, I observed scores of people hurrying to the deck to board the ferry across the river. There seemed to be an order in all the chaos and a story at every step.
After a while, a short ride beside a breezy window of an empty compartment in the overland circular railway took me to the other hanging bridge (Vidyasagar Setu). It took ages to build this one which at sunset is nothing short of a ramp beauty competing with the likes of the Golden Bridge of San Francisco. Watching evening revelers in horse drawn buggies, I finally took a boat ride in the river to watch the sun slip away behind the bridge.
Humming a familiar Tagore tune to celebrate a day well spent, I went underground to go home with the Kolkata Metro (Ist in India) which however inept it may appear to be, took me home comfortably. While browsing through the pictures of the day, it appeared to be a story of angles of varied degrees nearly perfect in geometry but most perfect in the die hard spirit of the human angle that defines Kolkata with its ability to laugh, to love and to live.
Pingback: Forgotten Toys of Childhood | Life is a Vacation
Pingback: Royal Bengal Tiger Cafe, Kolkata | Life is a Vacation
Pingback: In the Garden – as Fresh as it can get | Life is a Vacation
Pingback: Street Life in Kolkata, India | Life is a Vacation
Pingback: Face is the Mirror of the Soul- Kolkata Puja Idols | Life is a Vacation
See, that’s why I tel my friends, I will never leave this city for any job purpose….i have lived here all my life and wish to be laid on the Calcuttan soil 🙂
Oh!! You are a true son of the soil!! Sound like a true Kolkatan
That I am. I love my city . Home is where the heart is ^_^
Good article. Thanks for sharing. Kolkata is one of the most popular city of India. During Durga Puja its look like awesome glamorous city…
Yes I know. I was born and educated in Kolkata and don’t miss a Durga puja in Kolkata if I am in India.
Great stuff !
Thanks Paresh.
Kolkata is a different kind of city. It is like a mini India.
Very well portrayed. Great.
Thank You.
Wonderful coverage of the city. I am yet to see tour this city extensively.
Thanks Rajesh. Mine is a trip down memory lane laced with nostalgia. As a tourist, you have to be open to all the nice things and not so things that is synonymous of the city.
You are welcome. I will be happy to help if you need any for planning your trip.
a nice post for a charming city…. great photos too.
Thank You.
Awesome read pure nostalgia. ………..especially for those of us born there……..got a check mark against the literacy box………and moved on. Fantastic photographs as well
Thanks Rohan. Same here for me as well except that I spent close to a year working there on an assignment.
beautiful post
Thank You very much.
Nice and informative. A pleasure to read.
Thank You for reading and liking it.
Thanks so much for reading and appreciating. I feel so encouraged.
Beautiful post..:) and for me , pure nostalgia ..:)
Thanks Archita. I was completely nostalgic while browsing through the pictures and writing it.
Thanks Anita. I am really encouraged by your comment. Travelogue will happen someday when you are ready to read…
Sangeeta,
Enjoyed reading this. The pictures are also nice- never knew that you had a quest for photography.
Will wait for the next one!
Thank You. I don’t understand the nuances of photography, just shoot what touches my heart to flip through them on another day to remember I also walked there some day.