Visit to Kolkata

I struggled to say 'Kolkata' instead of 'Calcutta'. I think this is because visiting Calcutta has been a desire I've held on to for many a year now, and the desire just refused to change names :)

Priti and me outside the beautiful and statuesque Victoria Memorial. Like I read somewhere 'Calcutta is where India and England collide'.

While I would normally save a personal picture for the last, this is to express gratitude upfront. This trip wouldn't have happened but for Priti, so with thanks, I put this here first. It was Priti's first visit to Cal too, so we each only accentuated the others wide eyes gawking at every turn and sight.

For a week before travel, there was many a reason forcing cancellation... a friend actually said, "looks like signs.... don't you think you should listen and cancel". And I was like, "I'm done listening to signs....want to go with what I want" (freewill over destiny if you will :)

Calcutta is an experiential visit.

While it has enough and more 'must visit' places..... monuments, museums, temples, churches.........just being on the streets, gazing open eyed and dropped chin at what the city has to offer was experience enough.

Colonial structures.... modern and glitz.....apartments so old you wonder that people still live in them...... chai from kulhars.... being spoken to in bengali ( I get mistaken for being Bengali a lot)......the super friendly people on the street (from who we asked direction many a time). Calcutta is about soaking in the feel of these experiences.

What also stands out is the culture, the character, the artyness, the people.........I somehow didn't see any of the squalor and filth people talk off. In the beauty and richness of the place, the dirt on the street just wasn't visible.

And oh yes, the yellow ambassador taxis...they were yet another experience. We chose to opt out of Ola and Uber and stay with yellow taxis, some with no door handles, some with wipers sparingly used......you just hail them anywhere you are...very old time and lovely.

And what's more, it was raining pretty much through the trip, fortunately mostly a drizzle. We took a choice to not let the rain stop us....we were all the time out in a light drizzle, until we were both sniffling and sneezing, just enjoying the kulhar chai that much more each time.

While my visit was just two days ( rescheduled from four for work reasons), we still managed to do so so much. The wedding we went to attend was itself so much fun and so interesting, right from the aai buro bhaat, the fun cocktail party, gaye holud, saat paak, subho dristi, .....and then we managed to visit Belur Math, did bengal sharee shopping and even found Tagore's house. 

The rest in pictures:

My first view of the Howrah Bridge....

Before I could get a full view in the picture, we were on the bridge

Howrah bridge over river Hooghly (as the Ganges is locally called. pic courtesy google)

The beautiful and wide roads, likely new part of the city. This whole area was just so green and spread out, with maidans on both sides

Eden gardens up front. For some reason how many ever times I asked, the cab driver would not keep the wiper on ( likely it wasn't working...old ambassadors remember)

                           

An old and interesting looking building. After this I got off and got in front in the cab :)

Howrah Station which we passed on our way to Belur Math

Another old building

This apartment had peepal trees and, hold your breath.... banyan trees growing ON it

Preeti by the chai bandi....the lovely kulhar (clay cups) chai, the kulhars add such a distinct lovely aroma and flavor to the chai....the drizzle of course making it that much nicer

The kulhars itself

The 'glitzy modern' and the 'decayed and decrepit' together is a fairly common sight

Buying sharees (as it's spelt there)

Old LP records at a street side store

The Ganges, which we passed over Bally bridge on our search for Tagore's house

Getting yummy puchkas (as pani puri is called there)

That's Calcutta from it's streets. Will get to the wedding, Belur Math and Tagores house soon :)

And must say....."huge huge thanks to Saurabh for having hosted us for the wedding and enabled such a wonderful experience".