City of Joy
Somehow, when I think about India, the most vivid images that come to my mind are not of my hometown or my college, but most surprisingly they are of Calcutta. It is often perplexing for me, for my links with Calcutta are nothing but the most tenuous. I have visited Calcutta most probably less than 10 times in my entire life (though that might seem a lot of visits, but really most of them are less than a day long visit. Then why does that dirty, smoggy Howrah station, the over crowded streets, the over crowded trains, buses, metro, the wet monsoon flooded streets make my heart ache and yearn to be there. Well these are my conclusions :
1) Just before leaving India, I spent about two days in Calcutta for my friends marriage. Those days the realization was strongest that I am about to leave, accentuated by the fact that I met my friends after a gap of about a month and also for the last time before leaving country. The day I was returning I was alone in this taxi and the streets of Calcutta were flooded with the mild rainfall and that image has stayed.
2) Even those less than 10 short trips to Calcutta were very special, shared as they were with the most special people of my life. The first trip to calcutta, was my first trip to any metro when I was 10 years old. The subsequent ones were mostly with my friends, and they were no less than adventures. Those bitter sweet memories are some of the most cherished in my life.
3) Calcutta is probably the place that embodies in its very being the idea of Indian-ness, the juxtaposition of all sorts of opposites, the in your face life, the joy of discomfort, the beads of sweat, all of which I miss in my 'good' life here.
I think its partly all the three reasons, but mostly the first. What do you think ?
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3 comments:
I think cities like people have personalities, and calcutta has this very nice friendly, though messy, personality, even if one is even faintly a romantic at heart, there's no way you can't fall in love with that city....
I love the mix of the old world and the modern world in Kolkata.
I loved Salt Lake, where I stayed. Its modern and yet so homely. If it's got City Centre, its even got those street side tea stalls that serve excellent elaichi chai with kesar.
I love walking down the stone cobbled Park street, walking with the flow of the surrounding crowd hurrying to and from work. The street has an old world feel about it and one can see modern showrooms in these old stone buildings. Loved it absolutely.
its really surprising but I too share the exactly same feeling,tho I have been to kolkata only a few times and all the times I have cursed it for humidity or traffic or laid back attitude of the people there, but some how sitting here whenever I think of the atmosphere of the place I belong to , I somehow think of calcutta or west bengal I dont know why :D
Saba
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