Kolkata is a city of bones and sounds.
Here the past is preserved like a living museum
The city stands on its bones. It is a loud skeleton, a cacophony of honks and rattles, sounds and dust.
That is the impression I got when I came to the big city of Kolkata three years ago, all alone. It is the capital of the state of West Bengal and the previous capital of India.
In Indian history, this city holds huge importance. This is the city where the first university in India was established and the first museum was built. A city that has a huge contribution to Indian culture as well as the history of 200 years long struggle against British colonizers. This city has given birth to many legendary people: authors, poets, scientists, teachers, and patriots.
Even to this day, Kolkata keeps worshipping its memories. Much like a living museum, it preserves fragments of a British ruled India, right in the plain sight. In the north side of Kolkata, one may walk by rows of cafes and bright shops, malls, and offices, and out of nowhere, come face to face with a building that takes you back to the 18th century. It sits on its hind legs with cracks spread across its wall, nature claims pieces of the building, and a sign board hangs, “Dangerous house, stay away”. Below it, you may find another yellow sign board, a bit rusted. The almost faded words tell you how old the building is, and who used to own it. Like a specimen in a museum, it left me astonished.
Amid the stone covered city, you may often find men on white horses gallop through traffic.
There are old narrow alleys in the North where one finds strings of aged houses. Some of them are still inhabited by people, people who have lived there generation by generation, despite the dangers of living under such an unreliable roof. Here, old people used to say that a home is where you are born; you live there and also die there. I personally, do not agree much with this sentiment. After all, I managed to explore this city and experience so much all at once just because I wanted to see more.
I hope the future also allows me to meet more people, admire more buildings and explore more of this country.
Thank you for reading.
