The Two Sides of Kolkata and Me!
A travelogue of my stay in Kolkata, India
I could not satisfy my soul, even after a 10 day long stay in the city of Kolkata and still my heart wants more of it. Kolkata is like a melting ice-cream in you hands, always passing you by while you indulge in it, and when consumed you crave even more of it. The city always seems to slip away from your indulgence and the constant desire to indulge with it again and again.
Since I have grown up, I had this tinge in me to travel in every direction of my country. The thought seemed to fascinate me. I got my chance when my friend shifted to Kolkata which is east of India , and so I decided that it was a fantastic opportunity for a visit, plus save some money by staying with my friend.
In this piece I express the city through my eyes and some personal experiences.
In Kolkata the stark difference between the two sides of the city were really astonishing and flabbergasting. No one could imagine that the same city can experience such difference in both the aesthetic and cultural values and even in monetary terms.
Old Kolkata has a tinge of nostalgic childhood memories, with the old architecture making one remember the 90s, the old feelings called like dancing memories in front of one’s eyes. Kolkata has a lot of museums and clubs like badminton and swimming clubs which attracts a lot of people and children alike and on the other end of the city some kilometers apart are the new malls and night clubs. Just imagine the two different lives being lived and two different life happening to people at the same time.
My first instinct was to go and visit the Howrah bridge, which claims itself to be an architecture marvel from pre-independent India. The bridge connects the two parts of the city that seemed to be separated like identical twins. I took a ferry and passed the bridge from below to the other side through a ferry like everyday people liked to commute. Some over the bridge some below.
The famous Howrah bridge seems to have lived with the changing times, with the famous yellow taxis and a lot of commotion of people passing above it and hoards of tourists passing below it, etching in memory the famous image of the bridge over the Hooghly river. At night the city lights up on the ghaats of the river and the incense in the air which will stay with you as a nostalgic memory even when you leave the city.
The local people seemed to be lost in thought while making their way through the crowded areas like a skilled sailor who knows how to sail the known waves. While I was trying to figure out my way among the crowd.
Every person seems to be going somewhere among the crowd. Some people going back to the four walls to their families and living the same countless memories they have grown in these households and some for their night shifts. Hardly anyone seems to notice the majestic Howrah bridge that has seen lifetimes of people passing and then one fine day dissolve within the same city as if they never existed.
While experiencing the new part of the city, which is the new Kolkata and entering into old, seems like you are time travelling back to the 90s in real time. The constant hustle bustle of the city seems to slow down and vanish somewhere among the old buildings. The Victorian architecture seems to hold time, never letting it pass, always keeping it within reach.
Everyday travel was not possible as my friends was working and plans made on the moment rarely materialized. One day I decided to travel solo and discover the city through my own experience. I went to the Birla planetarium which housed the astronomical museum and cinema indulging people in movie about how the universe was created. Since, I am fascinated with science and architecture alike, it was a great experience while traveling through the lanes of the city that housed different cafes, promising mouth watering cuisines.
I also went to the Birla temple, with its marvelous homogenous architecture that my friend told me took 25 years to be made. But the temple none the less seemed 25 years old with its grandeur and beauty. The huge Indian deity’s seemed to talk to you, so real they were. After that visit we decided to travel through tram as I wanted to experience the antique travel option that somehow seemed to survive till this 21st century.
The trams still used to run in the city, among the modernized commute options, and taking it clicks a tinge of emotion of old times that the millennial generation might never be able to experience ever. There seems to be an edge about the city, seems like you can’t be satisfied with what the city has to offer.
I travelled through every travel option but despite all, I was not able to travel through the tram, one of the still functioning in the world. Maybe I would take the tram if possibly it still was functioning like veins in the heart of the city , seeming to keep alive the old times when the cars and metros had not yet entered the city. Another thing characteristic to Kolkata has been the Saris , that women wear there. The Bengali women with red and white saris and Kumkum on the head looks more beautiful than anything.
The most lasting experience was the park street. It seemed to make one feel as I was in royal Kolkata with the modern shops and luxury that it has to offer. It seemed to be the most affluent area of the city with a lot to offer. I can go on and on, as Kolkata never seemed to end, never seems to pass away from memory but always keeping alive in the memory, that aspires to be lived again and again.
#kolkata #travelogue #experience #beautifulcity
