Incomplete Zero

Completing the Nothingness

Sunday, January 02, 2005

Kolkata Diaries

The first impressions of Kolkata on my second visit here was the very striking resemblance of its physical landscape to my native Kerala.The presence of many small waterbodies and wild greenery (as opposed to the manicured lawns of Delhi) is very similar to places in Kerala. Another similarity, which was a homecoming of sorts for my taste buds, is the easy availability of rice and fish curry, which I continue to relish each time as it were the first, much to the chagrin of my trousers' waistband.

The city has a uniqueness vis-a-vis my previous haunts Mumbai and Delhi.Time is measured in different unit when compared to commercial Mumbai which races at a breakneck pace.The transition to a truely cosmopolitan city in terms of its architectural landscape and attitude was very smooth in Mumbai ,in Delhi it was done while preserving the identity of our architectural heritage,whereas in Kolkata neither has happened.Trees and buildings alike(the travel from railway station would vouch for it) flaunt dirt,dust and decrepitude.One will be wary to sneeze lest the relics come crumbling down.Another inescapable fact is the inexpensiveness of living in this city.Transportation is cheap, though the garish yellow of the cab can be jolting at times and the buses that ply would be better off in a museum.The costs of roti and makaan too are very low when compared to the other metros.

The most unique of all is the Bengali himself.Starting from a penchant for outlandish and loud colours(coupled with a total absence of any sense of style) to a resentment towards bodily hygiene they are a breed in themselves.The thing that all Bengalis would agree without even a hint of an argument is their insatiable appetite.Everybody vending food right from Sourav Ganguly to the fruit-chat wallah on the pavement has people eating out of his hands at all times and all days of the week.Guess the above two observations are the reason why most of the stores seem to be selling either deos and perfumes or food and sweets.The Bengali's propensity to vend gyaan is I feel a result of his/her misplaced feeling of having inherited to some extent the genes of great intellectuals and artists of the yesteryears their land has produced.This combined with an aversion to physical activity of any kind accounts for the huge number of Bengalis ending up as academicians.

What would be interesting is to observe the pace and kind of change in Kolkata's architectural landscape in the years to come.Will the inevitable inhuman malls ,multiplexes and multistoreyed apartments ( a la Gurgaon) redefine the city or will the bastion of communism preserve what seem to be the key words in this city status quo.

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8 Comments:

  • At 4:25 PM , Blogger Sunil said...

    What are you doing in Kolkatta Tony bhai??
    Please do not return a comrade!! :-)

     
  • At 6:43 PM , Blogger Tony said...

    Hi sunil bhai...am in kolkata understanding the functioning of the cement business (remember our cement connnection ;-)) and i can't promise u on not returning a comrade u always knew i had feeble leftist tendencies ;-)

     
  • At 11:25 AM , Blogger Sunil said...

    Hmm..I believe we did a strategy assignment on the cement industry, which was pretty well received!
    Any trips to Mumbai planned?

     
  • At 10:32 AM , Blogger Tony said...

    ill be reaching mumbai on jan 16th and will be there for about three weeks..i hope ur number hasnt changed...we will definetely meet up.

     
  • At 10:57 AM , Blogger Anirban Halder said...

    Hi Tony
    Kolkata is changing, under the neo-communists lead by the CM who has been re-elected by a record margin in the just concluded assembly polls. It has started challenging the status quo. And Bengalis are much more than what you've put here based on your brief experience of Kolkata.

    To keep tabs on the changing Kolkata, read my blog www.kolkatacurry.blogspot.com

    Cheers
    Anirban Halder

     
  • At 11:15 AM , Blogger Tony said...

    Hi..

    Yeah it is challenging the status quo.....but i dont want the change to lead towards the inevitable ....the identity less cosmpolitan city ...or rather the identity to become an "endangered species"...Kolkata is unique and with or without all its warts and thats one thing i dont want it to lose.....

    my stay in kolkata has been brief but my interaction with bengali's not so .....yeah the best academicians and creative brains still come from Bengal and it is stimulating talking to them but they still are a minority what about the rest, whom we have to bear, whose verbosity canb only be matched by their appetite :-)

     
  • At 5:13 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

    a mallu saying all this about bongs is a trifle too much...when was the last time a mallu, instead of packing off to the gulf, did something worthwhile?

     
  • At 12:35 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

    i am a kolkatan...and i will tell you what kolkata is...kolkata i agree does not have the commercial viability that mumbai or delhi has or even bangalore...but kolkata has life....
    i spent 29 years of my life in that city and never knew what my caste, my sub caste, my sub-sub caste is but 4 years of bangalore has taught me that...
    i never knew kids are parental properties where they are married off without even being asked and which leads to murders, multiple marriages, etc..but now i know
    i never knew that dowry if not taken by a man means something is wrong with him cause there dowry meant social ostracization...
    i never knew that festivals were particular to any religion cause one of the biggest durga puja is held in park circus...a complete muslim and christian dominated area....

    IN TODAY'S CONFUSED INDIA AND AN INDIA RIDDEN WITH BIAS AGAINST RELIGION, CASTE, SUB-CASTE, LINGUISTIC PREFERENCE....i would say KOLKATA MIGHT NOT EVER BE ABLE TO GAIN ITS RESPECT TO BE A COMMERCIAL HUB....BUT AT LEAST IT WILL NEVER FORGET TO TREAT HUMAN BEINGS AS JUST WHAT THEY ARE...humans....AND FOR THAT I SALUTE MY HOME CITY...and wish every city learns from it.

     

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