Kolkata, the way I see it

Kolkata, the way I see it

I wrote last post just to convey that we sometimes like certain places for some unknown reasons. I knew that I would like Kolkata for some reason beyond explanation.

So when in May 2008, I got to know that I would be in Kolkata for next 2 years, I felt as if some distant wish of mine had got fulfilled...

That was when I came to Kolkata a year back. And then there's now... A year of events layering up on that initial irrational impression about this city. Some bitter and some sweet.

Its easy to find people talking about the bitter experiences, I also do that. Two non-bengali friends in Kolkata would almost always end up discussing about the issues with the city. Old, laid back, union power, taxi/auto issues. This saturday after a bitter experience with an auto wala, I kept cursing him, the city and the union for an hour. Its easy to spot people wearing red head band rallying on the road jeopardizing the whole traffic condition which even normally is in shambles. Shopkeepers open and close their shops whenever they want and don't care for customers. At shops like these and banks, I have been kept waiting countless times for something that could be done in seconds.

If this is all you like to hear about, then stop here. Because beyond this point, I am going to talk about other things about the place. Again bittersweet but beyond the daily life troubles.

Our campus is on the outskirts of Kolkata kissing the boundaries of the district. Last year for a project under IIMC social initiative INCA, I visited a village named Sundarika in the neighboring district of North 24 Parganas.

The two of us took a bus from outside the campus gate... for the first time in the direction opposite to the city. This was different from the typical city buses with old shabby wooden floor. This one was relatively better though equally old. An hour of drive through fields took us to the Kalatala haat bazaar. An auto ride from there took us to the village. This was my third visit ever to any village. First one in Bihar pressed upon me its lifestyle, second one in Karnataka flaunted its beauty. I must say this one was a mix of both.

Mr. Biswas took us to show the village. Every piece of land was decorated with colors. Brown mud houses, dull green cow dung cakes, yellow sack of hay, green layer of algae over the ponds. It was a colorful old coincidence of a piece of art. And it made me recall the old buildings in the streets of Kolkata...

Old isn't always not good

As we advanced towards the fields, My eyes glued on to the sun, losing out on its glow every passing second, trying hard to hide behind the trees in the distance.

"Government wants to acquire this land to set up SEZ and the farmers are protesting it. You must have heard about Nandigram... This is something similar in making."

The mention of a known place caught my attention. Although I missed major part of that conversation, I needed no explanation.

The red head bands on the streets of Kolkata, the red flags near construction sites and the intensity with which that autowala was shouting at me.

And then we walked into the old house of Mr. Biswas. As soon as we entered the house, I felt as if every brick, every chunk of mortar inside the house was shouting out some character. The gate opened into an aangan that was covered from all the four sides by two storey pukka building walls. The air was filled with mosquitoes and the music of a harmonium and the classical vocals made by a female voice coming out of the room upstairs. Someone announced that the kids had gone out to play cricket or football. I remembered spotting a small plain area with bamboo goal posts and bricks arranged to form a wicket in the middle of the ground.

See.. again a school of classical dance and music... Its as easy to spot one of these in Kolkata as it was to spot a CCD in Bangalore. And all those small hardly noticeable sports shops are usually flooded with cricket and football kits.

As we were coming back to Campus on a 30 bucks ride on a Maruti Omni (Just 30??), I was in process of connecting all these pieces. I didn't think it was good. I didn't even think it was bad.

Still when we sit and talk about Kolkata, the talks traverse from red influence to laid-back attitude to girls to bad weather, but I do feel good that I at least know the city I am talking about.

It may remind you of the concept of Stockholm Syndrome but believe me this is beyond that.

P.S: This in no way reflects my feelings about IIMC campus. Its a totally different world in here.