Despite being a 19 hr train journey away from Kolkata, it just takes me a few seconds to transport myself back to those familiar streets as I lay awake, motionless on my bed. They creep into my vacant thoughts & pull a stitch off my heart, a lump up my throat.... Kolkata for me is my entire childhood up to the brink of my teens, the walks with my mom & bro, those rolls & the puchkas, bargaining with hawkers down the pavement for everything- from a clip worth Rs10 to a top worth Rs100 and many more. For the past 5 years, life has been quite a roller coaster ride, from Bellary to Bangalore, Kerala to Delhi & then Greater Noida; but man! none of these could beat the Kolkata air off me. As I compare the various life styles, I become more fonder of her and I have truly come to recognize her as the "City of Joy". The city has its unique pace which interestingly has'nt changed with the tides of time. A ride in those trams pulling lazily down the track used to be so refreshing after a shopping trip down Esplanade or a late night dinner. I remember how my bro & me used to clamour with each other over the window seat, but once we settled down, nothing could have been more consolatory than the wind embalming your face and those city streets & buildings pass by your little window. We used to especially love the sites down the stretch around the Victoria Memorial. She looks so beautiful in the night with just a couple of her corridors lit up. The stretch around her with trees on both sides of those broad roads, the golf course & a lot of clubs housed in old British era buildings, the towering TATA building behind her & in contrast, fleeting glimpses of a puchkawala here & a jhaal muri wala there .....they all added to her appeal. Our favourite eating joints were the small road side stalls, oops! some of them weren't stalls at all, but just a trolley that had been there from a long time and had attracted great brand loyalty from food lovers in the neighbourhood as well as beyond.
to be contd.............
Monday, January 12, 2009
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A good start... You can develop this into a series of articles on Kolkata... call it Calcutta Chromosome or sth?? Just kiddin..
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