Our Beloved City

Nostalgia is when we wake up on a languorous day, to have that special cha in a bhar or earthen cup and stroll on the Maidan, the morning breeze from the Hooghly caressing your face & hair. Here, we are in a city that remains almost untouched by the modernity that other states of India seems to be enveloped in. Huge & decrepit colonial buildings still stand tall with great British pride. And surprisingly, almost all of these old buildings house offices & hotels too. Any Bengali person’s eyes light up when they talk about their history & city……so much to offer. We all know about the city having produced the great Bard of India – Rabindranath Tagore who made us proud by winning the Nobel prize for English Literature in 1913 and of course, Satyajit Ray who won the Oscar in 1992 for his immense & rich contribution to Indian (mostly Bengali) cinema. Not a single day passes in the city, without its ubiquitous adda or gossip over cups of steaming tea & the variety of snacks like – Singara, Chop, Piyaji, Rolls etc. But, never harbor the notion that adda means idle gossiping…..there seems to have been so many cases where solutions were found and problems solved of colossal importance in these addas. It can be a vigorous and enriching experience after which you feel charged for some more intellectual talk. Can we find this anywhere else in India?? The answer is most probably a big NO. The adda sessions lead to arguments and happy bantering but, it will never die in this city. Kolkata can be a lazy city but, do we really need to be in a rat-race always?? If we think seriously, what are we as human beings? Is there a goal to be achieved? A target to be reached? Maybe there is……but at what expense? Do we really need to miss out on all the human connection and become more & more connected with a virtual world with no time for anything. This is a city that loves its siestas, where nothing stirs in the afternoons……no shops are open and where you can still see gentlemen offering help to women & children. It is one of the safest cities still, where we find women-folk travelling alone in the night at 10/11 pm and that too, by autos & bus. Trams trundling down, in its own sweet rhythm is only found here and the yellow cabs are everywhere. Buses which have been revamped (now you find spacious & clean ones) are everywhere too and the much maligned autos are a blessing in disguise as they are all over the city. The first tube railway or Metro (as it is known here) of India is another backbone of this bulging-with-population city. You reach from one end of the city to another in no time. Travelling is like a dream here compared to other cities as you have so many options and one need not say this……cheap too. Coming back to one of the most talked about & important part in this city………FOOD. Nobody needs to talk about Rosogollas & Misti Doi but, what about the Iilish & Chingdi?? Iilish or Hilsa (this fish is only found here in the Hooghly river & in the Padma river of Bangladesh) is a favorite of many and is matter of pride during festivities. One of the tastiest fish in the world, it makes your day & you can have a sweet-dream-siesta after a hearty lunch. Chingdi or Lobsters are another story. If you love Chingdi Malai Curry or Daab Chingdi, one cannot blame you. Mounds of rice are consumed with this single dish!!! We are not digging into culinary details here…….saving them for another day. Coming back to street food, I can vouch for the fact that nowhere in this country will you get so many varieties, cheap & more importantly clean food which anybody can polish of in no time. The Rolls (comes in variety of Egg, Chicken & Mutton) are not only good but a meal in itself….so filling and so good. The mouth-watering Puchkas are tangy, crispy and you bite into a mouthful of happiness. The Mughlai Parathas, Singaras, Kochuris, Radhaballavis, Fish Fry, Chops, Momos, Chowmeins (at every corner of the city) etc etc. A never-ending gastronomic saga if you can relish & enjoy these food. To add to these, now you have the upper-class coffee shops, KFC, Pizza Outlets, Donut shops etc etc. One can go on & on about this city but, I need to catch up on my siesta. Let us just enjoy & love this city.....our beloved Kolkata.

---- NARAYANI

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