CITY OF JOY

“The temperature outside is 38 degree Celsius”. We use to take a sigh of relief on this call of air hostess. But soon the myth use to gasify in abrasive heat and stifling humidity. At the arrival building, with a big Elvish smile, mama (my mother’s brother) use to come to receive us. And after a typical Indian greeting session (which included touching feet, warm hugs and same old set of obvious questions) we use to board our car, an Ambassador and it was like entering into a city owned by Hindustan Motors. Ambassadors all over, white, black, blue and in every boring colour and how can we forget the yellow ones, the colour of taxies of the city.

Hand rickshaws, tacky pavements, electric trams, excavated roads for laying metro tracks, cacophonic jams, this city was exactly as we’d left it and will surely be the same when we’ll come next. Dimension called time has no relation with it. This is Calcutta for you. A city chosen by Job Charnok, an agent of East India Company as a place for British trade settlement and later the first Governor General Warren Hastings moved all important offices from Murshidabad to Calcutta. Till 1912, Calcutta was the capital city of India. Calcutta (or Kalikata, one of the three towns on which it was built) is derived from the Bengali word Kalikshetra, meaning ‘ground of the Goddess Kali’, which surely it is, and thousands of kali temples are paying testimony to it, but we’ll come to it later.

Before reaching home (maamaarbadi), mummy use to buy sweets (mishti) and this is surely the best form of sugar man has come up with. Be it mishti doi, kheer kodom, roshogulla, chomchom, sondesh, kheer mohan, anything man, yummmmmmmmm and the best part is that the sweets of Bengal are generally made of sweetened cottage cheese (chhena), khoa (reduced solidified milk), or flours of different cereals and pulses and hence are not very heavy unlike sweets from other cuisines. At home, whole family is eagerly waiting, what it use to be , meeting grandparents, all cousins, mama n maasis (sorry for us there are no uncles and aunts) is something which cant be put into words. Everyone use to get lost into their own world. I with my cousins, mummy with mama and maasis and then from fictitious tales to risqué stories…it was a different world to enter into, free from all worries, full of fun, excitement, joy, celebration, fantasy fables, childhood fights, everything that add up to make a perfect Tom Sawyer story. From hopscotch to dark-room, from dancing to pillow fights, from truth-n-dare to plankchit not even a single game was left. But electricity always use to play the spoilsport, with hours of load-shedding and with humidity at its peak, it was almost impossible for us to survive, but then we couldn't defy Mr.Darwin’s law, but for the localietes it was an everyday scene and they were least bothered by it, infact this was the time for them to switch to their desi dress , dhoti n baniyaan, but for us(firangies from Delhi and Mumbai) it use to be tough.

In the evening we use to go out for shopping and this place is truly a shopper’s paradise. Best products at most reasonable prices and if u know how to bargain, its like a red cherry on the top. From Fancy market to Air-conditioned market., from Park Street to New market or Sri ram mall…it was fun. And while wandering with no map and compass in hand, you can always stop for a jhal muri…hmmmmmmmmm…ssssslaaaaaah…singhara, puchka or churmur. Calcutta offers u d best roadside snacks.

At night, the gang use to get itself locked in a room, and then use to begin a session of decadent jokes and stories, bitching, trump cards, taash (playing cards) and this use to continue till 5’o clock in the morning.And from next day onwards, sightseeing and temple visits :Calcutta zoo, Birla planitarium, Indian museum, Victoria memorial, Millennium park, Rajendra mullick’s kothi, Vidyasagar setu, Doll musuem, boat ride in ganges, Science museum, Vivekanandaji’s house, Icha poorni, Kaalighat the list is never ending. But for me above all this, there is Dakhsineshwar and Belur muth, former being a kaali temple and Thaakur’s (Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa,who served as a priest f d temple) residence, and the later being a math built by Ramakrishna mission and Swami Vivekanandji. Bengal has been the land of legends always, from all spheres of life, be it Satyendra Nath Bose, Rammohan Roy, Vidyasagar, Subhash Chandra Bose, Swami Vivekananda, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Rabindranath Tagore, Sarat Chandra Chatterjee, Jagadish Chandra Bose, but for me and for most of the bengalies, Thaakur holds a special place, for me atleast, he is God to me and to actually get a chance to see his room, his belongings, his texts is truly mesmerising.

Bengal is also famous for its Durga Puja celebrations. Durga Puja is the biggest festival here. The festive mood builds up as Dhakis (drummers) from the countryside starts gathering near the city. They beat feathered drums to attract the attention of local Puja organizers. The construction of images start months back. Kumartuli, a place in north Calcutta, is famous as a place for expert artisans who uses clay modeling to build the images of Durga, Mahisasur, Kartick, Ganesh, Saraswati and Lakshmi.the whole city comes in a festive mood. With pandaals all over, its truly a place to be at that time. But sadly I never got a chance to see one.Its like a nine day long party for all Bongs.And how come we didn’t talk about food so far. Bengali cuisine is simply one of the yummiest, specially if u like non-veg, machher jhol, tel koi, pabda machher jhal, Doi machh and bhapa ilish , shukto are some to mention. As a veggie I love their sweet dal, loochi and aalu sabzi.

But there is something without which all talks about this city would be incomplete.And that is its 'Respect for art'. Enthralling talent in all forms of art seems to be the local crop. Rite from music to painting to handicrafts, it’s a copious cup and this is shewed by the list of artists from Bengal in all creative spheres. Bengali film industry has also produced legends like Satyajit Ray, Ritwik ghatak, mrinal Sen, Aparna Sen, Rituparno Ghosh , Uttam Kumar, Saumitra Chatterjee, Utpal Dutta, Chhabi Biswas, P.C. Barua, Bikash Roy, Ranjit Mallick, Prasenjit Chatterjee, Suchitra Sen, Sabitri Chatterjee, Supriya Choudhuri, Madhabi Mukherjee, Kanan Devi, Debasree Roy, Rituparna Sengupta and musicians like S.D.Burman, Manna Dey, Kishore Kumar, Hemant Kumar, Kumar Sanu, Abhijeet, Antra Choudhry and so many local singers. Folk music and devotional music is also famous here. Baul Bhatiali, Kabigaan thungri, toppa , Ramprasadi, ShyamaSangeet, Bhaktigeeti,rabindra songeet are few to mention.

But this city is also famous for its politics and Adda-baazi at every paada (crossing). Arguing seems to be the local hobby and every Bong has a Ph.d in the same by birth. From sports to political discussions or anything for that matter , Coffee House is a popular venue for the same. But there is an other side to this coin as well, quite often we hear that India needs a revolution, and if any place has the potential to bringing it to reality I think its Calcutta. It has all the cordite, what is needed is a spark.

Mummy always says, “yeh shahar sau saal aagey bhi chalta hai,aur sau saal peechey bhi.” and which is so very true and this is reflected in every speck of it.
I feel Dominique Lapierre gave this city its true name, ‘CITY OF JOY’.
I’m not a Bong nor do I understand the language completely but still I feel I’m very much the part of this city and its culture. And a friend of mine once told me that probably I will take rebirth as a Bong one day. Mr. God are you listening???