Further Wanderings

Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) proved to be just the tonic I needed to wash the unpleasantness of our earlier Indian experiences right away. Which might strike some as odd, given its reputation as a miserable, squalid sort of place.

There WERE a lot more beggars in Kolkata than in… well than in just about anywhere else we’d been, but there were also lots of friendly Kolkatans who were just pleased to see us, as well as many fewer touts for hotels, souvenier shops, etc.

Sudder Street, Kolkata’s tourist hub isn’t nearly as (over/under) developed as Delhi’s Paharganj, but even though it was pouring rain when we arrived (we were, by then, well and truly into south Asia’s monsoon season) finding a decent hotel wasn’t particularly difficult.

A Kolkata Street Scene

As far as actual sightseeing goes, Kolkata is a reasonable, but unexceptional place. Things were made a little tougher by the tendancy of the sky to open up and drench the city for a couple of hours every afternoon, but given the heat, even when we couldn’t avoid getting soaked we were never really uncomfortable.

Some of the most memorable parts of our visit to Kolkata:

The Victoria Memorial was built between 1906 and 1921 (while the British were still in charge in India) in memory of Queen Victoria, theVictoria Memorial is a pretty impressive piece of work. It looks kind of like a tropical version of the US Capitol Building. The building housed an interesting museum that revealed a lot about the history of Kolkata, but the most enjoyable part was just looking at the spectacular architecture and enjoying the surrounding parkland (given that the grounds only cost 4 rupees to enter and the museum was 150, this would be worth remembering if you were on a tight budget.)

The Victoria Memorial. The memorial grounds form the southern end of Kolkata’s huge Maidan public park. The area of the Maidan across the road to the north of the Memorial had dozens of horses grazing in it!

The planetarium. To my astonishment, Sarah had never been to one before! Kolkata’s M.P. Birla planetarium is apparently the second largest in the world, and while the show suffered a bit from the dingy colour of the dome (made it difficult to properly distinguish the magnitudes of stars, and thus figure out which star/constellation was which) it was still a fun way to get out of the rain for an hour or so.

The fruit market next to the Touristy “New” Market. It didn’t take much to get away from the tourists and into the real heart of the city.

The botanic gardens. At one point these would probably have been really spectacular. By the time we got to visit, they were pretty overgrown and most of the pavillions (e.g. the cactus building, the mist chamber, etc.) were permanently closed. For all that, it remained a pleasant place for a stroll, and the great banyan tree was amazing. With a canopy over 70m in circumfrence and over 3000 prop roots holding its branches up (interestingly the main trunk had long ago rotted away) the tree was an attraction in itself. The bus ride out was also very cool, as it got us out of central Kolkata and into residential neighbourhoods of the type that most tourists usually don’t bother with.

(A small portion of) the Great Banyan Tree in the Kolkata botanic gardens. Its canopy is one of the most expansive in the world

Shopping. Sarah wanted to get a Salwar Kameez before we arrived in Bangladesh, where the population are muslim and less used to foreigners than in India (and would, thus, we figured, be happier to see her in local dress.) A salwar kameez consists of a pair of baggy “pyjama” pants and a long tuniuc that’s worn overtop of them. Our search for a pretty, practical, reasonably priced one took us through local upmarket air conditioned shopping centres (flashy places, but really only by comparison to the regular local markets) through tourist markets and even to the Big Bazaar, which was rather like the Indian equivalent of a Wal Mart. After many frustrating experiences we finally happened into a fabric shop one night on our way back from dinner, and before too long were sold on the idea of picking out our own material and having one custom made. The shop existed almost entirely for S-K purchasers, and so had sets of fabric already pre-assembled in trouser-tunic-scarf combinations. We looked at lots, before Sarah finally settled on a combination, which the proprietor kindly agreed to make up by splitting two pre-arranged sets. A few minutes walk over to the tailor for Sarah to be measured, and one day for the sewing to be done was all that was required for Sarah to wind up with a brand new custom-made set of clothing.

Sarah looking lovely in her new salwar kameez. Note the cup of tea in her hand. Many Indian chai-wallahs (tea sellers) serve their tea in disposable clay cups. The used cup can be thrown away (usually onto the street or sidewalk) and is eventually ground down into mud, as opposed for sitting around in the gutter forever as would happen with a plastic cup

Eating. (Why is eating a highlight of so many places we visited?) Bengali food is one of many distinct cuisines that combine to make up what most of us refer to as Indian food. Sadly, most of it remains a mystery to us. Happily, however the one bit we did get to know was fabulous: The Kati roll. The kati roll is the most popular form of street food in Kolkata and consists of lightly fried paratha (flatbread) filled with a mixture of vegetables, paneer (soft Indian cheese) egg or meat, flavoured with a delicious spicy sauce. I had a veg roll on our second afternoon in Kolkata and (except for some fresh fruit) we didn’t eat anything else the whole time we were there. The rolls were so delicious, quick and cheap ($0.25 or less for a veg roll!) there hardly seemed any reason to!

Snacks on Wheels! Our preferred spot to enjoy a hot Kati roll, this place was a bit more expensive than some, but was perpetually jammed with middle class Kolkatans and made fabulous food

Me and a kati roll. These things give Syria’s falaffels a run for their money as the best/best-value street food on our trip

Observing. Kolkata is a fascinating place to just go for a walk. The main impression one gets from its architecture is of crumbling grandeur (a feeling it shares, incidentally, with another city of about the same size, Buenos Aires.) The city looks as though it was beautifully constructed, but has been slowly left unmaintained to decay for 50 years or so, since shortly after the British left. Or, to put it another way, it almost looks as though modern Kolkata was built atop the ruins of another older, grander city.

The crumbling colonial buildings of Kolkata were one of its signatures. Another was the taxis. They were EVERYWHERE, and virtually every single one was a yellow Hindustan Motors Ambassador (a model that’s been in continuous production since 1957!)

This sounds like a rather negative commentary on the place, and I suppose it is, but things weren’t all bad. It was fascinating to see how otherwise modern and organized businesses had made their homes amongst all of this. It also produced some architectural gems, both of the sort that HAD been well maintained, and of the sort that had crumbled in particularly pretty and fortuitous fashions.

Combined with its fascinating history and atmosphere, the friendly people, many bookshops and cultural institutions and delicious food made Kolkata a delightful place, and one I’d be happy to return to for a longer visit.

Sadly, our time was running short, as we’d obtained only a 10 day transit visa from the Indian embassy in Kathmandu. Thus it was that after only two full days in Kolkata we arranged for our (fancy Air-con!) bus to the Bangladeshi border, and bid India adieu feeling, perhaps for the first time in our trip, that we were leaving somewhere too soon.

Rickshaws in the Kolkata streets. Kolkata is one of the very few places in the world where rickshaws pulled by runners (as opposed to cyclists) are still common. Indeed, auto- and cycle-rickshaws aren’t permitted in the city centre. Kolkata also has a reasonably clean and efficient subway system (the only one in India) and ancient, but fascinating, tram

Tags: Calcutta, India, Kolkata, Llew Bardecki

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 11th, 2008 at 5:11 am and is filed under India, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.