" Calcutta is not for everyone.
   You want your city clean, go to Delhi.
   You want your city fashionable and impersonal, go to Bombay.
   You want your city high-tech, go to Bangalore.
   But if you want a city, simply with a soul - go to Kolkata. "

                                                                                                     - Vir Sanghvi

Prinsep Ghat

When I walk along the shores of the Ganges,in Prinsep Ghat, after taking some time off from my work in the afternoon, I happen to notice something every time. The Ganges doesn't want to reflect the Sun's rays but happens to do so for a city on its banks. What is in this city that even a majestic river chooses to showcase its beauty over the might of the Sun?

The city is Calcutta. Oops! Kolkata.

Kolkata - was always called Kolkata amongst the Bengali speaking masses, derived from one of the three villages which apparently constitutes modern-day Kolkata. The British had named the city - Calcutta, based on their native accent, mainly by Charnock.

An antique 1842 detailed map of the Calcutta mainland. Calcutta was founded by Job Charnock in 1690.

India achieved independence in 1947. At any time, Kolkata had both kinds of people who called the city Kolkata and those who called it Calcutta. In 2001, the Government of West Bengal decided on the name Kolkata, officially.

A rare scene of a zebra-drawn buggy in Kolkata (1930).

A typical scene of a road in Calcutta, under British Raj (1945).

The Calcutta known by our grandfathers and ruled under British Raj was a much different one. The main part of the city was filled with huge palaces and structures like the Victoria Memorial and many other residential and corporate buildings, invoking British architecture (mainly, industrial type) into the heart of this city. This is also the reason it's called 'The City of Palaces' and 'The City of Joy'. However, if you would move away from these captivating sights of charismatic constructions, to the outskirts of Calcutta - you would notice slums, poverty and nothing else but suffering. The British babus (landlords) spent ample money on clubs and decorations, but none to eradicate poverty. On one side, there was wastage of edible resources, while on the other, people suffering out of hunger and thirst. You could find joy in this old Calcutta, only if you were British and if you were in the core of the city. Indians faced relentless oppression of their freedom and respect under the Raj. Roads were named after British officials like Dalhousie and Charnock.

Cathedral Church, 1944.

Cathedral Church, 2009.

The Kolkata we know today, is a cumulative entity comprising ethnic cultures, historic significance, nostalgic memories, fabulous heritages and unlike many other cities - a wonderful knitting of the past and the present. Kolkata breeds nostalgia, and once you are here, you never really leave the city. You may not be physically present, but a part of you always stays back, in some alley of this city. Familiarity is the key that helped me unite with my city - after years, if I come back, I will still have distinct memories of those good old days. After independence, most of the roads named after British were renamed on Indian freedom fighters. Kolkata is now part of a democratically elected system of politics, where 34 years of communist rule was destroyed by the TMC.

A rickshaw-wala taking rest after hours of labour, beside a busy road brimming with expensive cars. This is the dichotomy that exists in my city - rags and riches, hoppers and princes, the past and the present. Photo By: Satya Sundar Ghosh.

This city has produced fabulous persons, including Nobel laureates like Tagore and Amartya Sen and even humanitarians like Swami Vivekananda and Mother Teresa.

Kolkata has produced several Nobel laureates including the economist Amartya Sen.

However, this city is also the one where communal fights are the most recent topics of attention. There are attacks on doctors and doctors going on strikes to ensure their security. Kolkata, like many other parallel Indian cities, still experiences major societal taboos like dowry, though in extremely less percentages.

Whatever be it, each and every aspect in life will have its drawbacks but that doesn't lower our love for it. Be it Calcutta or Kolkata, the city shall always stand and always be the one in all our hearts. To be honest,
This city is not about poets,but poems.
This city is not about friends, but friendships.
This city is not about lovers, but love itself.

This city is where life spreads its arms and breathes in delicious freedom.
This city is where life comes in different flavours.

This city is my Kolkata! My City of Joy!


(This blog post has been made as an entry to the blogging contest organized for Concord 2019)
#CONCORD2019Blogging #CONCORD2019