I wonder why they call it the City of Joy. Is it because you can’t help but keep stuffing yourself with mouthfuls of mishti? Or is it because most medical stores don’t open until 11 am and everyday is a Sunday here? Or could it be because you can see a gorgeous silver moon at 4.30 pm?
If you are planning a holiday here, try and visit when you can participate in three Kolkata rituals: the acoustic grandeur of a match at Eden Gardens; a vintage Bengali wedding complete with a bride being carried around the groom and peeking at him through betel leaves and the holiday season of Durga Puja. Howrah railway station at 1 am is the same as Howrah at 1 pm – abuzz with greetings and kemo nachhos all around. As the cool night air blows away the disgust of a 7-minute distance being prolonged to 70 minutes in the train, the new Howrah Bridge shimmers in the distance. If it weren’t for the Ambassador (yes, the Kolkatians love their rotund car), we could have been in San Francisco overlooking the Golden Gate. The next day (damn! Sunbeam comes peering in at 4.30 am), we began our Kolkata capers. Kolkata is not about the sightseeing. It’s not the awesome, poetic Delhi of palaces, forts and tombs nestled among sprawling lawns. Here it’s football, a bit of cricket and the religion of food! Kolkata is about the experiences. Walking through a tiny lane full of traffic, parking on both sides and yet no frayed tempers. “Here everybody adjusts,” a mashi tells me. So after a breakfast (that’s more like lunch to my Mumbai stomach) of luchi (puris), potatoes and of course a sweet, we head off to Jagannath Bazaar. On the way, we pass Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s home but “that’s only if you are really patriotic,” grins dada, “More important is the machch (fish).” And what a journey into the bowels of the fish market! Lobsters vying for your attention, 5 kg rui and hilsa on proud display – not only an assortment of fish but an equal number of manners in which they need to be chopped. If it’s a 2-inch piece, it’s for the curry. If it’s 2-and-a-half inches, it’s for frying. If it’s fillet, it’s for the chop. And all these are regular home requirements. Precision that would put a pilot to shame. After all the haggling, we head for a Kolkata speciality. Balwant Singh’s Eating House, Harish Mukherjee Road, is just another Sikh joint next to a gurudwara, till you are handed a jugfull of a concoction called doodh-cola. Milk and Coke? You shuffle as it’s poured daintily into your kullad (earthen pot). Sip. Heaven. After that we head to the youth haunt called New Market, ironically built in 1847. Start off your shopping plans with some churmur (mixed bhel). Walk around, bargain for the best deals, and buy everything from clothes to all sorts of accessories and home ware. Lost in the maze and jingling with pretty blue bangles, we take refuge in the warm baklawa of a Jewish bakery. It’s nearing sun-down and time to head out. Karcos, the famous Kolkata rolls guy, tempts you. A chicken roll and an egg roll, without any sauces, is the legend of Kolkata. Just like the murals, 100-year-old baris (homes) with their stark red cement flooring intact and an ancient loo that could classify as a heritage structure. A pungent puchka (pani-puri) rounds off the flavour chart for the evening. Breakfast the next morning is at another Kolkata legend – Flury’s at Park Street. Vaulted ceilings, butler service, a huge chocolate carving and a foot-long breakfast menu. “Here people have meetings over breakfast. It’s a meal that’s as important as lunch and dinner,” we are solemnly informed. Quiche, chicken mustard sandwich, mushroom omelette and dessert, a chocolate shortbread and a cherry slice. Burp! And don’t forget to buy some dark and lemon chocolate for later. You will need it after your camp at China Town and fiery momos on the menu. After a siesta, we head to Cakes and then to Cookie Jar, neighbours of Kolkata’s elite La Martiniere school, Rawdon Street. These are for the chocolate connoisseurs. You can’t miss the Chocolate Excel slice, the Ganache and the very unique Chocolate Pudding. Spend a night on the town at Park Street. Dine at Peter Cat and go pub-hopping till 1.30 am. Scare the life out of your neighbour’s by knocking on a few doors on your way home and it will set the mood for the prefect gossip around breakfast the next day.. “Ki holo?” add your two-pence too as you spoon up your mishti doi at the centurion Ganguram. Fun vacations! Next head to Kalighat. Lined with shonkh (conches), rudraksh and all sorts of evil-eye warders, the Kali temple where animal sacrifice has replaced human, intrigues. The ancient trams pass us by along their Kalighat-Ballygunj route and we stroll off for some peace amidst the shady fronds of the Aurobindo Ashram. Remove your shoes, switch off your cell phones, seat yourself on the white marble and shut your eyes. Let the silence of the gurgling lotus pool and the fragrance of incense centre you. On your way out, stop at the Aurobindo store and pick up some dry masalas, kasundi (mustard), unusual olive, cherry and plum pickles, guava jam and acupressure apparatus. Next on our agenda is the Victoria Memorial. Stroll along the Maidan (that’s officially the name of the place), be enamoured by horses and ponies grazing freely around and don’t forget to be the superstar of the evening. Pose for a portrait for Rs 20 and ensure your 15 minutes of fame with a whole crowd of people staring at you. And if that’s been too much to handle, grab a few kala khata sweets and plunge into the serenity of the colossal Victoria Memorial. Take a walk inside and admire the armoury, then head out into the pink dusk hanging over the white, intricately carved marble. We let our noses run with some hot jhalmudi and click our glasses of masala Thumb’s-Up to the city whose rossogulla and sandhesh mills do not stop even in the midst of a decade’s worst riots. As the full moon reflects off at 5 pm, we huddle together for a photograph in which none of us can stop laughing. Friends, food, fun and a lovely city to explore – that’s why Kolkata is after all, the city of joy! Group Moderator for [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Connect your World with Us join Now - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dimpill_gang/join Affiliated group from dimpill_gang for Only Adult Mails - http://groups.yahoo..com/group/fantazies/join Affiliated group from dimpill_gang for Only Health and Food Mails - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Health_and_Gourmet/join 5, 50, 500, 5000 - Store N number of mails in your inbox. Go to http://help.yahoo.com/l/in/yahoo/mail/yahoomail/tools/tools-08.html
