The Calcutta Diaries

Calcutta has always high on my travel to-do list, and by the time I finally got around to visiting it, it was Calcutta no more.

The first thing I noticed after reaching the city is the hospitality - we received a warm welcome from the groom's uncle (we were there for a friend's wedding), and the moment my husband responded to his welcome in Bengali, he stopped trying to communicate in Hindi and turned on Bengali, full on. I nodded my head vigorously to everything he said, trying to understand the language through my knowledge of Oriya.

There was a vehicle waiting for us, and we started for the hotel. The part of the city near Dum Dum airport has got an old world feel to it and the word that stuck in my mind was laid-back. The city made me want to sit back and be lazy. Nothing of this kind can be found in the peoples' actions, though - the driver was dashing ahead at a breakneck speed and I wondered how our hosts could sit placidly and look so nonchalant. I clutched onto the nearest handle, hoping we'd reach the hotel soon.

Coffee was served to us in little earthen jars that instantly reminded me of mishti doi and rosogullas. Uncle ji took us out for lunch at a nearby restaurant. I opted for a vegetarian thali; my husband needed only a little prodding to take the fish thali which he pronounced was absolutely delicious. Veg thali had an assortment of tasty stuff - dal, rice, potol posto (yummy!!), drumsticks in gravy (don't know the Bengali name for this), sweet pineapple chutney (again, don't know the Bengali name), and, finally, rosogullas. What a fitting end to our meal! Rosogullas! Just the name is enough :P

Soon friends from Bangalore, and other parts of Calcutta began to arrive, and when the group was complete we decided to take the Metro to Esplanade station. I had heard enough about New Market from my friends back in Hyderabad that I was adamant I would visit that place. I had visions of myself with lots of shopping bags and a contented expression, but unfortunately, New Market fell short for me. Whether it was the time constraint, or whether I didn't like the goods, I cannot tell. Within a short time of us reaching New Market we started for Free School Street where we checked out the second hand bookstores and walked around the block till our legs gave out.

The Kolkata Metro deserves a special mention - the sheer speed of the trains, the crowds, the short stops of 10 seconds at each station... I have no clue if Hyderabad will ever be able to reach that level of perfect rhythm. I loved it all, and I would love to visit again, if I could.

We did not visit all the places we should have - we were there, after all, for a wedding. We left the next morning for Bagdogra, and from there, on to Gangtok for our Sikkim trip.