The year was 1290 . A crowd had gathered around a clearing, where broken down pillars marked the presence of an ancient temple, now long gone. A young boy, just 14 years old, leaned against one of those pillars, deep in thought. Then, he began speaking, and the crowd fell silent, listening to his every word. He spoke without any notes, translating the Bhagavat Gita, from Sanskrit, which only the pundits knew, to the language everyone in the village knew and spoke – a variety of Prakrit which developed into the Marathi language. Even as he spoke, one of the men in the audience realized how momentous this event was, and how important this composition would be. He began writing down the words the young boy spoke, and this composition was named by its author and composer, the Bhavartha Deepika – the enlightening meaning (of the Bhagavat Gita). Now, the ancient, holy text, was no longer restricted to the pundits, but accessible to all, understood easily by them, composed as it was, in their...
This
was a trip I had long looked forward to – my first visit to the eastern parts of India,
beginning with Kolkata! It was also one of the most difficult of trips to plan –
there was so much I wanted to see, and yet, I had so little time to pack it all
in… oh, and yes, I wanted it to be a relaxed trip, not one where I ran from one
place to another. Eventually, I spent just 2 days in the city, arriving early
in the morning, and leaving the next evening. How much could I pack into the
two paltry days? Quite a bit, apparently. So, here then, are my experiences, in
the city of joy!
Kolkata greeted us on our first visit in a
manner we shall not forget anytime soon – with a taxi strike! Arriving at the
airport at 11 PM, we were greeted by a long queue at the taxi counter, the
likes of which I never want to see again! It took us over 2 hours in that queue
to get a taxi, and another hour to reach our hotel, which meant that we arrived
in the wee hours of the morning, and had to rouse a number of people just to
get into our room and grab a few hours of sleep! What a welcome! Thankfully,
things only got better!
The
trams were
right on top of our list of ‘things to do’, and we grabbed every opportunity to
use them. We spent the better part of our first day simply travelling from one
point to another by the trams, and eventually, taking a metro back to our room.
To be honest, both, the trams as well as the metro seemed in worse condition
than we had imagined, but every now and then, we saw one like this, which perked
up our interest.
And
before you ask,
we did use the hand pulled rickshaws too, though the sight of the people
pulling them was sad indeed.
Our
fascination
with the various modes of transport in the city continued with a visit to
Dakshineshwar, where we spent less time in the temple, and more in the boat
which took us to Belur Math and back!
The ten rupee journey, sitting cross
legged in an old boat, along with the locals, was way better than any sunset
cruise we could have taken!
Evening was a wonderful time on Park
Street, enjoying the Christmas decorations, which I have already written about.
The proximity of our hotel to Park Street meant that we could gorge on Christmas
delicacies, especially from the famous Flury’s! And no, we did not feast on just Continental
cuisine. Apart from trying out the Puchkas ( the Bengali version of Pani
puris), we also spent quite a while at K.C.Das, trying out their extensive
dessert menu, beginning with their gorgeous Rasgullas! And sorry folks, no
photographs. We were just too busy eating!
One of
the things I had
most looked forward to, were the museums, and we began the heritage part of our
tour by arriving at the Indian Museum even before the doors opened! This did
give us a head start, and we were able to spend two peaceful hours before the
crowds set in. This is surely one of the most interesting museums I have been
to, in terms of exhibits, so it deserves a post to itself. Hopefully, I shall
get it written soon!
 |
| Rahu and 3 Planets, 5th century C.E. Sarnath (U.P) , from the collection at the Indian Museum All of them seem especially cheerful, espcially Rahu, dont you think? Wonder what they were so happy about! |
The Victoria
Memorial was
next on our list, but we settled for a quick look and a hurried exit, thanks to
the Sunday crowd.
We couldn’t
leave Kolkata
without taking a look at the Howrah Bridge. Time, however, was a big factor, so
we settled for a boat ride from Babu Ghat to the other side, just so we could
look at the bridge, from the river. The clouds and the fog (or smog?)
conspired, however, and we could only get a hazy glimpse…
On our
way back, we
persuaded our taxi driver to stop for a while so we could run into the St. John’s
Church, to get a glimpse of the resting place of Job Charnock, who is said to
be the father of Calcutta. (Of course, this is disputed, since there already
was a city here when Charnock arrived, but he was responsible for Calcutta’s
growth as an important city during the British rule).
In a little over 40 hours, we had barely grazed the surface
of Kolkata, its interesting history, and its eclectic culture. There is so much
more we have to see, and all I can hope for, is many more visits in the future!
That looks like super awesome time spent in Kolkota.. I was in Kol as well in Dec.. but just for a day.. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Patty! I wish we had been there the same day. could at least have met!!!
DeleteGood one, as usual !
ReplyDeleteThank you so much!
DeleteKoklkata still has an old world charm to it. Nice post!
ReplyDeleteOh it does. In the words of my son, it doesnt look or feel like a metro city!!
Deleteonly 10 Rs for a RIDE wowo.. 10Rs has some value for sure ..
ReplyDeleteI been to Kolkata a few times and apart from the traffic it is a lovely place , I have some fond memories of my school hlidayds spent in kolkata
Bikram's
Absolutely, Bikram! i have vowed that the next time i go there, I shall only use public transport!!! i can imagine how it must have been a few years back... lucky you!
DeleteHello Anuradha!
ReplyDeleteWow what a jam packed and tightly scheduled journey! In spite of some poor greetings in the beginning, I am sure the city of joy gave you a lot of joy with the puchkas, the boat ride and a glimpse of Howrah...next time we would also like to see pics of Rasagullas!
Yes, Indrajit! It was indeed a jam packed trip! and next time, i will surely remember to click pics of the food too!!
DeleteAnuradha, Where did you stay? Any suggestions for a budget hotel that you experienced? I have heard of Afridi International for a budget stay.
ReplyDelete