You won’t be able to find Kolkata sitting in an AC bus and roaming around the city. You can’t navigate Kolkata in Google Maps. You can’t find the “City of joy” so easily, fellow traveler! For Kolkata isn’t a city, Kolkata is the spirit. Kolkata isn’t a metropolitan, it is a home to people. Kolkata isn’t a port , it’s a blessing of the river.
To see the real Kolkata, no amount of preparation will do, you will have to do without it. Kolkata lies in the dingy lanes of its northern part, in the Ghats of the Ganges, in the roadside stalls of the south, the grasses of Maidan , Kolkata is the spirit of the city. Kolkata lies in the roars of Yuba Bharati and the Eden Gardens, in the millions of strikes that hit the road every year. Thus, is Kolkata . And you cannot change it.
The best way to travel Kolkata is by foot. If you are a traveler and hoping for a good adventure, just put on your shoes, pack your backpack and hit the roads, take a map along lest you forget the route. Oh! Sorry! There isn’t one! Just flow with the Ganges . Make a point to visit the National Library – the book lover’s paradise, the Indian Museum, a ride on a hand –drawn rickshaw, a stroll around park street, a walk by Gariahat , and College Street, and you will find three different faces of the city. If you can, take a morning walk in the Maidans, visit the Victoria Memorial and Princep Ghat, take a boat ride on the Ganges.
Save a whole day for the North, It’s going to take long. Start the day with a cup of coffee from the Coffee House in College street, get smeared in the Heritage, the legacy of Tagore , Mrinal Sen , Sunil Ganguly and other big names of Bengali Intelligentsia. Just on the opposite foot of the road is the 197 years old Presidency University. Take a stroll around College Street and look into the shops of books, both first and second –hand, sold there. Venture into the dingy alleys of the North, and be awestruck by the worderful plays of light and shadow that catches the eye. Make a point to visit Swami Vivekanands’s Home, the Kumartuli – where deiti’s are made ( a popular site for budding photographers). For food , try out Chacha’s , just opposite Vivekanda House and Golbari (try the Kosha Mangsho).
For snacks, the Kolkata street food is fabulous . Try Mutton Afghani at Mitra Café and Kobiraji at Basanta Cabin. When in North, try the sweets. The rasogolla and sandesh. The Mishti Doi. Spend the early evening at Bagbajar Ghat with a packet of ‘Chinebadam’. Let the cool breeze of the Ganges cool you . The scene of the dusk, by the Ganges, leaves you speechless.
Kolkata, for the pious, has something more to offer, the Kalighat and the Dakshineshwar Temple. In terms of short stretch of journey, try travelling by a bus or auto. You may take a trum. Devour the flavours of the everyday citylife. In Kolkata, try the roll from Nizam’s and ‘phuchka’ from a roadside shop. Keep an eye of the innumerable wall graphities around. Find rhythm in the paroxysm of the city during Durga Puja. And then, you will see Kolkata.
They say, Kolkata is a dying city. But, an immortal spirit cannot die, can it?
It was, is, and will be the City of Joy .
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