Although I'm not a native of Calcutta, city of joy and once the capital of the British Raj in India, I've been living here for 5 years now. Moving to Calcutta from Mumbai was quite a culture shock, but I slowly learnt to love the pace of this city. This post is a compilation of Calcutta's unique delights, as seen from the eyes of a non-Bengali.
1. Bread Tost.
Walking along the pavements in Calcutta, one will find many roadside stalls selling
cha (tea), chat and other sorts of food. At many places, one can have two slices of bread toasted and with butter for a whopping 6-10 Rupees (approx. Rs. 55 to One US Dollar), happily labelled 'Bread Tost' on the cardboard menus hanging off the stalls.
2. Everyone takes an Afternoon Nap.
There's no avoiding it. Unless you are in Park Street or some other equally commercial and upmarket area, the city will fall asleep from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Taxi drivers may turn you down and the local grocer will most certainly have closed his shop so make sure you have everything you need for the afternoon well in advance.
3. The Shuttle.
The 'shuttle' is a form of transport where the drivers of private vehicles -- i.e. the drivers as employees of the owners of the vehicles -- pick up commuters headed in the same direction as them, for a small fee. Of course, this is done without the employer's knowledge or often, against his explicit orders, but is a common practice. Shuttles are a cheap and comfortable way to get around the city, if you know how and where to find them. Watch out though, they arn't the safest at night. After all, you never know just who is in the vehicle you are flagging down.
4. Blue and White.
Mamata Banerjee, the present Chief Minister, has decreed that the entire city is to be painted blue and white. Thus, government buildings, flyovers, railings, dividers, street signs, buses, bus stands, trees and random walls now sport her favorite colours. This move has the city's intelligentsia seeing red. They argue that it is a waste of resources, that blue isn't the only beautiful colour and that such light colours get dirty quickly and will have to be repainted again. With this, Calcutta will join the ranks of Jodhpur, the blue city of Rajasthan.
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| A tram under the road leading to the Vidyasagar Sethu |
5. 'V' is 'B'
In Bengali, there is no syllable for 'v'. Instead, the English and Hindi 'v' is converted to 'b'. Thus, when you are asking for directions, people will ask you back, "Bhere you go?". Non-bengalis are frequently annoyed with this as their names are misspelled and mispronounced constantly.
6. One way traffic on Park Street changes directions at 1 pm and back again at night
Park Street is a commercial street hosting some of Calcutta's biggest offices, hotels, schools, restaurants and shopping complexes. While change in one-way traffic direction does exist in other parts of the world, the reason for its existence in Calcutta is unmatched by any. Supposedly, it was started to ease the daily commute of the erstwhile Chief Minister of Bengal, Jyoti Basu (1977-2000) and continues to this day!
7. Bhaayolence.
The people of Bengal are among the most non-violent people in the world. They may shout, swear and spit, but won't progress to actual bodily assault. That does not mean there are no murders or muggings, but on the whole, Calcutta is one of the safer parts of India.
8. Travel by Autos at your own risk
Auto-rickshaws ply on specific routes on a share basis in Calcutta. By share, I mean that upto six people along with the richshaw driver will be using it at one time -- three passengers at the back and four, including the driver, at the front. Travelling at the front can be fun but one must have a good grip to avoid spilling off the vehicle on sharp turns and sudden jerks.
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| A not-so-crowded auto |
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| Schoolchilden sitting in the trunk of an overcrowded auto |
9.
Tibetan food and Chinese cuisine
Calcutta is considered to be the birthplace of the fusion cuisine, 'Indian-Chinese' and one can see why. Tibetan food and Chinese cuisine here are absolutely delicious, more so than in other metros such as Mumbai and Delhi. Restaurants such as
Blue Poppy or
Beijing in Tangra, the China-town of Kolkata surely give the rest of the country a run for its money in this field. Of course, you may want to try the same cuisines in Sikkim too, where they are even better.
10. There are no Lanes on the Roads
Of course, the white lines are painted there. But no one ever follows them. Especially taxi drivers. Traffic is a huge problem in this city, and the best way to get around it: simply make your own lane!
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