Kolkata or Calcutta eh!?

HOOGHLY and THE BRIDGE! (Specs)

What can one say! The structure says it all. Massive, crowded and so very ‘present’ in the skyline of Kolkata.

BELUR MATH (What is it?)

The entire journey is beautiful for you ‘boat across’ to the place. The huge structure created to popularize  is ..well..impressive. But what I felt most deeply about was the tiny room where Vivekananda lived his last years and worked. Simple, meditative and sparse. Amidst all the din of the architecture, this little room had ‘presence’.

SOUTH PARK CEMETERY (Click for more information)

My walker said, “Every time I need some peace and quiet time to reflect, I come here.”

(Indu Elahi was my walk guide)

I thought-cemetery uh! But the experience was something else when I entered. I too-fell silent. From young kids of few months to young adults in 20s, this cemetery is a testimony of the times of the British who for greed tried to settle in a country that their health did not agree with.

Several interesting things I discovered here:

Red blood comes out of a grave during rains! One can see the faint marks. Scares the locals...perhaps something rusted is inside the grave that flows over...:)

One of the graves of a British officer is covered reverentially with beautiful Hindu designs. He was one of the officers who turned Hindu and helped the locals a lot at times when they were butchered right left. Kolkata thanked!

 Beautiful trees lines up the whole space making it cool and sombre.

One can spend a lot of time here, reflecting!

(I have refrained from putting the interior pics here out of respect for those that are buried here!)

PALK STREET (Click for more)

I can walk on and back and on again for the whole evening here! Such is the street. Can only imagine the New Year time when it comes alive with no traffic except people.

THE BUILDINGS

The buildings of the British era are what I looked at while walking...looking up and not much afraid of falling. They did leave something beautiful for us...even if they took everything away! J

HOGG MARKET (Who was he?)

Sir Stuart Hogg built this market for the dainty British who did not wish to rub shoulders with the dark and dirty Indians! We stood at the spots where the carriages would come straight into the market and stop at many stalls.

Today...it is filled with Indians – shops and buyers. But the building leaves its mark on you.

TEA (Tosh and sons)

You cannot come here and not be mesmerised by the shops with sacks full of tea. Pick, smell, choose decide on the weight and buy from the shopkeeper for whom the shop is a legacy for – maybe – a 100 years!

FLOWER MARKET (Click for details)

Flower market unfortunate for me was disappointment. Dirty, crowded and filled with male attention I think I could live without! In and out is what I did here.

1^ST CHURCH (click for details)

So this is where it started...the East India Company asked for a small land to build a church. St John’s. And the rest is history of India under the British!

It is a massive building, with the room where sat out political leaders who got us the independence. It also has a spot where graves of British officers can be found – walled graves. Sombre space again indeed!