Kolkata

[anshjain97]

My first destination in my north/east India trip was Kolkata. With 5 million people, Kolkata is the biggest city in East India. It was the first time for any of us in this city, so the prospect of discovering a completely new city was exciting.

Arriving at the airport:


The local language is Bengali (Bangla), which is also spoken across the border in Bangladesh. Kolkata is around 200 km from the border.
The far left language is Bengali.


On the way...


Kolkata has lots of yellow taxis which can be hailed on the street.


The weather was somewhat foggy.






Our hotel was in the southern district of Ballygunge. After a late lunch, we left in the early evening to the centre, around 4 km away.

Tram rails- Kolkata is the only Indian city where trams, most of them dilapidated, run.


Autos are fairly uncommon, as compared to other main Indian cities. They are not even allowed in certain areas.


So, here was the centre. There was considerable traffic (it was Christmas eve).




A street sign:


We started walking near the western end of the main thoroughfare, Park St. It is also the touristy heart, with many restaurants and shops.


More later.

[htmb]

Wonderful photos, Ansh! I look forward to seeing more soon.

[Deleted]

Another great discovery for all of us, ansh! I was wondering: in cities where Hindi is not the principal language, can it be difficult to make yourself understood sometimes? Do you ever have to use English with other Indians to bridge the language barrier?

I was astonished when I was in Sapa, Vietnam and saw that the Vietnamese tourists from Hanoi sometimes had to bargain with the market vendors in English, because the local people did not speak Vietnamese.

[anshjain97]

That's a good question, Kerouac.

I live in Bangalore where Hindi is not the principal language. Our maid and driver speak in Hindi (the driver is from North India) so we speak Hindi to them. However, it is common to speak in basic English to most other people- from the gas station attendant to the waiters in the high end restaurants. Every Indian customer/visitor seems to speak English in the latter, so we do too.

In large cities, typically people will speak enough Hindi/English. Whenever we stay in hotels across the country, even in Delhi, we speak in English.

People typically spoke good English or Hindi in Kolkata. Asking for directions to, say, a policeman, was done in Hindi. Speaking in small shops was in Hindi. Speaking to hotel staff was in English.

Once again, an interesting question. Being an official language of the country, English is fairly widespread in its use, the second language in most, if not all, states. Now, while only 10% Indians speak it as a second language, many may know just enough to speak to people like us, who don't know the local language.

Another thing is that, because of migration within the country, many won't know the local language. Among all of my and my parents' friends who live in Bangalore, very very few (if any at all- can't recall) are from the state. Kannada (local language in Karnataka) is not used in the Karnataka High Court- there was a newspaper article yesterday of whether it should be introduced or not. Whoever was expressing his opinion was worries that many people may need translators if Kannada was used.

I'd like to thank everyone who commented on all my threads so far- very encouraging. Will post more later.

[htmb]

Thank you for that very thorough explanation, Ansh. And thanks to Kerouac for asking the question.
So, Ansh, would it be correct that your school classes are taught in English? Do you study any other languages at school?

[anshjain97]

Yes, my school is an English-medium school. Only other language classes- French, Hindi etc- are taught in the respective languages. (But in the beginning, before learning a new language well enough, English is used to some extent in the language classes).

[bixaorellana]

Very promising beginning, Ansh. What surprised me the most so far is that it doesn't look all that crowded until the last picture. But of course you said that was Christmas even. Love those boxy yellow cabs. Interesting to see how the trams are over to the side. Much safer.

[anshjain97]

So, walking on Park St.



I was surprised to see the Christmas spirit on Park St. Indeed, this is the most "Christmassy" city in India, even more than Mumbai (where I was at the same time in 2012, with no decorations).

Lots of food stalls lined the road. Kolkata is very, very famous for street food and Indian mithai (sweets).








By now, the Christmas appeal was becoming quite apparent.








Will post more later.

[bjd]

Ansh, how do the locals react to the Christmas decorations? Do they see them as creeping materialism or just as fun? I am assuming that most people, other than Christians, don't celebrate Christmas.

[anshjain97]

I know many people from Kolkata/West Bengal, and the Christmas spirit, along with the decorations, are just considered as fun. Yes, apart from Christians (slightly less than 1% of Kolkata's population), people do not celebrate Christmas.

[anshjain97]

Police presence was heightened in anticipation for a crowded, busy evening.


More about the area.


This building looked interesting, but no idea what it is.


Now we went to Flurys, a mega-famous bakery with its main outlet on Park St. Ask anyone where to eat in Kolkata, Flurys is a name no one will forget to mention.


Of course, you can imagine the amount of crowds a place like this will draw.


Such a place would tend to lower its quality. They were selling mediocre-quality dundee cakes.


Back on the street, night was beginning to set in (although it was only 17:35)








This is the really famous St Xavier's College




That was the end of the evening. Despite the seemingly ubiquitous amount of taxis, it was difficult getting back to the hotel. Most were full, the few available didn't want to go. 45 minutes after the search started, we found an auto who took us to a taxi, which in turn took us to the hotel, as autos weren't allowed where our hotel was.

More later.

[Deleted]

I really didn't expect to see Christmas trees and decorations in Kolkata! Are many people Christians over there would you know, ansh? Or do they do all that just to get into the spirit of things? I have some friends who are from this city and are forever asking me to come and visit. Next visit I will be taking them up on it.

[anshjain97]

Hi Deyana- actually there are very few Christmas (a bit less than 1% of the population, in fact). So indeed, the city is just in the spirit of the things.

[anshjain97]

So, sightseeing the next day...

This is Birla Temple (Birla Mandir).



And a tram running past:


This is towards the north of the city, along the river Hooghly. This is the new Howrah bridge, linking Kolkata to its immediate neighbour city of Howrah, where the area's main railway station is located.




This is a very popular mall in Howrah.


The Howrah train station:






In front is the iconic old Howrah bridge:




From Wikipedia:
When commissioned in 1943, Howrah was the 3rd-longest cantilever bridge in the world,[13] behind Pont de Québec (549 m) in Canada and Forth Bridge (521 m) in Scotland. It has since been surpassed by three bridges, making it the sixth-longest cantilever bridge in the world in 2013. It is a Suspension type Balanced Cantilever[5] bridge, with a central span 1500 ft between centers of main towers and a suspended span of 564 ft. The main towers are 280 ft high above the monoliths and 76 ft apart at the top. The anchor arms are 325 ft each, while the cantilever arms are 468 ft each.[7] The bridge deck hangs from panel points in the lower chord of the main trusses with 39 pairs of hangers.[5] The roadways beyond the towers are supported from ground, leaving the anchor arms free from deck load. The deck system includes cross girders suspended between the pairs of hangers by a pinned connection.[7] Six rows of longitudinal stringer girders are arranged between cross girders. Floor beams are supported transversally on top of the stringers,[7] while themselves supporting a continuous pressed steel troughing system surfaced with concrete.[5]



Back in Kolkata now.




Now we were heading to Dalhousie Sq (BBD Bagh)- the largest concentration of colonial architecture in Kolkata.




It was Chrsitmas Day so traffic was relatively low.







The domed building below is the General Post Office.



Below is the State Bank of India building.


Now moving a bit away from Dalhousie Sq, below is the West Bengal High Court.


Below is the Eden Gardens cricket stadium- biggest in India.


A nice road ahead- reminds me of Central Delhi (I would love to do a report on Delhi but I have taken very few photos there- guess I don't want to act like a tourist in the city where I'm from! But I'd change that next time I'm there)





More later.

[Deleted]

I'm liking the city already, ansh. I have to ask though, are there poorer areas? I guess when some people think of Calcutta (Kolkata), they think of the movie - 'The City of Joy'.

(Movie city of Joy - Link: www.imdb.com/title/tt0103976/ )

I mentioned this to a friend of mine, who lives in Kolkata and he was quite upset at how his city of portrayed in that movie.

[anshjain97]

To continue:


This area is called New Market.




Just from the outside: the famous Birla Planetarium.


It is the largest in Asia, and second largest in the world.

Next to it is the St Paul's Cathedral.




Unfortunately photography wasn't allowed inside.

Park St was closeby- went there for lunch.




Victoria Memorial- Kolkata's most famous monument. I will show better photos later. Lines were unimaginably long- couldn't go inside.

[anshjain97]

Yes Deyana- there must be poorer areas- as would be expected in any Indian city. I did not go there though. According to wikipedia, 33% lived in slums.

[Deleted]

Would that be 33% in Kolkata or do you mean in India in general? That is a large amount, especially when you consider the large population of the country.

I must say it IS nice to see the progressive side of the city or of any city in India really.

[Deleted]

It really looks like a very nice place. Yet when I was leaving Chennai (Madras), I encountered an elderly French couple who had been travelling all over India. (The word 'elderly' makes me smile, because I am now about the age that they were then.) Although they had loved their time in India, they had been the most shocked by "Calcutta" because they had seen the morning routine of the authorities poking the people sleeping on the sidewalk with a stick to see who was alive and who had died during the night.

As I had just left Pondicherry in the pre-dawn hours to get to the airport, and I had seen the people covering the pavement at night, some of whom looked like they were in the last stage of life, it seemed to me to be a common occurrence even though I did not see it myself.

[bjd]

My husband spent 5 days in Calcutta/Kolkata a few years ago. He was there for work so not as a tourist and his photos are a bit different from Ansh's, since he stayed at the university. He did enjoy visiting the place and would go back, although I found the permanently gray sky (he was there in December) in his photographs, and Ansh's, rather depressing.

[anshjain97]

Thanks for your responses.

It is 33% of Kolkata, not of the whole of India. As slums tend to come up in urban areas, and as India has a large % of population in rural areas, the national % of people who live in slums won't be too high. Of course, though, rural housing may not be much better.

Ouch, Kerouac, that's a grisly image. Which year would that be?

The problem with the weather is that the city is very hazy/foggy in winters, even when there's some sun.

[Deleted]

That was about 30 years ago, Ansh.

[anshjain97]

I see Kerouac, India seems to have changed significantly since then. Of course, there's much more that needs to be done.

Another picture of Victoria Memorial:


The trip felt a little incomplete without trying some more local sweets, so we went to a major shop, in the southern neighbourhood of Bhawanipur.




Decided to go to Park St at night but the traffic wouldn't let us- after around 60-90 min sitting, we finally reached Park St (4 km). But the crowds were horrendous- just turned back.

Here is Victoria Memorial at night:


Next day, we had a late afternoon flight to Varanasi. Decided to visit one of the biggest malls in the city, South City Mall, today.
On the way:


In the mall:




On the way to the airport:


Above picture is the gate of Chinatown, the only one in India. One home to 20,000 ethnic Chinese, the population is now approx 2,000. It is now noted for its Chinese restaurants.

The airport was very spacious and quite empty- there was little to eat.

[Deleted]

So many amazing contrasts -- of the poor/wealthy type but also old colonial/modern Indian!