See You Tonight, Kolkata!

Me (a small town girl): dude!! you gotta be kidding me!! We are seriously going to Tantra??? Its 11 pm we will never get anything. How will we reach? And even i’m starving.

Arnab ( a kolkatan): Chill girl!!! You are in kolkata. Its never late in here. So open your eyes and look our favourite chacha ji’s dhaba is still open, and a cab is waiting right there beside it so you go and get something to eat, and i’m going to get the cab.

And yea listen, stay here for next atleast 50 years because our CM is really working hard to transform the city into Singapore, then you might get a jet plan as a public transport.

Me: lol

Welcome to the City of Joy where night is more alive and more richly coloured than the day.

Kolkata night life has a wide variety to offer: classy launges, cocktail bars, live music, and dance destinations. From clubs that taught us how to party to the latest joints the city has got them all.. the party lovers of the city do not waste even a fraction of a second to put on their dancing shoes and to rock the dance floors of nightclubs and discotheques.

The city of joy, kolkata can actually give us thousand reasons to wipe off our worries and to spice up our life with the latest hip hop beats.

And shadows still remain..

But at times nights of the city come up with some real darkness... on the night of feb 5, 2013 the lady was at a pub at kolkata’s famous Park street. A man who befriended at the pub offered her a ride home in his Honda city. When she got into the car, there were two men in the car. But soon another one entered. And the lady was raped. The victim who was 37 years old, alleges that the police mocked her when she tried to get a case registered. Officers allegedly used the fact that she had been at a pub to judge her character.

This was just an example from innumerable ones. Because of these rape cases kolkata has become the city of Bhoy .

When nobody is left to Blame...

An another dark side of the city is The world of Prostitution. Prostitution has been a part of this it’s culture since the beginning of time.

Every year some agents roam the villages and take young girls by giving them hope for a job and better living. These girls are then kept hungry for days and then they are sold from a price range of Rs. 10000 to 100000.

This is indeed the most horrible part when Reality is even worse than a nightmare.. we see many little girls on the various streets of kolkata and their helpless eyes searching for nothing but just a path to run away from this mess..

Now the question is whom do i blame for this..??? the Politicians..?? the Society..?? or the System..??

The question is still been Unanswered

And when your fears subside..

Inspite of all darkness kolkata is still standing straight with its culture, hospitality and love. If you want a city with soul you can’t look beyond any other city other than kolkata.

I am not from kolkata so as an outsider when i asked a kolkatan what is the most interesting thing of the city i should see first, his quick reply was ‘ of course The Raater kolkata’. raater kolkata was something that i just couldn’t afford to miss. The city streets, lighting of Victoria, Shahid minar, Howrah and Vidyasagar Bridge are the most amazing part of it. and of course the tea joints where anyone can have a cup tea at midnight also. You can easily get foods and vehicle all over the night. And these qualities make it the City which never sleeps.

Everything comes with a good and a bad side. It will be very wrong if i judge kolkata only by some of evils that are prevalent these days once i got to know its culture, its tradition, its people, you was left with no other option but to fall in love with the city, ‘The City of Joy’.

 

Debanjali Dasgupta

UG-BMS

3rd Semster

The Calcutta Derby : A feud like no other.

The El Classico, the Manchester Derby, the Milan Derby- these are some of the matches most football fans around the world wait for with bated breath during a regular football season. In India, we too have our own rendition of the most awaited game. But we need not search the world for it. We just have to make our way to the City of Joy, Calcutta.

The Calcutta Derby, contested between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan is not only one of the oldest football rivalries in this hemisphere; it is also regarded as one of the most iconic in the world by FIFA. Played out at the majestic Salt Lake Stadium in Calcutta with a crowd capacity bordering the 100,000 mark every time, it is regarded as the greatest stage in the sport when it comes to the sub continent.

It is also something that I hold close to my heart as I am an ardent East Bengal fan. I still remember my first experience of the Calcutta Derby. It was the 1997 Federation Cup Semi Final, a night when many a temper flared and emotions ran as high as Mount Olympus. Both the teams came into the tie ready to give it their all and honestly, I don’t believe anybody in the stadium could have seen what was coming. Mohun Bagan showed a lot of heart throughout the course of 90 minutes but they didn’t stand a chance against the mettle of East Bengal, led by their mercurial striker, Bhaichung Bhutia, who took on opposition single handedly and scored a spectacular hat trick as East Bengal ran out 4-1 winners on the night. I still remember a lot of hostility being shown by the distraught Bagan fans, who obviously felt humiliated at the score line. I saw bottles being thrown as fans lost their cool and that’s when a fight broke out in the stands. Along with my father, I managed to escape the melee of angry fans and get away from the scene of trouble. Needless to say that wasn’t to be my last experience of this infamous clash. Even now I try to slip away to the stadium whenever possible in order to get a feeling in Calcutta that is truly out of this world.

 

Ayush Chatterjee

UG-BMS

3rd Semester

Durga Puja.

The durga puja has been celebrated since the medieval period and has evolved to the world as time passed. Early forms of durgotsav were primarily private worship in personal residence with the use of various musical instruments such as mridanga, mandira and sankha. It was in 18^th century that durga puja became famous among the aristocrats. Prominent puja were organized by the zamindars and jagirdars being enriched by emerging british rule including raja nabakrishna deb of shobhabajar who initiated an elaborate puja at his residence. Festivities were celebrated as a community where royalty and peasantry were welcomed in the homes of the zamindars to feast together. The festivities became heavily centered around entertainment, music, and female dancers as well as lavish feast which continued for the entire month. In the 19^th century the pujas celebrated placed less emphasis on elaborate celebration and feasting.

It is said that, “Goddess Durga comes to her maternal home every year for four days”. Ma Durga symbolizes the winning of the good over the evil. Durga puja is also known as Sharodotsav in Bengali. The Durga Puja is observed actually for six days, starting from Mahalaya. On Mahalaya the eyes of maa Durga is drawn which gives life to the idol. The dates are set according to the traditional Hindu calendar and are also called devi paksha. Devi paksha comes on mahalaya and then the last date is ended on kajagori lakshmi puja.

Durga puja marks the victory of goddess Durga over the evil demon mahishashur. Thus durga puja symbolizes the victory of the good over the evil. Durga puja also includes the worship of shiva, who is durga’s spouse, in addition to lakshmi, saraswati, ganesha and karthikeya considered to be durga’s children. Worship of ‘kala bou’ is also done. Kala bou is considered to be ganesha’s wife. Durga puja is also known as Akalbodhon, Sharadiya puja, Sharadotsav, Maha puja,etc. The actual worship of durga as stipulated by the Hindu scriptures fall in the month of ‘chaitra’. It is called the basanti durga puja. Since the goddess is evoked at the wrong time it is called Akal Bodhon. The most recent revival of the autumnal worship of goddess durga can be traced to revivalist tendencies in the early freedom movement in Bengal. The first seen puja was organized by raja Nabarishna Deb of the Shobhabazar Rajbari of Calcutta in honour of Lord Clive in 1757. The puja was organized as clive wished to pay thanks for his victory in the battle of Plassey. He was unable to go to church because the only church was destroyed by siraj-ud-daula. There is also a mythological believe that Lord Ram who was a Durga worshiper worshiped goddess Durga before going for a war with Ravana. On the day of ashwin shukla dashami Lord Rama’s party found Sita and defeated ravana. This day is thus celebrated as dussehra.

They moved from being a show of wealth and authority by royalty and merchants back to festival of worship and celebration. Many of the old pujas exist still now. But the oldest is celebrated in rameshwaram in Orissa. Today the culture of durga puja has shifted from princely house to sarbojonin. Durga puja mood starts off with the mahishashura mardini a two hour radio programme that has been popular. During the week of durga puja the entire state of West Bengal as well as in large enclaves of Bengalis; everywhere life comes to a complete standstill. Mantras, the integral part of durga puja has accompanied by rhythmic beating of dhak.

 

Atreyee Mazumdar

UG-BMS

3rd Semester

Coffee On The House.

The Indian Coffee House, as it is known famously, is located opposite the Presidency College in College Street. It is renowned as a meeting place or for ‘ADDA’, according to the people of Kolkata. It is a very prestigious place as is it used to be the meeting place of many intellectuals of Kolkata. But since time, it has always been the meeting place for the students of Presidency College, Calcutta University and other colleges situated in the College Street.

HISTORY

Coffee house was previously known as Albert Hall which was found in April, 1876..Later, the Coffee Board decided to start a coffee joint from the Albert Hall in 1942. Notable citizens were frequent visitors to the place. In 1947, the Central Government changed the name of the place to “Coffee House”. The place became a meeting place for the poets, artistes, literati and people from the world of art and culture. In 1958, the management decided to shut down the Coffee House, but it was re-opened the same year, after professors of Presidency College and Calcutta University rushed off a special petition to the government, to save the heritage place. In 2006, a huge financial crunch kept the co-operative society from undertaking renovation of the coffee house. Few companies such as Asian Paints gave an offer to renovate the Coffee House but it was rejected by the management.

FAMOUS PATRONS

The prestige of the Coffee House increased with regular visitors such as Satyajit Ray, Manna Dey, Amartya Sen, Mrinal Sen and Aparna Sen The Coffee House is of historical significance for being the rendezvous of innumerable versatile people, from its inception to date. Scholars, editors, artists and writers like Ritwik Ghatak, Narayan Gangopadhyay, Sunil Gangopadhyay, Sanjeev Chattopadhyay,Biswapriya Mukherjee, Samaresh Majumdar, Subhas Mukhopadhyay and Shakti Chattopadhyay) have been just a few among the patrons of the restaurant. In early sixties of 20^th century the coffee house became the intellectual battleground of the famous Several talented and illustrious persons from different streams have been thronging this renowned adda for a long time.

SPECIALITIES

I visited the Coffee House during evening time, and I ordered the famous ‘Chicken Kobiraaji’ with a cup of coffee, and it was so good that I could not help but ordered another one of those Kobiraaji. The service was quick and the behaviour of the waiters was warm.

The atmosphere, the sip of coffee, the gossips and everything, gave an exhilarating feeling and the visit was very memorable.

 

Atmadeep Ghosh

UG-BMS

3rd Semester

Rickshaw Pullers Of Kolkata.

 

The strategy of drivers in Kolkata—drivers of private cars and taxis and buses and the enclosed three-wheel scooters used as jitneys and even pedicabs—is simple: Forge ahead while honking. There are no stop signs to speak of. To a visitor, the signs that say, in large block letters, OBEY TRAFFIC RULES come across as a bit of black humor. During a recent stay in Kolkata, the method I devised for crossing major thoroughfares was to wait until I could attach myself to more pedestrians than I figured a taxi was willing to knock down. In the narrow side streets known as the lanes, loud honking is the signal that a taxi or even a small truck is about to round the corner and come barreling down a space not meant for anything wider than a bicycle. There are still a lot of people sleeping on the streets in Kolkata, but there have been great changes in recent years. After decades of concentrating on its base among the rural poor and disdaining outside investment, the Communist Party of West Bengal has fiercely embraced capitalism and modernity. Kolkata now has modern shopping malls and modern overpasses. Walking around the city recently for a week or so, often as the only Westerner in sight, I was approached by precisely two beggars.

From June to September Kolkata can get torrential rains, and its drainage system doesn’t need torrential rain to begin backing up. Residents who favor a touch of hyperbole say that in Kolkata “if a stray cat pees, there’s a flood.” During my stay it once rained for about 48 hours. Entire neighborhoods couldn’t be reached by motorized vehicles, and the newspapers showed pictures of rickshaws being pulled through water that was up to the pullers’ waists. When it’s raining, the normal customer base for rickshaw wallahs expands greatly, as does the price of a journey. A writer in Kolkata told me, “When it rains, even the governor takes rickshaws.”

There are people in Kolkata, particularly educated and politically aware people, who will not ride in a rickshaw, because they are offended by the idea of being pulled by another human being or because they consider it not the sort of thing people of their station do or because they regard the hand-pulled rickshaw as a relic of colonialism. Ironically, some of those people are not enthusiastic about banning rickshaws. The editor of the editorial pages of Kolkata’s Telegraph—Rudrangshu Mukherjee, a former academic who still writes history books—told me, for instance, that he sees humanitarian considerations as coming down on the side of keeping hand-pulled rickshaws on the road.

 

Anupal Adhikary

UG-BMS

3rd Semester

Renovation Of Writers.

 

Kolkata, the city of joy can also be said city of heritage also. Kolkata, one of the growing metropolitan city and a sub-depot of India’s heritage. If it is all about Kolkata’s heritage then we must also take a look on some heritage building of Kolkata also. Some of them are like Victoria Memorial Hall, The Indian Museum, Marble Palace, Science City, National Library, Writer’s building, Raj Bhawan, Grand Hotel, Indian Botanical Garden and the lists go on.

But, my pick from all these is Writers Building, the secretariat building of State Government of West Bengal in India. Today it houses the office of the Chief Minister of West Bengal. The Writers' Building originally served as the office for writers of the British East India Company, hence the name. Designed by Thomas Lyon in 1777, the Writers' Building has gone through several extensions over the years.

In 1821 a 128 ft-long verandah with Ionic style columns, each 32 ft high, were added on the first and second floors. From 1889 - 1906 two new blocks were added, approached by iron staircases that are still in use. Writers’ acquired its Greco-Roman look, complete with the portico in the central bay and the red surface of exposed brick. The parapet was put in place and the statues sculpted by William Fredric Woodington in 1883, which line the terrace, were installed.

The giant pediment at the centre is crowned with the statue of Minerva. The terraces also contains several other statues and notable among them are four clusters of statues, christened 'Justice', 'Commerce', 'Science' and 'Agriculture', with the Greek Gods and Goddesses. The 150 meter long Writers' Building covers the entire northern stretch of the water body locally called Lal Dighi in B.B.D. Bagh area. Various departments of the West Bengal government are housed in this building. It is an edifice of great political significance and memories of the Indian Independence Movement. Writer's building is now being used as Chief Minister's Office and secretariat.

At this part of time Writers is going for a makeover. After a long gap of approx 230 years from its birthday Writers will be having a drastic renovation. Mamata Banerjee the now Chief Minister of West Bengal has decided to give a makeover to one of this great heritage, moreover renovation of the CM’s office. The chief minister revealed her plan to build a new secretariat across the Hooghly that will see Bengal being ruled from outside the iconic Writers' Buildings for the first time since 1777.

So, let’s get back to the heritage where we have started from. Its a good decision taken by the state government for the renovation of Writers building. Not only the Writers but also other heritage buildings are getting maintained properly.

If it has to be the same, why be a shame to others for neglecting our heritage our pride. The proper maintenance can hold these heritages for another long 100years. What we are making now is of no good to our next generations. So, also let them enjoy the fruits of history which our ancestors have made and left them so that we can enjoy them.

********

 

Abhishek Chatterjee

UG-BMS

3rd Semester

Haunting in the Crowded City

Dark night with a shiver on the wind, Roads go silent, Tree Shades whispering all-over in the silence, and something white barely glimpsed is seen in the gloom outside the comforting circle of light. And so the eerie stories start.

Bengal is rich in ghosts that lurk behind every rural grove or thicket where you choose to look for them, but perhaps the best documented are the city ghosts who are attached and still couldn’t leave some of the old mansions, a series of spectres that lurk in their frock coats and crinolines in the lost nooks and crannies of the British Raj.

As we know like every other densely populated old cities of the country, Kolkata also shares the same stories of haunting related to its past and is also known for its haunted places.

The most logical place to start your hunt for haunting is “The National Library - Alipore, Kolkata”

This one is the most famous of all the haunted spots in the city. The National Library lies in Belvedere Estate Premise. Few people who are a regular visitor here have reported some eerie stories about the building.

In the early 90’s it was said that few labours died accidently during the renovation of the old block inside the mammoth sized building, it is said their ghosts still lurk in the silence shade of the night.

And another story speaks of a young boy who died in the gates of the building during his study inside the complex it is said his ghost comes every night to complete his research study.

“The Writers Building - B.B.D Bag Kolkata”

This building has a haunted past too. It is believed that the spirit of Captain Simpson of British East India Company was killed by the famous revolutionaries Binay, Badal & Dinesh, still resides in the building facades.

It is suspected that even the most elderly party officials fear to stay put in the office after dusk. They do not even dare to sit back for a cup of coffee or tea in the evenings. Many even say that different kinds of unusual sounds are heard inside the building in the late evenings.

"I have heard the sound of someone crying late at night," said another vendor.

“The Hastings House - Hastings Kolkata”

At Midnight on the New Year's Eve. All of Kolkata is busy celebrating with fireworks and champagne. A coach scrunches up the gravel outside Hastings House in Alipore. The door creaks open and a thin intense figure fades into the portico and burns like a feverish light from room to room searching, restless or so the story goes of Warren Hastings' nocturnal activities after his death.

Hastings house is a small part of Belvedere Estate. The Belvedere Estate was one of the oldest establishments in Alipore. Governor General Warren Hastings built Hasting House for himself and then it became the Governor’s residence until the Government House came up later. Today, it’s a Women’s College of Calcutta University.

Stories are that Warren Hastings visits the campus in search of some old papers he had lost. His footsteps could be heard. Also doing the rounds are the story of his infamous wife and children, all of whom had unnatural death within this place, comes often to visit their old residence in horse drawn chariot.

Shadowy figures are a common thing that many people residing around and the students of “The Women’s College of Calcutta University”, which now owns the property, have seen. The students here have reported different incidents that are spooky.

Abhijit Joarder

UG-BMS

3rd Semester