People often have the silliest misconceptions about the culture and heritage of Kolkata. Everyone on the outside feel we are lagging behind, always turning towards the past, while people in Kolkata feel that our generation is running forward, having no regard and respect for their culture, cutting off our roots.
Which one is true and what shall one believe?
None of the above are entirely true nor entirely ignorable. Both have a standing point. Kolkata is filled with diversity. People of different races, religion, background can be found here, and it has something to offer for everyone. It’s true that some in our generation are being negligent towards our legacy and roots of identity but some even today find a separate love for the cultural ways and wears and do not percieve this as something that hold us back from progress. Even Alia Bhatt’s character, Rani in ‘Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani’ portrayed her as a modern, professional and knowledgeable woman who embraces her love for sarees without having a care to the myth which suggests that sarees are only for old people. Well, even if it was, Old is Gold, right?!
From jogging around Rabindra Sarovar Lake to considering early morning flower picking as one’s daily dose of fitness routine, life blooms to different people in their own unique ways. Even today, at the dawn of Mahalaya, every Bengali turns on those old radio systems to feel the bliss of hearing the mantra chants of Birendra Kishore Bhadra. Wearing elegant cocktail dresses and suits might be the new westernized trend of Valentines Day in Kolkata, but our hearts still get hooked at the sight of saree worn ladies and panjabi worn gentlemen.
We all have seen massive transformation in the lifestyle of the people of Calcutta but I must admit that we have an annoyingly beautiful tendency of looking back at our old and gold days every once in a while, after all how can we forget that Kolkata was once Calcutta… therefore, we are better off at the point where Calcutta meets Kolkata and without having to choose what we crave the most.
I have always loved those lanes of North Calcutta, where people of generations after generations passed through and looked up to. The royal architecture and authenticity, the ruins of buildings, and rusty old windows always make one travel through time and make us embrace days that were simpler and everything else so royal. If one has ever tasted fuchka of both South and North, then they know of the life altering difference of taste that it offers. In South fuchka tastes good, but in North it feeds the soul and pumps our hearts with joy when the pudina water touches the taste buds. And how must I forget the thirty rupees jhumka I purchase from markets of Esplanade and Gariahat? After all, jhumkas are a mandatory item in each girl’s accessories collection.
If you still feel hungry and crave for Chinese then head to Chinatown, for Biriyani to Nizam’s and if that feels too much for you then the Cafes in Dover Lane or Southern Avenue will definitely do the trick. I love Kolkata for the various Rasas it showers us with when each day passes by. A gloomy and rainy sky, amidst feels that feel very blue or a day filled with sunshine when sunglasses will fail anyway, or the clear blue skies of Durga Pujo when all is well, days are all extraordinarily expressive. Tagore has already painted all scenarios through his work and made it our constant companion through hell and heaven. A Bengali can never be alone as Tagore resides in our hearts and pulls strings we never knew of before.
This city has so much love to offer, it offers us the warmth of our mother’s lap. And yet we ask, “What brings you back to this city?”
It never fails to offer us the best of the past and present because it never lets some things change. And that is what is best about- “আমার শহর কলকাতা”।
The Urban Girl 