It's the most laid-back city in the world. Yet, if you start your trip
to Calcutta with a walk down the "lungs of the city" - the sprawling
Maidan - as early as 5 in the morning, you'll find people walking,
jogging, stretching, and catching up with one another.
It's the home of a mind-boggling array of sweets and dishes. Yet, it
isn't out of place to find a Bengali enjoying his morning cuppa with a
handful of humble puffed rice.
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It's difficult to define the culture scape of
Calcutta to a tourist, because it begins with the first sip of
early-morning tea, poured out into a saucer and sipped noisily, with
raucous exclamations of delight. Kolkata is a wonderful mirror of the
Bengalis who call it home - volatile poets, sensitive artists and
romantic men and women. It's the city of the artsy, the quaint, the
intellectual - indeed, of anyone with an enormous zest for life.
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For the traveler in Calcutta, the best way to enjoy the culture of the
city is to find a friend there and sit down for an adda - local parlance
for a chat session. This chat is conducted, not on dinky online
messengers, but in the comfort of someone's living room, in the smoky confines of a coffee house on the steps of a college, at the bus stop, at the corner of the daily market… just about
anywhere two or more people can get together. And what do they talk
about? Politics, sports, religion, books, art, films, music, the news,
food… just about everything under the sun is worth talking about for the
Calcuttan. Don't be stunned by arguments - though Calcuttans are
passionate about most things, addas never end on an ugly note.
If you're traveling to Calcutta for the first time and want to
experience the music here, you might find an aspiring singer in every
home. A good evening of culture should see you soak in the spirit of
Rabindranath Tagore, Uday Shankar, Jamini Roy and Satyajit Ray.
Food is Calcutta's greatest indulgence. Bengalis love to eat, and their
great hosts. Every meal ends with the choicest of dessert, and
Calcutta's range of sweets can leave you quite winded! Every district in
the state has a sweet that is unique to it! Calcutta is also great for
junk-food lovers, though a tourist in Calcutta would do well to avoid
these.
Jhal Muri - Kolkata Special
Festivals are an intrinsic part of the city - more a socio-cultural phenomenon than a religious one. Besides these, Calcutta is also home to a variety of fairs, film fests, music conferences and folk fairs. It's also home to a cosmopolitan crowd - Marwaris, Parsis, Anglo Indians, Jews, a smattering of Armenians and the merry people of China Town all call Kolkata their city of joy.
Nandan - Cinema hall
Transportation of Kolkata
First Lady C.M - West Bengal
Kolkata's home made sweets
For the tourist, Kolkata holds a plethora of places to see. Museums, galleries, heritage buildings, amusement parks, temples, churches, synagogues - there's something for every kind of tourist in Calcutta.
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