[am1m]

Calcutta is a great trip! Been there thrice and would happily go there again. But not sure how it is career-wise. Didn't seem to have the energy of a Mumbai or a Bangalore. The Indian Museum is a gem! Such a wide variety of national treasures across fields!

(First time I went to Cal, even I headed to Peter Cat, based on all the recommendations. It's like Koshy's for us in Bangalore- hype and nostalgia, but the food's really not worth going out of your way for.)

[predatorwheelz]

Beautiful, beautiful travelogue. It gives me great pleasure to see someone come down to my city and partake of the historical treasures it has to offer. And the travelogue is nicely penned with proper respect to the explanations.

If you plan to do another visit, venture out a bit further from the central part of the city and I'll be able to help you with some equally memorable historical sightings. Some I recall off the top of my mind:

1. The Magen David Synagogue. Once upon a time the Jewish community in Kolkata was 6000 strong. They had flocked here in the 19th century for the trade opportunities the city presented. One of them, David Ezra, made his name in the real estate trade and constructed many magnificent commercial buildings which still stand. The Synagouge was built by his son in his memory. Incidentally Kolkata has a street called Ezra Street.

2. Metiaburz. After the Sepoy revolution, Wajid Ali Shah II of Lucknow was banished to Kolkata, where he spent his last days in a palace built of earth (Mitti ka Burj) and gave Bengalis their most favorite delicacy, Biriyani. There's nothing to see in terms of palaces, but the Shahi Imambara houses the Nawab's grave. And the Umda Imambarah is particularly beautiful.

3. The Nakhoda Masjid, the largest mosque in Eastern India. In case you're interested in Mughal History and architecture (which I am a huge fan of) it would interest you to know that the mosque is a replica of Akbar's mausoleum, and the gate is a replica of Buland Darwaza. It was not built by Mughals or any members of royalty, but by Haji Zakaria, a Muslim business tycoon from the late 19th century. You guessed it, Kolkata has a street called Zakaria Street too.

Besides the above, spare a week more and I can guide you to the other historical sights of Bengal. Kolkata was built by the British, but before them came the Dutch, French and Portugese. You can see remnants of the French Settlement in Chandernagore, about 45 kms from Kolkata. Slightly away from Chandernagore is Chinsurah which houses a Dutch cemetry, and Bandel Church, built by the Portugese.

There is also Murshidabad, bastion of Siraj ud Daulah, the last Nawab of Bengal. But I guess I'll stop here. Ping me when you're in my city next.

[poised2drive]

Originally Posted by nagarjun

Wow! what a travelogue. Kolkata has been a city which I wanted to visit from a long time. Heard few stories from my dad who had visited the city in late 60s and early 70s. Thanks for writing this down!

The song from Veturi garu and your translation at the start is such a great beginning to a wonderful travelogue.

Thank you!

The lyrics of Veturi garu would ring in the visitors's ears as they witness Calcutta

Originally Posted by batterylow

Wow, this is a wonderful read!

The history lesson was very interesting and much better than what I learnt a long time in school.

And the yummy food pics are the veritable icing on the cake!

Keep travelling and writing.

Thank you !

Glad you enjoyed the doses of history and food -

Originally Posted by loki_marvel

Good read. I echo the emotions of going to a renowned place for food or may be something else and the overall experience doesn't live upto the hype. That makes me wonder why on earth, I visited the place.

Yes. We need to carefully calibrate our expectations so as to not get upset !

Originally Posted by loki_marvel

Burger You seems delicious by the looks of it. Lemme try it next when I visit. Additionally, you could have tried the Chicken Frankie which is mouth watering or the bakes rasogullas. Trust me baked or not baked the rasogullas and Misthi Doi are heavenly in Kolkata.

You should try Burger You if you are into the authentic burgers !

And I did have Baked rasagollas and Sandesh at the famous Old Sweet shop in the Parkstreet ( forgot the name though) and they were incredibly delicious !

Originally Posted by Chillout

Nice travelogue and bought back memories of my trip, coincidentally I also stayed at the Park hotel. Surprised that you didn't visit Belur Math, i felt it to be a nice place with historical significance as well. Food was a mixed bag, didn't like it a lot especially being a veg, I did not explore the bazaar part of the city and probably food is better there, especially their chaats

thank you !

I lacked an appropriate plan and given the volatile nature of my work there which could have gone bad ( and it did not, fortunately) , was bugging my mind continuously which took my focus off the other far off places.

In fact I cursed myself for not visiting the Tram Museum and Trams- one of the most iconic images of Calcutta I have.

The veg offers limited range , though I think but sweets may have delighted your senses.

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Lovely thread on a lovely city.
Probably the last bastion of gentility and good manners and proper ‘Club’ culture left in India.
Calcutta, the Land that Time Forgot.

Thank you! The city is stuck in the past, witnessing events of glory and darkness and is a land of profound contradictions.

But please do not expect manners on the Road and Traffic. Its pure chaos

Originally Posted by Bhodrolok

Good read and detailed pictures.
.

Thank you so much for the kind words and the recommendations for food.

I shall visit the city once again and would love to try the food !

Originally Posted by Dibyendu Bose

Very nice indeed. Although I am a Kolkatan myself, never looked at the places which you visited with that detailed vision. Your travelogue will certainly help and generate lots of potential travelers. Thanks and Congratulations.

Thank you.

I believe unless you don't know the details of what's right in front of your eyes, you do not really see it !

As they say, the devil is in the details !

Originally Posted by Dibyendu Bose

Someone suggested that you should have visited Belur Math. Of course, the Temple of the Vedic Planatarium in Mayapur.

Vedic Planetarium sounds intriguing. Thanks for suggesting @

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Considering I went to school on Park Street, and had spent hours upon hours exploring that area (including the Indian Museum, perhaps over a dozen times) some 4-5 decades ago, your writing & photos were nostalgic to read & look at, and confirmed my viewpoint that no great change has taken place in that area over this period of time.

Thanks for sharing!

Thank you, Sir ! I am glad you could revisit those lanes of memory .

And the Park Street and its neighbourhood is a manifestation of anachronism.

Originally Posted by am1m

Calcutta is a great trip! Been there thrice and would happily go there again. But not sure how it is career-wise. Didn't seem to have the energy of a Mumbai or a Bangalore. The Indian Museum is a gem! Such a wide variety of national treasures across fields!

Though Calcutta was the original OG of Cosmopolitanism, it sure has retained certain elements of the quaint laidback lifestyle!

Originally Posted by predatorwheelz

Beautiful, beautiful travelogue. It gives me great pleasure to see someone come down to my city and partake of the historical treasures it has to offer. And the travelogue is nicely penned with proper respect to the explanations.

Thank you for the kind words !

Originally Posted by predatorwheelz

1. The Magen David Synagogue.

2. Metiaburz.

3. The Nakhoda Masjid,

Chandernagore,
Chinsurah which houses a Dutch cemetry, and Bandel Church, built by the Portugese.

Murshidabad, bastion of Siraj ud Daulah, the last Nawab of Bengal. But I guess I'll stop here. Ping me when you're in my city next.

Wow, Thanks ! The places sound incredibly interesting & would just be an absolute delight.

I would definitely dm you the next time I visit your city for more info !

Btw, please do listen to the song that I wrote about in the first post- the writer brings Kolkata out of words and Kolkattan shall definitely enjoy !

[ex-innova-guy]

The food pictures just made me hungry after dinner.

Loved the way you have covered the Calcutta presidency and hope you travel to the other 2 presidencies as well. Living in one of these presidencies, I still need to learn and explore a lot more.

Thanks for sharing!

[Neversaygbye]

Originally Posted by poised2drive

So, with all careful preparation for the assignment in my mind and a tempered excitement of witnessing the First Cosmopolitan City of Modern India in my heart, I set out !

Interesting to get a perspective of my city from a visitor.

I was a little intrigued to see your photographs of the Victoria Memorial exhibits though. When did you visit? The last time I went it had become a museum dedicated to Netaji and the Indian freedom struggle, which while fine in itself, seemed to me to be a very stupid attempt to live down the colonial nature of the edifice. (We were a colony of the British once. Let's accept that and move on. We should learn from Russia and Germany who do not try to airbrush aspects of their history that they are not proud of).

You stayed in a part of Calcutta that's steeped in old world charm and where time has essentially stood still, but there are other aspects to the city as well, some of which have been mentioned in the other posts. I would suggest that on your next trip you venture to other places in the city. Maybe you can also join us on one of our breakfast meets. Drop a PM before you come and I'll let you know if one of our breakfast meets is happening during your visit.

[ABHI_1512]

Great to see some snippets of my own city through this vividly described log. Although major points of interests have been taken care off but as you somewhere said, the beauty is in the details. Calcutta has much more to offer and as predatorwheelz mentioned above, you should visit the city again to explore it more and do PM him to know the city better.

Food is one part that you missed out on and one would need some proper days just to explore the delicacies that the city has to offer. Peter Cat is nowhere close to what it was during its glory days and yet, we throng it for pure nostalgia. The food scene in Calcutta has moved beyond Park Street and the city has now some top notch places to eat. Next time, get hold of someone from amongst us from the city and we would be glad to help, in giving company for anything related to food

Hope you don’t mind me attaching a picture of Victoria Memorial from my collection to your wonderful thread since the memorial occupies such a pride of place for Calcutta. And thanks for sharing the lovely song, have seen the movie long back but forgot about the song completely.



Will surely look forward to hear about your experiences from your next visit to the city. Keep travelling

Footnote: I am ashamed of the honking menace that prevails in the city, although it has now gone down from what it was some year’s back. Some things do take time to eradicate, slowly but surely.

[poised2drive]

Originally Posted by ex-innova-guy

The food pictures just made me hungry after dinner.

Loved the way you have covered the Calcutta presidency and hope you travel to the other 2 presidencies as well. Living in one of these presidencies, I still need to learn and explore a lot more.

Thanks for sharing!

Glad you liked it !

We do not really value the history of our homes as much as the others do. I live in Hyderabad, replete with history and I rarely go to the historical sites.

Salarjung museum is like a couple of Km away and I don't even remember when I went there the last time !

Originally Posted by Neversaygbye

Interesting to get a perspective of my city from a visitor.

I was a little intrigued to see your photographs of the Victoria Memorial exhibits though. When did you visit? The last time I went it had become a museum dedicated to Netaji and the Indian freedom struggle, which while fine in itself, seemed to me to be a very stupid attempt to live down the colonial nature of the edifice.

Well, I visited the place on October 31st ! As I described in the travelogue, only the top floor of the museum is dedicated to nationalist movement, which , I guess was a deliberate attempt to take a dig ! But the whole first floor ( barring a painting gallery) was dedicated to the colonial artefacts and the statue of Victoria in the central gallery still remains the biggest attraction.

So I do not think they are downplaying it, though I agree it makes little sense to manipulate history for the sake of sentiments. Teaching history is a tricky affair - you teach it neutrally, people won't be interested ; you teach it glorifying, people get polarised . One needs to be rational and at the same time maintain the penchant for storytelling to draw attention.

Originally Posted by Neversaygbye

Maybe you can also join us on one of our breakfast meets. Drop a PM before you come and I'll let you know if one of our breakfast meets is happening during your visit.

Thank you for the invite. I would keep that in mind!

Originally Posted by ABHI_1512

Great to see some snippets of my own city through this vividly described log....

Food is one part that you missed out on and one would need some proper days just to explore the delicacies that the city has to offer.
......
Will surely look forward to hear about your experiences from your next visit to the city. Keep travelling

Thank you for the kind words ! Surely, I am gonna PM one of you guys the next time I visit the city !

And beautiful picture of the VM !