Tips for a holiday in Calcutta
A holiday in Calcutta is spent in a city known to be chaotic, disorganised, overcrowded and poverty-stricken. However, it is also the cultural heart of India where life seems to function and where people find their feet. With pleasure, even, because Calcutta is also the City of Joy, where residents are friendly, happy and content and are only too happy to invite foreign visitors for a cup of tea. Calcutta is no longer the place where Mother Teresa offers a last straw to emaciated children from poverty-stricken slums.
A mere small fishing village in the 17th century, Calcutta is now the country's third largest city with a population of some 15 million. It owes its size to the former colonial rulers, who declared Calcutta the capital of British India. It resulted in buildings that are a bit dusty and crumbling today, but still possess a wonderful old charm. The marble Victoria Memorial looks like you might run into Queen Elizabeth there any moment. The British constructed ornate monuments and grand squares, which were gradually stripped of their colonial names after Indian independence. Calcutta has also officially had Kolkata since 2001, though everyone still calls the city by its old name. Book at http://www.hotelsintamilnadu.com/en/chennai-hotels-18036/
Most travellers cluster around the New Market, a busy market where you can understand why Calcutta is one of India's cheapest cities. Stroll along the busy bazaars on Rabindra Sarani (formerly called Chitpur Road ) and visit the historic Kumartuli district, where potters make statues of voluptuous goddesses used during the many religious festivals. Calcutta is also an important centre of literature, spirituality, music and cinema. After all, it is the birthplace of national poet Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941). The city has plenty of small theatres that like to experiment and carry a social message. And like many other Indian cities, there is a wealthy upper class. Calcutta has the oldest golf course outside the UK and wealthy Bengalis there love cricket and polo, an elite equestrian ball sport.
Certainly, on a first visit to Calcutta, you may be startled by the squalor and maddening crowds. When you arrive at Howrah Railway Station, India's busiest railway station, and have crossed the Hooghly River. It takes a moment to swallow when you see rickshaw riders in the streets - the capital of the Indian state of Bengal is one of the few places in the world where rickshaws are still pulled by people. Despite the modernisation drive, some 2,000 human rickshaw drivers still stick to their profession. A holiday in Calcutta evokes emotions; it is a place that can be confusing and contradictory. But a visit to this ambitious city is India in a nutshell: it is a compact version of the country, in all its colours, sounds, chaos and creativity.