First, let me tell you how we reached Kolkata.
I was heading to Sikkim for a camp/vacation with friends from the Campus Crusade. Most participants were from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The team from Hyderabad were to travel to Vijaywada and join the rest of the team. Unfortunately, we missed the train. We then had to take a de-tour to Howrah and then take a bus to Siliguri.
There were many lakes enroute to Kolkata, like the one below...
The first sights and sounds of Kolkata are still fresh in my mind. The suburbs were filled with narrow roads and dilapidated buildings. Thick Bengali letters were painted on shop boards, people seemed to be busy and the women had their saris tied the Bengali way, with a huge bindi on their forehead. Just as I was watching this world unfold from my window in the train, a local train full of people blocked my observations.
As we reach closer to the station, I noticed a pile of red bricks in a slum like area, "are those are houses?" I asked myself. "Was there an engineer around?" Houses were precariously placed one upon another. We then reached the Howrah railway station, it was one of the biggest I'd ever seen. Once outside, I could spot the iconic Howrah Bridge immediately. I couldn't contain my excitement and kept reminding everyone about the bridge and about the textbooks we had seen them in. We decided to go to the CCC Office in Kolkata since our bus would only start by the evening.
The following pictures were clicked by Zubin. While driving through the bridge, one can see a parallel bridge which looks much more modern. Why did people have to build that
bridge? I wondered. Was it to make the iconic Howrah bridge jealous? There had to be some reason other than just travel convenience, no?
The roads are wider in the city. People look a lot more busy in the heart of the city But the buildings are taller and more dilapidated. Perhaps, all they need is a little bit of painting. Can you spot the tram in this picture?
This city has a strong colonial influence in its architecture. One interesting thing about Kolkata is that one can find all modes of transport in the city - right from trams to man-drawn Rickshaws.The buses are colorful and have a rich design. The taxis, however are all bright yellow and the autos are green.
This following picture is the building that houses Campus Crusade's Kolkata office. Its on the third floor to be precise.
There are many kinds of people in the city, there is a considerable amount of people from India's North East. The weather is humid, but it felt way better than Chennai. I think traffic is going to be a major problem for this city.
In the few hours I spent in Kolkata, I couldn't see all that I wanted to see and taste (read : rasgulla) all that I wanted to taste. But in the time that I did spend, I felt that despite not being as clean, and despite housing many poor people, there was a sense of warmth and happiness in the air. Perhaps that's where the joy comes from.
* Edited for clarity on 8th April 2017
I was heading to Sikkim for a camp/vacation with friends from the Campus Crusade. Most participants were from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The team from Hyderabad were to travel to Vijaywada and join the rest of the team. Unfortunately, we missed the train. We then had to take a de-tour to Howrah and then take a bus to Siliguri.
There were many lakes enroute to Kolkata, like the one below...
The first sights and sounds of Kolkata are still fresh in my mind. The suburbs were filled with narrow roads and dilapidated buildings. Thick Bengali letters were painted on shop boards, people seemed to be busy and the women had their saris tied the Bengali way, with a huge bindi on their forehead. Just as I was watching this world unfold from my window in the train, a local train full of people blocked my observations.
As we reach closer to the station, I noticed a pile of red bricks in a slum like area, "are those are houses?" I asked myself. "Was there an engineer around?" Houses were precariously placed one upon another. We then reached the Howrah railway station, it was one of the biggest I'd ever seen. Once outside, I could spot the iconic Howrah Bridge immediately. I couldn't contain my excitement and kept reminding everyone about the bridge and about the textbooks we had seen them in. We decided to go to the CCC Office in Kolkata since our bus would only start by the evening.
The following pictures were clicked by Zubin. While driving through the bridge, one can see a parallel bridge which looks much more modern. Why did people have to build that
bridge? I wondered. Was it to make the iconic Howrah bridge jealous? There had to be some reason other than just travel convenience, no?
This city has a strong colonial influence in its architecture. One interesting thing about Kolkata is that one can find all modes of transport in the city - right from trams to man-drawn Rickshaws.The buses are colorful and have a rich design. The taxis, however are all bright yellow and the autos are green.
This following picture is the building that houses Campus Crusade's Kolkata office. Its on the third floor to be precise.
There are many kinds of people in the city, there is a considerable amount of people from India's North East. The weather is humid, but it felt way better than Chennai. I think traffic is going to be a major problem for this city.
In the few hours I spent in Kolkata, I couldn't see all that I wanted to see and taste (read : rasgulla) all that I wanted to taste. But in the time that I did spend, I felt that despite not being as clean, and despite housing many poor people, there was a sense of warmth and happiness in the air. Perhaps that's where the joy comes from.
* Edited for clarity on 8th April 2017
