Posts Tagged: kolkata
street vendors in Kolkata
Flower vendors on the streets of Kolkata
The Jhal Muri and chanachur and bhel vendor.
These street vendors are usually very busy and the crowds that collect block the entire footpath. I took this pic in the afternoon when the streets and footpaths were relatively empty.
…….. where no man has gone before !!!
I have to confess I may be a little obsessed about the hand pulled rickshaws. In each of my trip to Kolkata the thing that stands out amidst a lot of differences between Kolkata and the city that I was born and raised and to any other city in the world that I have ever visited is the hand pulled rickshaws. In every narrow lane in parts of Kolkata where no other form of transport can reach, because of the narrow lanes albeit the place where the rich and elite of Kolkata thrive, there are these rickshaw walas to ferry you. Again I won’t debate the right or wrong of the humanity aspect of the trade but the fact remains that it is the only source of livelihood of many people of India. Personally I haven’t and wouldn’t sit on any one but it being a convenient mode of travel is very popular to travel in these very narrow lanes. I am reminded of the popular quote from the series Star Trek:
“……… to explore strange new worlds…….. to boldly go where no one has gone before”
😀 😀 😀
Kolkata depicted…….
In a democracy the poor will have more power than the rich, because there are more of them, and the will of the majority is supreme.
Aristotle
Rickshaw walas taking a snooze
Any trip of mine to Kolkata doesn’t seem complete without a few pictures from the street and particularly the rickshaw walas from the street. The old world charm…… (I am not going to try to justify the right or wrong aspect of the human angle to hand pulled rickshaws because it is the only source of income to many Indians) is unlike any other city in any other part of the world. I took the above pictures on my trip to Kolkata last week….. as the rickshaw walas took some time off between trips to catch up on their power naps. The monochrome effect seemed to bring life to an otherwise lazy picture also lending it the old world charm.
Window
This window has seen better days. Days of galore and splendor when it was an item of beauty and covet by many. Today it stands broken, listless, dilapidated and in a state of despair asking for attention and love. I took this in my recent trip to Kolkata. The state of the window today epitomizes the state of many parts of the city of joy…….. desperately longing for some interest to be shown its way. While politicians continue to look the other way, the city slowly deteriorates to a state of fossilized oblivion. The only change that can happen will have to come from the dhoti clad bangali babus on their hand pulled rickshaws. The question is will they take cognisance of the current state of affairs or continue to revel in the glory of the long forgotten bygone Raj.
You don’t really need rabindra sangeet playing at every corner of the road to brighten a person’s day rather a constructive effort to employment generation that will give the youth something to look up to and give the city a fresh new perspective…… a new leash of life. A New Life that is what the city needs to get over its current deteriorating state!!!
