Posts Tagged: kolkata
Childhood….. Titir
Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man.
~Rabindranath Tagore
This is the picture of my niece Titir. This is the first time I met her and she was already so big. My trips to Kolkata are so rare that probably the next time I meet her she would be a big girl. But I am glad that I met with her to treasure atleast one picture of her and lots of moments to cherish and remember.
Durga Puja 2014
Durga Puja is the biggest festival for Bengalis all over the world. Wherever there are Bengalis there is bound to be at least one puja. I grew up 1000s of km away from bengal. I have never seen the Durga Puja in Kolkata. For me this is very grand. When I was young we had three pujas in my city. Now there are almost 20 of them, with the home puja celebrating its 75th year. It is the time that Bengalis believe that Ma Durga visits her mothers house with her children and pets for 5 days. Strangely for us bengalis these days Durga puja is not much about the rituals of the puja but more of the fun around it. Could be our Communist heritage đ .
Puja always meant a lot. It was a shift away from the mundane life to an exciting interesting and different life that we led for 5 days. Puja meant new clothes, new shoes, lots of junk food (which I was never allowed) and watching functions…. plays, ballets, orchestras, musical shows, dance dramas and Bengali movies till the wee hours of the morning, only to go back for a few hours of shut-eye and be back for the pushpanjali. Functions had orchestras and artistes from Kolkata introducing the likes of me to new genres of music. I fell in love with folk music because of its rustic nature and I loved the no pretense song of the heart.
Durga Puja was a time when I was reminded of my Bengali roots and learned everything Bengali in those 5 short days. Bengali food, Bengali sarees, Bengali love for politics and football, Bengali debates on everything, Bengali adda etc…. Rest of the year I spoke Bengali only at home with my parents and sisters. It was mostly English Hindi and Marathi. On these 5 days since we interacted with so many more Bengalis and spoke the language on a 24 hour basis…… the language improved considerably. The puja is almost like a fashion show with the men and women strutting around in their best clothes jewellery and makeup. Saris of Katha, tangail, silk, organza, embroidery, baluchari, south silks, muga, etc etc all can be seen on these days. Men wear kurtas and dhoti or churidar of cotton silk embroidered batik. There is no limit to what you wear on these days. You can easily get away looking like a rainbow or a peacock or a jewellery store or something out of the 17th century. Nobody will raise an eyebrow….. These 5 days everything is allowed….. no rules.
On the home front nobody cooks these 5 days. The kitchen is closed. Lunch is usually bhog of khichdi labda tomato chutney and payesh at the pandal. Ashtami is special. It usually has a different menu of fried rice and aloo gobi and beguni. All of this in the Puja Pandal. Dinner is usually a wide array of junk food of biryanis, chicken cutlets, or mochar chop, devilled eggs, or radhabalabi and chole. Not to mention the famous bengali sweets….. Â rosogolla, chamcham, sandesh, ladyginni, chitrakoot, langcha etc etc. The food list is endless. In between all this you keep sipping tea and soft drinks icecreams and some or the other fried stuff and sweets. Basically these 5 days all rules of all kinds are broken.
Durga Puja is fun frolic something I wait for all year. The 5 days pass so quickly…… and I am always heartbroken to see Ma Durga go back only with a promise of returning back the next year.
Durga Puja is always so colorful and bright. I tried to monochrome three of the pics and still keep the essence of the whole festival in black and white.
Bylanes of Kolkata
I took this picture in one of the bylanes of Ballygunge in Kolkata. It was a bright and sunny day and these deserted narrow lanes between the houses looked spooky and ethereal.  The shadows cast by the trees on either side added depth to this pic. I took this pic with my cell. These little narrow lanes seem to go nowhere but in reality they are the major connecting roads and very common here. In Fact, they define the city. Walking is the only way to go unless you have a cycle or a hand pulled rickshaw which is very common here. The cycle rickshaws can’t pass through these lanes.  Also it is very easy to get lost here. I was lucky to have a good guide to guide me through these roads…… else considering the inverted compass in my brain this would have been the perfect maze to get lost in.Â
Tea stalls in Kolkata
This is a pic of a tea stall in Kolkata. Â Interestingly this pic was taken at the pinnacle of general election and has the posters of two political leaders waving at you from the corner of the pic. Kolkata is a politically charged place. Anybody and everybody there has an opinion on the political scenario….. The three topics that everyone there talks about over a cup of tea at an ADDA (get together) is weather, politics and their wide range of illnesses…… and ohhhh I forgot Football!!!
Tea stall like this one is a predominant feature in the corner of most streets of Kolkata. The tea stall owners also sell biscuits, chocolates, mint, cigarettes and sometimes some fried eatables to accompany the tea and a paraphernalia of eatables.
This tea stall is close to my mum and dad’s home in Kolkata. I like this pic especially because as a kid i used to love going to this shop. They had these sweet and sour lollipops made with tamarind and jaggery and cumin which I used to love. In my vacations my aunt would buy me two biscuits from this shop every evening. Sometimes she would give me a coin and ask me to get two biscuits for myself.
The shop has since then changed hands a lot of times. The initial owners I remember were my mother’s childhood friend so I would get lots of freebies.
Going to Kolkata during holidays was fun. My mum and dad live closeby so everybody who lived in and around mom and dad’s place were related to me from either side. Either that or they were my mum or dad’s friends. So as soon I would go there people would ask me when I had come for my visit. I was known to all by face. This was a contrast to living in the city where nobody knew you. I resemble my mom too much…… so much that in that place I needed no introduction.
Things have changed these days. The entire demographics of the place has changed. The oldies have either passed away or they have moved for better opportunities in other cities. It is not the same anymore. When I was younger I could knock on any door and just have a glass of water or be welcomed in their home….. made me feel I belonged there. Not anymore….. it doesnt feel like home anymore…… nor do I long to go back there…… in the instances that I have held on to memories and gone there, I have returned disillusioned. My grandparents have passed on and my uncles who were close to me have either passed away or are too old to understand my presence. But yet the place holds the first memories of my childhood…… and all of them happy. So it will remain close to me.
I recently read a beautiful quote by Dalai Lama which I must share.
“Iâm now nearly 79. At 16 I took responsibility for Tibet and lost my freedom. At 24 I lost my country and became a refugee. I’ve met difficulties, but as the saying goes: âWherever youâre happy, you can call home, and whoever is kind to you is like your parents.â Iâve been happy and at home in the world at large. Living a meaningful life isnât just a matter of money; itâs about dedicating your life to helping others.”
Cycle Rickshaw on the bylanes of Kolkata
I took this pic in one of the bylanes of my native place in Kolkata. Cycle rickshaw is one the easiest modes of transport in Kolkata. The narrow bylanes make it impossible for huge vehicles to reach these places also it is one of the cheapest modes of transport. With the oust of hand pulled rickshaws from the streets of Kolkata because of it being a human right violation, the rickshaw walas who are out of job are now resorting to the cycle rickshaws as a means to earn their livelihood.
I have very fond memories of this part of Kolkata, my native place. This pic was taken on a very sunny day. It has the humble rickshaw wala probably returning after dropping his passenger to their destination. The election season has the various political parties put up their posters on the walls. You can notice the Congress party leader waving from the poster. The monochrome effect gives the pic the old world charm something I always associate with Kolkata.
Hand pulled rickshaw, Kolkata
I took this pic in one of the very narrow bylanes of Kolkata. The hand pulled rickshaw still runs in some parts of Kolkata. The lanes in these areas are so narrow that it would have been congested with the auto rickshaws. These are pics from my trip to Kolkata last week. With the mercury hitting a high of 40 plus degrees Celsius, it was difficult to venture out to take pics. In the few occasions that I tried…… the camera malfunctioned because of the excessive heat plus I was actually melting in the sweltering heat. The rickshaws that I clicked were too fast to capture on my cell. This pic is of my aunt when she came to meet me. She had hired a rickshaw to take her to and fro. I took this opportunity to take some shots….. Also the rickshaw puller agreed to get photographed as he waited for my aunt.
The third pic I took with my cell. A Bengali babu travels in one of the rickshaws in the bylanes. It has the rickshaw puller in motion and running. They are too fast and in very less light it was difficult to take good shots.
I mono-chromed it to get the old world feel. Kolkata seems so much unchanged every time I visit that the constancy comes alive in the monochrome. The vibrant Bengali colors are of-course missing but the black and white gives the pic a different feel that I like.
Dakshineshwar Temple, Kolkata
For me….. Dakshineshwar Temple is one the most beautiful temple in the world. Not because it is a vital part of my childhood but also because it is for me the beginnings of my belief in the Almighty. My childhood memories of going to meet my family and grandparents at my native place in Kolkata has always included a trip to the temple.
My family is a strong believer of Kali to whom the temple is dedicated. In fact she is our family Goddess and this temple is the epitome of the belief. Going to the temple is actually homecoming for me. All my holidays in Kolkata or for that matter even all trips to the city of Kolkata have never been complete without a visit to Ma.
Dakshineshwar temple is dedicated to Ma Bhavatarini. It was built in 1855 by Rani Rashmoni the then Zamindar of Dakshineshwar. The temple is built in the nav-ratna architecture, a Bengal form of architecture. You can see many forms of this architecture in the terracotta temples in Bishnupur and Bankura districts of West Bengal.
In Hinduism any Kali or Devi temple cannot be complete without a Shiva temple. Dakshineshwar too is flanked by the 12 Jyotirlinga Shiva Temples and the best part is….. it opens up to the Ganga (or the river Ganges). There is something really peaceful about the Ganga. I am not wildly spiritual but the mere dipping of feet in the Ganga calms you. The bathing ghat at Dakshineshwar is where numerous people take a dip at the Ganga before offering their prayers at the Kali temple.
You cant really talk of Dakshineshwar and Ma Kali without mentioning Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Swami Vivekananda. They are almost synonymous. Dakshineshwar was the grounds which helped to Gadai (Ramakrishna) reach heights of spirituality.
For me this temple is most peaceful, Â most cleanest and the most spiritual of all temples. Too many superlatives ehh :D……… but its just the way I feel.
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| The main temple built in 1855 |
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| These are 6 of the total 12 Shiva Jyotirlinga temples. |
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| People taking a dip in the Ganga ghat…… across the Ganga is Belur. |
Kolkata street (2)
Another pic taken on the streets of Kolkata. This is the corner of a building. The pic was taken at magic hour (dusk). The details of buildings with their wooden shutters, the street lights, tube wells which are a prominent feature of the city, the corner tea stalls present in every corner…. bengalis love tea đ …… are some of the details I tried to capture.
Kolkata street
Took this pic in the lanes of kolkata. The cycle rickshaws and absolutely clear skies makes this city unique.
