New Girl in the City

Hey everyone!!

Hope all’s well.

Anyways, here I am, finally mustered some courage to write a blog post. Is it bad to feel jittery? I hope it doesn’t matter.

Coming to the post, I know the topic looks all clichéd but I thought why not share something about the city I relocated to. And this city Is rightly called City of Joy - Calcutta. Before I moved here, one of my friends suggested that I read the book City of Joy to mentally prepare myself to face the city. But experience is altogether different from reading, na?

The first Impression:

Landed NSCBA and was on my way to Camac Street where my accommodation was arranged. The weather was fine. Humidity and Pollution are to watch out for. Not surprising almost all metropolitan cities face this problem. The surprising factor was, those huge huge flyovers criss-crossing the city was all black. Not a hint of paint on them. Now, this you don’t find in a major metro city. Dirty roads, worn out buildings, city buses and now these flyovers convinced me that the city is not well developed and immediately did I dislike the city. People are rude and judgmental. No one speaks English here. Lot of Immigrants and everyone speaks Bangla and not even Hindi (I don’t know Hindi too – like thoda thoda!!). People are not friendly and they don’t smile at each other. Even If I smile at them, they don’t smile back at me. A non-friendly, dirty city. Uff!!!

source ~ thehindu.com

               

Where am I from??

OK, I am from a small town in Tamil Nadu, Erode which is sandwiched between Salem and Coimbatore, two tier-2 cities. This Erode never made me feel like I was stuck In a town because all those dress shopping were done in Coimbatore and Erode did have high end departmental stores to boast for. All my holidays were either spent in Coimbatore or in Bangalore.

I moved to Bangalore for collegiate. And boy, was I mesmerized by the beauty of the city. Awesome weather, lots of malls, great places to hangout, and EVERYONE TALKED IN ENGLISH. I never had the feeling of being an outsider because even the autowala spoke English. Kannada and Hindi were widely spoken and I never had the need to learn a new language because English was always there for me. My aunt house, well cultured people, not so rude autowalas, beautiful weather, huge spectacular buildings, etc. made me instantly appoint Bangalore as my second home. I was so happy there until the feeling of moving to Kolkata kicked in.

Just wanted to double check whether Kolkata would be as awesome as Bangalore (or at least Coimbatore), I immediately booked a flight to Kolkata to get a feel of the city. #NowReadMyFirstImpression

Second and lasting Impression:

No, I am not going to write about Howrah, Victoria Memorial, Eden Garden, City’s love for football, Mocambo & Flury’s etc. The topic is clichéd and talking about these things will be over the top clichéd.

It’s been 10 months since I moved to the city. I’d been wanting to write this post since 9 months, just a month after I moved In, but always post-poned waiting to dislike the city In any manner. Oh-oh that didn’t happen! Kolkata is one of the oldest cities of India and has rich cultural heritage to it. The vintage aura is all over the place and you can feel it. The tram, the vintage buildings and the language they speak - The glory of the city hasn’t faded. People do mind their own business but if you ask them for a help, they come out of their way to help you and guide you. Yes, the city has forced me to learn a new language and that’s been a pleasure.  

Q: Am I annoyed that people don’t talk English? 

A: Absolutely no, coz this reminds me of TN and the rich cultural heritage that we have always been proud of. By the way, we still haven’t allowed Hindi in our state.

Q: Am I annoyed that not much malls are present here to hangout?

A: Absolutely no, street shopping is fun as well. I do my shopping at New Market as well as Simaaya.

Q: Are people stingy?

A: No, they are spend thrifts.

Q: Am I annoyed that bridges are not painted? 

A: Absolutely no, those bridges speak COAL to me and lastly I checked most of the fly-overs are painted blue and white and the whole stretch lit up in serial lights. It’s a delight to watch at night.

Source ~  namasteindiatrip.com

                                                                                                          

I get to experience all four seasons in this city and oh-so-winter is the most beautiful climate here. The city is one of the best corporations. It is lot better than BBMP of Bangalore. The city may not be clean but it Is green. SO much green that it has lots of trees to absorb everyday pollution. Pond in every area and parks at every street, it is better than Bangalore in many ways.

Source ~  indiatimes.com

Let’s talk about the much dreaded traffic. The traffic is huge but there is always a momentum in traffic and the vehicle doesn’t stay at one place for two bloody hours like Bangalore. Btw, the city has well connected transport network and metro has been operating since 1984.

Source ~  indiatoday.in

Every other month there is a celebration coming up and oh-so-colourful Durga Pujo is the most happening here. Calcutta is defined by this festival. The city gathers together to celebrate this festival irrespective of religion. Pandals are organised in every street and you can feel that distinct scent of Durga Pujo in the air, literally (this beautiful fragrance is felt only in the period of Durga Pujo). I noticed a strange thing that brought smile to my lips. Boys are pampered very much and girls are all over the place. I witnessed girls dancing dappanguthu while boys walking silently in almost all Ma Durga processions. Cool, na?

This morning I witnessed this. And I just realized, love the city and all you see will be beautiful. What a beautiful city!!!