Dandiya may be a form of traditional dance in Western part of India mainly in Gujarat, but it does also appeal to the people in Calcutta big time. Dandiya nights are famous during the Navratri (Durga Puja) and the best part about these nights are that people from all castes come to the fore to celebrate the grand festival season. “The boy” is a great fan of those memorable nights and craves to indulge in the cultural richness once again around same time every year.
The revelry of the grandest celebration gives way to Deepawali, another big festival celebrated across India. While the rest of India adores the Goddess of wealth – Maa Lakshmi on this day, Bengalis worship Maa Kali. Kalighat Temple is the center of attraction on this day. Red hibiscus flowers are offered to Maa Kali. Animals are also sacrificed and offered to the Goddess. This night is unique enough to be captured as a specialty of the city of joy.
Just when others tend to think that the festival time is over for the year according to Hindu calendar, Santa Claus ensures to uplift celebration mood once again at Calcutta. Several ancient churches are visited by thousands of people on Christmas Eve as well as on the day itself. St. Paul’s Cathedral at Maidan in particular is a place of worship for many of them. And to top all this, a walk on the glittering Park Street makes the day even more wonderful. The street does not look any lesser than a bride. Wonderful experience this one! Oh Calcutta!
Birla Planetarium, Science City, Birla Temple, Dakshineshwar Kali Temple and Bhootnath Temple at Nimtolla Ghat are other unique places of devotion, belief and joy in the city. Ramkrishna Temple at Belur offers great display of architectural work and is absolute joy to visit and cherish for a long long time.
Talking of uniqueness, it is impossible to leave out the Metro Trains that connects extreme north part of the city to the extreme south. True, Delhi and Mumbai are catching up rapidly in terms of Metro Trains, but the first always remains special in the heart and... in the mind. Metros are perhaps biggest lifeline for commuters in Calcutta. Over several years, it has made sure that traffic is still better than other big cities and office goers reach office in shortest possible time. Leave aside the days of Bandhs and Strikes that Calcutta is notorious for. Leave aside the greater contentment quotient of Aam Janta that is prevalent in their day to day life. Metro remains special to everyone who has lived in Calcutta and embarked on that journey from Dumdum to Tollygunge or from Shyambazar to Rabindra Sadan. Special Indeed!
What about a coffee at The Coffee House! I fail to describe in words the joy of having adda with friends at this place. Recently, one of my friends shared this link to a song sung by Manna Dey… just says it all :-)
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2 comments:
Great post Vishal - brought me back memories of my time in Calcutta. Festival times is well known of course. The metro - was and is a pride. Unfortunately, for most of my time in Bengal, it was metro construction time; so total chaos on the road. Couldn't enjoy the "benefit" for long - those days Calcutta defined the word traffic jam.
And India Coffee House - wah wah. I swear the same waiters, the same chairs, the same dirt of 25 years ago, exists even now !! Nothing has changed.
And what a link - super great.
@ Ramesh - Thank you so very much!
Yes, I swear the same situation will be there at Coffee House even now. This quality of Calcutta is so special. Nothing seems to change over the period.
Metro has reaped great "benefits" to the people and continues to do so... the more I think about Calcutta, the more I miss the city! :-)
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