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If you want a city with a soul: come to Calcutta

Most modern Indian cities strive to rise above ethnicity.

Tell anybody who lives in Bombay that he lives in a Maharashtrian city and (unless of course, you are speaking to Bal Thackeray) he will take immediate offence. We are cosmopolitan, he will say indignantly. Tell a Delhiwalla that his is a Punjabi city (which, in many ways, it is) and he will respond with much self-righteous nonsense about it being the nation's capital, about the international composition of the city's, elite etc.

 

And tell a Bangalorean that he lives in a Kannadiga city and you'll get lots of techno-gaff about the internet revolution and about how Bangalore is even more cosmopolitan than Bombay.

 

   But, the only way to understand what Calcutta is about is recognize that the city is essentially Bengali. What's more, no Bengali minds you saying that. Rather, he is proud of the fact. Calcutta's strengths and weaknesses mirror those of the Bengali character. It has the drawbacks: the sudden passions, the cheerful chaos, the utter contempt for mere commerce, the fiery response to the smallest provocation. And it has the strengths (actually, I think of the drawbacks as strengths in their own way). Calcutta embodies the Bengali love of culture; the triumph of intellectualism over greed; the complete transparency of all emotions, the disdain with which hypocrisy and insincerity are treated; the warmth of genuine humanity; and the supremacy of emotion over all other aspects of human existence.

 

   That's why Calcutta is not for everyone. You want your cities clean and green; stick to Delhi. You want your cities, rich and impersonal; go to Bombay. You want them high-tech and full of draught beer; Bangalore's your place. But if you want a city with a soul: come to Calcutta.

 

   When I look back on the years I've spent in Calcutta - and I come back so many times each year that I often feel I've never been away – I don't remember the things that people remember about cities. When I think of London, I think of the vast open spaces of Hyde Park. When I think of New York, I think of the frenzy of Times Square. When I think of Tokyo, I think of the bright lights of Shinjiku. And when I think of Paris, I think of the Champs Elysee. But when I think of Calcutta, I never think of any one place. I don't focus on the greenery of the maidan, the beauty of the Victoria Memorial, the bustle of Burra Bazar, the splendour of the new Howrah Bridge.

 

   I think of people. Because, finally, a city is more than bricks and mortars, street lights and tarred roads. A city is the sum of its people. And who can ever forget or replicate the people of Calcutta?

 

   When I first came to live here, I was told that the city would grow on me. What nobody told me was that the city would change my life. It was in Calcutta that I learnt about true warmth; about simple human decency; about love and friendship; about emotions and caring; about truth and honesty. I learnt other things too. Coming from Bombay as I did, it was a revelation to live in a city where people judged each other on the things that really mattered; where they recognized that being rich did not make you a better person - in fact, it might have the opposite effect. I learnt also that if life is about more than just money, it is about the things that other cities ignore; about culture, about ideas, about art, and about passion.

 

   In Bombay, a man with a relatively low income will salt some of it away for the day when he gets a stock market tip. In Calcutta, a man with exactly the same income will not know the difference between a debenture and a dividend. But he will spend his money on the things that matter. Each morning, he will read at least two newspapers and develop sharply-etched views on the state of the world. Each evening, there will be fresh (ideally, fresh-water or river) fish on his table. His children will be encouraged to learn to dance or sing. His family will appreciate the power of poetry. And for him, religion and culture will be in inextricably bound together.

 

"Wherever you go, a bit of Calcutta will go with you. I know, because it's happened to me. And every Puja, I am overcome by the magic of Bengal. It's a feeling that'll never go away."

   Ah religion! Tell outsiders about the importance of Puja in Calcutta and they'll scoff. Don't be silly, they'll say. Puja is a religious festival. And Bengal has voted for the CPM since 1977. How can godless Bengal be so hung up on a religions festival? I never know how to explain them that to a Bengali, religion consists of much more than shouting Jai Shri Ram or pulling down somebody's mosque. It has little to do with meaningless ritual or sinister political activity.

 

   The essence of Puja is that all the passions of Bengal converge: emotion, culture, the love of life, the warmth of being together, the joy of celebration, the pride in artistic expression and yes, the cult of the goddess. It may be about religion. But is about much more than just worship.

 

   In which other part of India would small, not particularly well-off, localities vie with each other to produce the best pandals? Where else could puja pandals go beyond religion to draw inspiration from everything else? In the years I lived in Calcutta, the pandals featured Amitabh Bachchan, Princess Diana and even Saddam Hussain!

 

   Where else would children cry with the sheer emotional power of Dashami, upset that the Goddess had left their homes? Where else would the whole city get goose-flesh when the dhakis first begin to beat their drums? Which other Indian festival - in any part of the country - is so much about food, about going from one roadside stall to another, following your nose as it trails the smells of cooking?

 

   To understand Puja, you must understand Calcutta. And to understand Calcutta, you must understand the Bengali. It's not easy. Certainly, you can't do it till you come and live here, till you let Calcutta suffuse your being, invade your bloodstream and steal your soul. But once you have, you'll love Calcutta forever.

 

   Wherever you go, a bit of Calcutta will go with you. I know, because it's happened to me. And every Puja, I am overcome by the magic of Bengal. It's a feeling that'll never go away.

 

 

Note: I first wrote about Calcutta and Puja over a decade ago. The piece only appeared in the Puja supplement of the Calcutta edition of the HT. The following year I did another piece for that year's Puja supplement.

 

   Those pieces appeared only in Calcutta and I forgot all about them. But a few years ago, they resurfaced suddenly on the Internet. Every year at Puja, I find that people mail them to each other. I no longer have the original piece I wrote nor do I have access to those Puja annuals which were printed in relatively small quantities. So, I am not sure whether the pieces floating around on the Internet are edited versions of the originals.

 

   But so many people have asked me about those pieces that I thought I would carry one on the site. It's not the original. It's one of the net versions. And that, I guess, is good enough given how special Calcutta during Puja is to me.


 

CommentsComments

  • michaelarrington 31 Oct 2023

    The Durga Puja festival is described as a perfect example of how these elements come together, with people from different backgrounds joining in the celebrations.

  • Abhijit Ghoshal 07 Jun 2023

    Excellent piece of information. I was born and brought up in the city and got my engineering from Jadavpur University. I stayed for about forty years out of the city of Kolkata and missed the city. Now I am back and enjoying.

  • Friedrich Haussman 28 Dec 2022

    I was a young German engineer, fresh out of Technical School in Munich and in Calcutta around 1979 for a UN Mission with Mother Teresa. It eventually turned into a 7 year stay, and even though I left the city in 1986, it's memories, smells and people will always remain with me. Pardon me for my poor English.

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