Kolkata Kaleidoscope 1st day- Walking along Old Calcutta.

Its not everyday that you get to have a near close view of one of the world’s notorious red light areas ,an opportunity to walk through the alleys of North Kolkata with the hand-pulled rickshaws almost running you over. There is something distinct about North Kolkata as you would probably hear from every Calcuttan. While its dirty and congested ,one cannot deny that the narrow alleys retain the characteristic charm of the old Calcutta that you might not find in the clean and sophisticated areas of south Kolkata. This was not our first trip to the heritage sites of Calcutta and this time as we had intended to explore the more rarely-visited corners of the city’s cultural past, we embarked on this journey with the God’s blessings at Thanthaniya Kalibari . Our first destination was a pleasant surprise . Vivekananda’s ancestral house is marvelous with its newly renovated interiors that have still retained the essence of the original house. With the winding staircases and vast courtyard, parts of the house reminded us of the Jorasanko thakurbari. The ambience compliments the spiritual side of its renowned resident and it is evident that Ramkrishna Mission along with the aid of Archeological Society of India has indeed done a brilliant job.

Quite contrary to this , the Sovabazar Rajbari ended up disappointing us when we went in to find the grand courtyard adorned with garish pink, blue and orange cloth for the purpose of some uncultured stranger’s wedding. Not only had the courtyard lost its beauty with the shamianas and pandals being constructed there,the plastic flowers of almost every vibrant colour on earth just added to the new-found despicable adornment of the Rajbari. Like the Rajbari , we had been equally enthusiastic about our visit to the Basubati on Baghbazar Street ,especially after having recently seen the movie 22e srabon. However after having walked for about 15 minutes ,looking at just a board showing ‘’Sister Nivedita’s House’’ without the remote sign of any entrance when we did find this dilapidated building that resembled nothing short of a haunted house from the suburbs of British Calcutta, we were not pleased to know that we were not allowed in. Basubati is beautiful if you have the instincts to appreciate all that it stands for. The house stands tall at the end of a lane on Baghbazar Street and the lion head carvings are remnants of the imperial past that this mansion still holds onto along with the tall pillars that are characteristic of Old Calcutta mansions. The cobwebs and the bramble bushes add to the sinister ambience of the place that probably only allows shooting teams inside and not the benign students who might be keen on appreciating the interiors of this house with any profitless aesthetic motive.

Once we were done with Basubati , we took a bus back to New Market since we preferred not to walk along the road that passes the infamous red light area of Sonagachhi. Even while seated in a bus our curiosities could not refrain us from looking outside the window as we passed this area. Even in broad daylight one cannot help noticing several women in garish make-up and weirdly matched dresses of vibrant colours and designs posing in a distinct manner in an attempt to start business as soon as possible. The expressions on their faces are noticeably in contrast to the vibrancy of their attire and as we ,the privileged curious lot pass by ,all we can do is wonder ,sigh and then forget all about it.

Our giggles returned as we found New Market already adorned for Christmas and ventured into the tourist hub of Free school street only to discover numerous shops of variety and interest where we wished that our purses had more money to spare. Last but not the least ,the tram ride from Esplanade to Hatibagan cheered us up like always as we passed through Central Calcutta watching ,ogling, absorbing and waiting to experience more the next day.