Lal Sarkar!

Welcome to the land of the communists - the last really strong bastion of the Leftists outside Cuba, and the Americans or the CIA can't do a thing about it - and are extremely frustrated about this, if the conspiracy theories of hardcore Bengal Leftists are to be believed. :) But as with most things Red in Calcutta, we take this with a pinch of salt - despite the stern gaze of Netaji and the Forward Bloc flag fluttering around him. For, the Forward Bloc that he founded is for practical purposes a has-been in the world of everyday politics, while the CPI (M) rules the roost.

But while the Forward Bloc may well be a spent force, it is clear that the Red Army still holds sway in Bengal - and will probably go on doing so, for many more years. I took this snap of a so-called revolutionary poster pasted outside Writers' Building, the seat of the Secretariat of the West Bengal government. And, of course, loads of snaps of the building in question.

To my mind, Writers' has been synonymous with Leftist rule, even though it's not technically so. I mean, during the era of Congress rule, it was probably the Congress trade unions which held sway there. Premankur tells me, the place derived its name from the clerks of the East India Company who used to work there - and were called (imaginatively enough) writers.

O, and yes, he cracked the silly joke about how writers are intrinsically Leftist, and hence you have the CPI(M) holding sway there. Har-de-har-har. :)

That's a view of Writers' from the corner of St Andrews Church.

Andrew at the Court House

St Andrews Church stands at the head of Old Court House Street, right opposite Writers' Building, and for a second I confused it with St Johns Church, which is Calcutta's oldest church. Anyhow, St Andrews is pretty ancient too, completed in 1818 and built on the site of the first Court House (after which the street is named) of the English settlement.

As you can see, I have a thing for old churches, too. Premankur and I took the obligatory snaps, of course. :)

Allahabad in Calcutta

I have a thing for pillars. And I fell in love with these massive ones at the Allahabad Bank building at Dalhousie. The entire building is quite yummy, whitewashed and all, even though it's surrounded by utter commotion in the crowded district. :)

O, and of course, the clock on top was a must-snap!

Blue and Gold

Calcutta's notorious 'tin' buses were a grimy silver earlier - while the spanking new ones woe an unnatural gleam that you just knew wouldn't last the week. So imagine my surprise, when I drop down to Calcutta this time around and see them all painted... blue. I believe the drivers are as reckless as ever, though, so at least some things don't change! :)

And speaking of constant forces of nature, our Amby taxis are much the same as well. :) Amen...

Is That The Money Tree?

A five minute walk away from the Old Currency Office, you have the Calcutta arm of the Reserve Bank of India. As modern a building as its head office in Bombay, and as shocking an eyesore. I mean, there you have that huge building in the middle of all the old mansions of Horniman Circle in Bombay, and here you have this one in B.B.D. Bagh!

Much more pleasing to the eye are the RBI staff quarters, down there. Took a close-up of the pillars and first floor portico. :)

Mishti, Kashundi and Modhu

Streetfood at B.B.D. Bagh is to die for - where else would you get a mountain of chicken biryani for as low as Rs 12/- ???? Not just the biryani, you have tonnes of other food to choose from - and of course, the Bengali mishti that the colleagues of every Bong expat beg him to bring back after a trip to the homeland. :) See and drool, up there.

Also tucked away in the lanes, you have these vendors selling neatly packed bottles of Bong style mustard (kashundi) and home-made honey (modhu).

All about the money... dum dum dadada... :)

Talking about grand old buildings in the City of Palaces, the first in-depth snap session was the Old Currency Office. Gorgeous green shutters, like the ones we have at our home - yea yea, we have one of those old mansions to live in ourselves - and a great door emblazoned with the Asoka's Lions emblem, and i just had to pose for one. :)

Coconut Factory at Dalhousie

Coconut Water - nothing exclusively Bengali about it, unless you say it the Bong way: daaber jol. :)

I hate daaber jol!

As you can see, Premankur quite loves the stuff.

City of Palaces...

B.B.D. Bagh, formerly known as Dalhousie Square, is actually the part of Calcutta which lends it the name City of Palaces. This is the main financial district of the city, and houses most of the administrative buildings as well. The B, B and D come from three extremist Bengali freedom fighters, Binoy, Badal and Dinesh who lobbed bombs at some Brit policeman.

As far as grand architecture goes, this place takes top honours. The snap on top is of the North British and Mercantile Company Building, while the one below shows a quaint old signboard atop one of the other old mansions.

When I first saw Fort in Bombay, my first thought was: OMG, this is so like Dalhousie! And it is, really. It's the same character. Perhaps, with better character and many more 'firsts'. As Premankur kept telling me, you can safely say the first 'this' or the first 'that' with most things in Calcutta, really! :)

Old Guns and Older Buildings

While the first stop of my Homecoming Tour (a la Kylie *grin*) was the Esplanade metro stop and Raj Bhawan, my blog buddy and city guide Premankur walked me over to the Ordinance Factory (up above), and from there we hotfooted it to Dalhousie Square, also called B.B.D. Bagh in central Calcutta.

As Premankur would tell you, I am quite the camera hog. But then, you already witnessed that with the Delhi trip. :)

So while we were traipsing around, chitchatting about how nonsensical a Bong I am, and taking snaps of countless verandahs and porticos and pillars and buildings, there were also loads of dear ole livinghigh and his pearly-whites.

Where Lions Roar...

Raj Bhavan in Calcutta. There's a silly little story in my family, how my brother during his infant years would throw a tantrum every now and then that he must see a lion. And that's when the driver would be fetched, the car would be piled upon, and the entire family would drive over to Dalhousie (BBD Bag) to Raj Bhavan, so that my teeny-weeny spoil lil brat (older) brother could be satisfied at the four lions straddling each of the four gates of the complex. :)

Thankfully, I was never such a tantrum kid!

But the building we know as Raj Bhavan used to be Government House earlier. It used to be the seat of the British Indian Empire, till the capitol shifted to New Delhi from Calcutta in 1912. That's why the place is much grander than any of the other state Raj Bhavans, second only to Dehi's Rashtrapati Bhavan.

This, by the way, is the start of a series of Calcutta posts - from my visit to the homeland March 17- March 25, 2007. :)

O come o ye faithful....!

Cute little church at Colaba Causeway. Right next to the police station, which itself is housed in a deliciously oooollllddd house, and looks thoroughyl adorable. I forget the name of the church, though, shucks.

Behind it, you can see the tall tower of that great big montrosity Hafeez Contractor has created out of a heritage structure on Cuffe Parade.

Gateway To/Of India

Always used to get confused between the Gateway of India here and Delhi's India Gate. That is, till I actually lived in Delhi for some time in 2004, and that settled matters. Fell in love with India Gate, after having spent some memorable moments there, but Gateway here in Bombay has caught me off guard with awe at times too. It's the whole BIG thing, as silly as it sounds. The idea of royalty and all that jazz. Yes yes, everyone knows that the Gateway was built by the British Indian government to commemmorate the visit of the Prince of Wales (George his name was then, I think, current Queen Elizabeth's dad), and thereafter, all the action shifted to Delhi which displaced Calcutta to become the new capitol of India


So as you can see, while being an absolute egoist, I find history quite fascinating! :)

Full Name: The Taj Mahal Palace And Towers

Welcome to Bombay's most famous hotel. The glitzy Taj Mahal, no relative to Agra's famous tourist spot, sees thousands of well-heeled travellers every week, when it's not playing host to some of the biggest corporate shindigs in India's financial capital.

On a less regal note, it's also used for emergency toilet stops by yours truly when I'm in the neighbourhood.

Fendi would be aghast!...

Pegasus Rides in Bombay

Have always been completely hooked on to these gaudy silver chariots that go up and down the Gateway road and Nariman Point, offering pleasure rides. Appeals to the ditsy drama persona inside me, and I make no bones about it all. :)

Would be simply dandy to ride upto a club at night, while partying, on one of these. By Invitation Only, what the fcuk is that?!

Arabian Sea, off the Gateway of India

Took this pic, a couple of Saturdays ago, when I went shopping with Stephen to Colaba. We poked in to all the shops there, didn't buy much, and then walked over to the Taj Hotel to take a leak. And, o yes, we played tourists and took snaps of the sea and the gateway. :)

...And then there was Light....!

It's crazy, the number of lamps I have in my li'l room. Have bought bulbs and bulb holders and wires etc from the same electrician, and whenever he sees me walking down the road towards his shop, he asks straight away what wattage bulb I want. Scary shit.

But I love them. I think they look damn neat. Diffused lighting, yellow and not so bright on the eyes. There's the garden mashaal up there, whose gas cannister I replaced with a bulb. The cannister holds fake plumes now, ae you can see down there, and it's against this nice blue vase which has a bulb inside.


Then there's the red and black polka dotted vase which is teamed up with a paper mache lamp shade from Fabindia, with my rakhis from last year strewn on the four sides. :)


And finally, there's the blue candle holder with four coloured candles, given to me by Sharon in January. Used as decoration right now, but would be a deadly romantic aid, methinks.

Jack-o-Lantern

The new lamps have been attached to my window extension. The plan is: move out a mattress there and new cushions, and voila, I have my little own verandah reading spot.

Ok, ok, so calling it a 'verandah' is a gross misrepresentation, but wat-eva!

It's pretty!