Calcutta Blues

After over three decades of the Left Front's rule, the Calcuttans decided to overthrow the government and welcome a change. The lady thereby elected to power was endowed with immense hope and expectations.

Alas! We have moved from bad to worse, to say the least. The state of health and hygiene is deplorable, standard of education doesn't seem to be progressing and the crime rate is increasing at the speed at which one can cook Maggi Noodles! Probably with Shahrukh Khan as our new brand ambassador, the rise in crime can be accredited to the success of Don!
In the face of this degradation all that Madam Chief Minister is engaged in, is changing the colour of buildings and bridges and if she were given her free will, even taxis. We didn't know that in our bid to press for change we had called upon misery marked by blues, replacing the famous 'laal jhanda' of the Left Front.

She has declared that the Writer's Building be painted blue but little does she realize heritage structures like the Writer's Building and the Alipore bridge lose their historical charm, they do not need a make-over, not at the hands of Mamta Banerjee at least!
She has made it to all prime-time news shows and even made a mark on newspaper headlines by her take on the Park Street rape case. An individual citizen of the city knocked the doors of the legal system to appeal for justice and Madam CM turned the whole story around. Why does she think she and her party are at the epicenter of all that takes place?
Being a lady in the office of supreme power of the state she was expected to handle the situation a little better than this. Even if she thought a rape case wasn't a 'big deal' she didn't have to bring party politics into this scene.

What are we heading for? With this so-called iron lady leading us in her clumsy, careless and impulsive ways, what is in store for Calcutta? Striving for decades to release ourselves from the infamous oxymoron of being an under-developed metropolis, we tried our fate by trusting green instead of red. Sadly, the green gang, being unsure of itself, has discovered blue to be its new favourite!

Taxis: An artery of the Calcutta Transport System

Taxis in Calcutta are a vital part of the transport system. Mumbai has its local trains; Delhi is known for its upcoming Metro Railway, Gujarat for its local autos.

In Calcutta- we have all of the above and what is most interesting is that all of these exist in almost affectionate co-relation. Autos, buses, local trains, underground railways, tram and of course, taxis- are all in synchronized operation in the City of Joy. Each of these stay within their own precincts, ply in their own areas, serve their own clichéd classes from the population.

The age-old yellow ambassador, with a year old embellishment- the blue horizontal line across its body, is popular in Calcutta. It is as if the passenger of a taxi privatizes a public mode of transport for a certain journey. It is a sort of a set-apart means of conveyance among all other vehicles of mass transport.

The ‘cabs’ in Calcutta have undergone a sea-change – from being black and yellow colored (in exact halves) to sporting an only-yellow look. From calculating fares on hand operated meters placed outside the windshield to digital ones placed on the inside. And then there is the new blue strip of paint that runs across the cab with the registration number painted in white. The most recent change is the Radio Cab, the Call- a – Cab service which hasn’t really caught up in the city yet, but is seen around in small numbers; as if making a mark even by scattered presence.

Thus, the taxis in this cosmopolitan city kept pace as the other aspects changed- slowly but steadily. It is interesting to observe the life of the man behind the wheel of this yellow car. How he has grown with the complexities of calculating the fair er, fare amount; with Inox replacing Elite as passenger favorite; with flyovers becoming another ‘floor’ on the road; with the changes in traffic rules and compliances; with the upsurge of one-ways and no-entries- the taxi walla  became the taxi driver and is now a ‘cabbie.’

Here’s an insight into the life of a Mr know-it-all of Calcutta. A man who’s knowledge about lanes and by lanes outdoes Google Maps. His love for the city is second to none- for as long as the city thrives he will continue to earn a living and as the population multiplies his earning will also double-up.

The following post will offer a sneak peek into the diary of Pramod Sahai, who is a taxi driver in Calcutta. He has received education up to Standard VIII and is thus well versed in English. But little do his passengers realize that their driver understands their conversation in ‘inglees’

Pramod drives a taxi owned by a man called Nandaram Mishra. He pays a daily commission to the man in lieu of the vehicle, and drives across the city, everyday of the week. Pramod’s only family is his mother and he stays with her in shanty off Sarat Bose Road. He writes his self notes regularly, addressing the inanimate diary as Master.

These notes are written by the street light, because by the time the 30-something year old man finds time for himself at the end of the day, his mother goes off to sleep. He spends his me-minutes, under a street light in an over-crowded slum. He writes to remember his education, he writes to remember his days, he writes to express his thoughts, he writes for himself.

Clay turns creative!

If you're a Calcuttan, or even remotely related to the City of Joy, you know what Durga Puja means. Its a spirit of celebration that overshadows all other festivals! The whole city is in a mode of rejuvenation and rejoicing the homecoming of Goddess Durga. According to mythological studies, Ma Durga is said to descend to Earth during this time of the year, and she chooses her maternal home- Calcutta. She arrives with all her four children, and brings along merriment, joy, splendor, glamour and everything else that a festival can possibly bring to a region!
Two days ahead of this Bengali festival, here's unveiling the Run-up-for-Durga Puja. The Goddess in making- her eyes change expressively and animatedly through the process of the making of the idol, her worship and conclusively, just as she is immersed at the end of the festivity.
Trying to capture these splendidly divine moments in a memory-chip!

The magnificent eyes

The hand that shapes the hand

Minute details 

Tinctures and Colours!

Just clay

Her lion in making

Mahishasur- the devil.
Its fascinating how the same hands give shape to the Divine and the Devil

Half-way through

Her Children.

The hand,er, Face behind it all!

Heads in a row

Eyes are a brush stroke away!

Silver hair brings experience to excel with the Golden paint!