Images of Kolkata - Calcutta

Our India adventure has been moving along at a great clip! Since our last post...

• We have visited Mumbai and Pune.
• In the part of Mumbai known as Thane, there was a wonderful extended visit with longtime friend Andi Eicher, and our first opportunity to meet his delightful family--Sheba, Asha and Enoch.
• While in Thane, we also made some very special new friends--Anshuman, Alankrita, and (newborn) Anindita Singh. It's a very small world because Anshuman hails from Adra.
• Another highlight in a different area of Mumbai was a visit to the classroom of former 3rd grade student Keya Banerjee. Keya is doing a fabulous job with her 44 fourth graders in one of the schools of the Bombay Municipal Corporation.
• In Pune, we were treated royally by Frene Irani. The hospitality in her lovely flat was second to none, and she made sure we saw why she loves her home town.
• Upon arrival back in Mussoorie, we have begun the process of moving into our third apartment. At last, we are in the place that we will call home every year when we come to India. It's a small flat, but it will make a lovely home indeed.
• We attended the wedding of GEMS kindergarten teacher Soni in Sainji village.
• In the process of trying to hang curtains in our new flat, Lynn fell and broke her left wrist. That resulted in surgery yesterday to install a titanium plate at Max Hospital in Dehradun... and that's where we are now. We've spent two nights in the hospital, where I am serving as Lynn's "attendant". We will be discharged and go home either this afternoon or tomorrow morning.

Apart from a likely future post about our new flat, and maybe one about Soni's wedding, there won't be time to blog about what we've listed above. We do have four more sets of images from our visit to Kolkata to share here. 

Thousands of people from poor rural areas of India continue to flood into Kolkata in an effort to better their lives. Many of these folk create homes and establish businesses on city sidewalks. So, the first slideshow is entitled Living and Working on the Streets of Kolkata. The second set shows some of the Beautiful Faces we saw on Kolkata Streets. The third captures a few of the myriad ways of Moving People and Goods on Kolkata Streets. The final slide show is just a potpourri of Kolkata - Calcutta images.

Adra, Raghunathpur and Joychandi Pahar: 50 Year Old Memories Come Alive

This is another post with immediate family firmly in mind. A few other blog followers have also spent time in Adra and Raghunathpur and may especially appreciate the images. There are three slide shows. All images were taken last Friday during our visit to Adra and Raghunathpur. All were taken either by Lynn, or at least with her camera, because Paul had left the memory card for his camera in his computer in Kolkata!

T'he first slide show is of a walkabout in Adra--on both sides of the tracks. First there's the railway colony, which is remains a lovely place to live, little changed over the years. Then there's a walk along the Adra bazaar side of the tracks.

The second set of pictures starts on the 7 km ride from Adra to Raghunathpur, via the Joychandi rail crossing, by cycle rickshaw. Most of the photos in this long set are of the Raghunathpur mission compound. There has been considerable development on the compound over the years with the addition of a girls' boarding and Bengali medium school. The bungalow our family moved into in January of 1958, however, has hardly changed at all! Indeed, I remember much of the furniture!!! Since no one is currently living in the bungalow, we had free reign and enjoyed wonderful hospitality there.

Photos in the third show share our afternoon walk up to the relatively new temple on Joychandi Pahar. This outing was extra special because we were escorted by Assim Gope, his wife, two of his children, as well as a niece and nephew. Assim is the same age as Paul's brothers, and was a playmate on the compound when we lived in Raghunathpur. Assim's father Mangal was for many years the compound handyman. The street just outside what used to be the back gate of the compound is where Mangal's children have all built homes.

Adra Station

This post is dedicated to my twin brothers Ron and Don. As children, they loved everything about Indian Railways. There were a few things in this connection that seemed especially dear to their hearts, and the Adra Railway Station was one such source of joy.

Last week, while we were in Kolkata, we took an overnight train from Calcutta's Howrah Station to Adra on Thursday night--leaving Howrah at about 11 pm, and arriving in Adra right on time at about 5:30 in the morning. We made an extra effort to travell on one of the few remaining trains on Indian Railways that still offers "First Class" accommodation. We were delighted to score a coupe, or two-berth compartment. 

The slide show below is mostly a loving early morning look at the Adra Railway Station. There are a few late night shots taken in Howrah Station at the beginning.

Broadway Hotel - An Old Calcutta Gem in the Heart of Kolkata

We've just spent a week at the Broadway Hotel. It is situated in the very heart of downtown Kolkata, less than a 15 minute walk from just about everywhere. If one does need to venture a little further, the Chandni Chowk station of the efficient Kolkata Metro line is literally across the street. 

The Broadway was built in 1937, and offers numerous touches of old world charm and attentive service. This has added greatly to the enjoyment of a week in Kolkata that has gone by much too quickly. The hotel isn't air conditioned, and the hot water has to be carried into the bathrooms by bucket; but neither of these realities have been problematic. Ceilings are high with great old ceiling fans, and the bathrooms are clean and more than spacious enough for wonderful bucket baths! At just Rs. 875 (US$14) per night, the price hasn't been hard to take either.

Here's a slideshow that shares a little of our delightful Broadway experience, and what we consider a real "find" in the heart of Kolkata.

Calcutta the Beautiful!

 

Calcutta has become Kolkata, but it is still the same amazing city I called home as a boy. We're back for our first visit in many years, and I'm prouder than ever to be from Calcutta/Kolkata! Lynn and I arrived by train at Howrah Station on Monday morning, and we're staying in very the heart of the city at the Broadway Hotel.

I sometimes think Calcutta has suffered from an excess of bad publicity. It's true that too much of the city has always been crumbling. It's also true that it is never difficult to find vivid examples of gut wrenching poverty in this metropolis of nearly 5 million souls. But there are aspects of Kolkata that are highlighted less frequently. In this post, I want to share just a little of the architectural beauty and grandeur of Calcutta's downtown core.

After breakfast on Monday morning, and again yesterday morning, Lynn and I set out on walks from the Broadway. The slide show below includes only pictures taken on these two walks. The images illustrate the great architectural beauty of Kolkata, and these just scratch the surface of what might be shared. There's no Victoria Memorial, neither of the great bridges that span the Hooghly River, no Marble Palace, none of the temples, and only one of the churches. There is so very much more! All you see in the pictures here are buildings and streets that lie within a 15 minute walk of our hotel.