If I thought that the walk through Kalighat at night was an experience I would remember for a lifetime, then I was in for a surprise because there was Kumortuli as well. Unlike the lifeless solemn Ganeshas wrapped up in plastic before their moment of celebration in the South, these sculptures as you can see were most definitely alive, they jumped out at me from the most unexpected of places, waving their arms, teasing and taunting me by sticking out their tongues as they posed for my camera.
These pictures on my blog are but an outline of the day I spent there. There was a stall which sold Googni, peas cooked in lamb broth served with soft fresh bread (who knew?), I got interviewed by a TV crew just after I enthusiastically polished off a bowl of this and was finishing off with chai. As we walked past we saw a pile of bricks with the name PRIYA molded into them.I stared at dozens and dozens of tiny shops with brightly colored doorways where artisans made what they make best,shopkeepers sold chai, barbers shaved hair...the place, like everything else in Kolkata hummed and buzzed with life.
Here below, those faces that belong to another era and those saris which have timeless color combinations -
The patchwork house all divided up -
And lastly the omnipresent Ganga -
And with these I finally finish my long overdue Kolkata posts from my visit there two years ago. The overflowing memories are enough to fill a decade worth of visual stimulation all packed into 4 dense and exciting days. What I've shown here is just a drop from the ocean of colour and life that I saw, and each element that made up that drop was unforgettable, fascinating and enriching.
Also see:
Shantiniketan
Kolkata
Santhal Village
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