Travelblog-India 2000 Part 2

CALCUTÁ Formerly Calcutta and, more rarely, Kolkotta, by any name it still conjures up images of squalor, poverty and urban disaster. Too few bother to discover its enchanting colonial beauty, the energy and humour of its people and the charm of the city's distinctly Bengali soul.

Yes, Calcutta surprises - abound in the heart of India's beautifully ramshackle culture capital, a title it has managed to hold on to for more than 200 years. In Imperial India, Bengalis came to be regarded as the ethnic group of India's intelligenzia. More recently, the Indian art film (as opposed to the popular "Bollywood blockbusters") was born and grew here. A long history of distinguished writers and artists also support that intellectual image notion. As the capital of Imperial India until the 1930s, it was "the center" of South Asia, and its major port - thus attracting the best of everything from India and the bordering East Asian countries.
As a major British city, second only to London in the Empire, Calcutta acquired grand English architecture, particularly grand Victorian Government Buildings, Residences, Public Squares & Gardens, and railroad Stations. After the opening of the Suez Canal in the 1860s, Calcutta lost importance to Bombay - which was now up to 2 weeks closer to Europe, by ship. The move of the capital to Delhi also hurt Calcutta. But its sheer numbers in population, the infrastructure of a grand city the English left behind, and its proximity to Asia and to the new Indian state of Bangladesh kept Calcutta on top at many levels, and in the minds of many. The city also has a history of heavy socialist and communist sympathies.

This "red" perception of Calcutta hurt its chances to compete with up and coming cities like Bangalore, Chennai (Madras), satellite cities around Delhi, and of course with Delhi itself and Bombay, as a place for foreign capital to invest. Calcutta's communist sympathies did land the city India's first underground Metro (or subway system), 20 years before Delhi had one. And the liberal (for Indian standards) attitudes, have created a pulsating student and university life. Calcutta has a more open society in general. Though it's mostly Hindu, its streets are cow-free, and its Hindu population is generally more tolerant to Muslims and Christians, among others, than in the other big Indian cities. And Calcutta has a big Muslim community. Perhaps 40% of the population. After all, Muslim Bangladesh (the former East Pakistan) is just across the border. Calcutta is the capital of India's West Bengal, and Dacca is the capital of Bangladesh (East Bengal). But both entities are home to Bengalis, and both states share similar culture and the Bengali language.

Here, you can see Durga on her tiger. She's one of Calcutta's major Hindu deities. There's a huge festival in her honor in late Septemberand early October (which I was lucky to experince in 2000). The atmosphere in the city is carnival-like during this Festival.

Although recent archaelogical evidence suggests that a sophisticated civilization (Chandraketugarh) dating back 2000 years existed near Calcutta, its documented history is that of a very modern city. In fact, it's largely a British creation, as I mentioned, that dates back only some 300 years and was the capital of British India right up until the 20th Century. In 1686 the British abandoned Hooghly, their trading post 38km (23.5mi) up the Hooghly River from present-day Kolkata, and moved downriver to three small villages - Sutanati, Govindpur and Kalikata.

Despite the post's initial lack of success, in 1696 a fort was laid out near present-day BBD Bagh (Dalhousie Square) and in 1698, the Mughal ruler Aurangzeb's grandson gave the British official permission to occupy the villages. Kolkata grew steadily until 1756, when Siraj-ud-daula, the nawab of Murshidabad, attacked the town. Most of the British inhabitants escaped, but those captured were packed into an underground cellar where, during the night, most of them suffocated in what became known as 'the black hole of Calcutta'.

In 1757 the British, under Clive of India, re-took the city and made peace with the nawab. A stronger fort (Fort William) was built in Kolkotta and the town became British India's capital. Much of Kolkotta's most enduring development took place between 1780 and 1820. Later in the 19th century, Bengal became an important centre in the struggle for Indian independence, and the resultant unrest was a major reason behind the British decision to transfer the capital to Delhi in 1911.

Loss of political power did not alter Kolkata's economic control and the city prospered until after WWII. The partition in 1947 of India (creating Pakistan) devastated Kolkata. Bengal and Punjab were the two areas of India with mixed Hindu and Muslim populations, and the dividing line was drawn through them. The result in Bengal was that Kolkata became a city without a hinterland, while across the border, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) was a hinterland with nowhere to process or export its produce.

Furthermore, West Bengal and Kolkotta were inundated with tens of thousands of refugees fleeing from East Bengal, although fortunately without the brutal violence and bloodshed that Partition brought to Punjab. The massive influx of refugees and the departure of the British, combined with India's postwar population explosion and economic hardship, led to Kolkotta becoming an international urban horror story. The work of Mother Teresa's Kolkata mission focused worldwide attention on the city's festering problems. In 1971 the India-Pakistan conflict and the creation of Bangladesh led to another flood of refugees, and Kolkata's already chaotic condition further deteriorated.

Slowly, through governement public works programs of the 1980s, the success of the Indian technology sector in the 1990s and the continued strength of its people, Kolkotta has begun to find its voice again. As though to underscore its re-emerging identity, the city abandoned its British imposed name of Calcutta and in late December 2000 had its traditional identity officially reinstated Kolkata).

From Calcutta, I flew on to Bombay (covered separately), then on to Trivandrum in Kerala, and to Chennai (formerly known as Madras), before returning to Delhi, where I spent an additional 5 days or so before leaving India. I may add more information on Kerala and Chennai. But frankly, the South did not impress me much; hardly at all after the experiences I had had in the rest of India.

The South was just more teeming poor cities with rickshaws, more heat, and more temples full monkeys (at best - some don't even have monkeys, and have little relevance to non Hindus). The languages and scripts used in signs were notably different, as were the films shown in cinemas. There wasn't the preponderance of Hindi-spoken or sung "Bollywood" productions seen elsewhere.

I found no really different, interesting architecture either. The people are nice; different, much darker-looking like the blackest of Africans but with Caucasian features and Asian-like straight hair.The landscape & beaches are nice. But having been born in the Caribbean, lived most of my life in Miami (waterfront), visiting the Hawaiian Islands & Polynesia & now living in Brazil, Idon't think the most beautiful beach in Kerala or Goa would impress me. They're pretty, but they are no reason to go to India.

To wrap it up, I left Miami on Wednesday, September 20th, and came back on the 20th of October, 2000. During that time, I followed the following route, just for the record (I may forget soon):

First 2 weeks: Miami - Rome(2days) - Moscow (stop only) - Delhi(2 nts) - Jaipur(2nts) - Agra(2nts) - Delhi(stop) - Jammu(3nts) - Srinigar(stop) - Delhi(stop) -Khajuraho(3nts) - Benares(Varanasi) 2nts.

Second half (last 16 days):
Varanasi - Calcutta(4nts) - Bombay(4nts) - Trivandrum(2nts) - Chennai(1nt) - Delhi(4nts) - Moscow(stop) - Rome(1nt) - Miami