"Amaar shonaar bangla...."couldn't think of any other title :)

Every time I watch Parineeta I feel very nostalgic. The movie reminds me of the good time I had in Kolkata this summer. Had been to Jamshedpur to my ex- roommates place along with other roomies of mine.Watched the movie there. So while was in J'pur we all decided to go to Kolkata for few days. It was fun..........the moment I stepped foot in the beautiful city I fell in love with its charm and liveliness.Do nothing........just walk down the lanes and you'll feel so elated and thrilled. The people, the culture, the evenings in Esplanade, the metro ride, the bus ride, the taxis, the local train from J'pur to Kolkata......just about everything brings joy to me. The people are so friendly and helpful.........Payal tripped and sprained her ankle while climbing down the stairs of Victoria.We had to take a bus to Rabindra Sarobar but unfortunately we got onto the wrong one. In the meanwhile Payal started howling with pain.The people on the bus got so concerned that they stopped the bus and got a taxi for us and stood there until we left the place.Dipika couldnot believe her eyes....she said "Why are these poeple so bothered about us.....why don't they mind their own buisness?" To this one aunty from the bus said ...."They are not meddlesome but just concerned and trying to help".That was highly embarrasing for us but also a reflection of how hospitable Kolkata is. The fervour with each festival is celebrated compares nothing.If someone wants to know how to enjoy life and have fun h/she should visit Kolkata. I completely concur with Dominique Lapierre...calcutta is indeed the city of joy. No exaggeration but a fact.One has to see it to believe it. The desire to conserve the tradiiton , the glorious past, historical connection, it was just overwhelming.
The funpart was we all decided to go to the local restaurants and try the typical bengali food..........and everyday we used to end up eating rice in one form or the other. Fried vegetables, aloo potol (dint know howelse to spell it inorder to emphasize on the bengali pronunciation) dal and rice. The typical food that we had at our rommies place.Women in cotton sarees, sindoor, shakha choodi and the men in printed bandhni kurtas, Howrah bridge,the ferry ride, park street, Subhash chandra bose's home, Vivekanand's room, the churches, the art exhibitions, the rasgollas, mishti doi, coffee outside the Rabindra Sarobar station, Maidan being pronounced as Moidan and the confusion following that, all culminated in making my trip to Kolkata a memorable one.But the heat and humidity was unbearable.It got the best of us. We never stopped sweating bullets except when every night we came back to the guest house and switched on the AC, which was divine.Although the heat was bothering us the desire to go out every morning and explore the city was uncontrollable.Sometimes I did nothing but just travelled up and down in the metro and observed the people around.I felt that those 4 days were not enough to know this enigmatic city.I plan to visit Kolkata again or even better, look for my summer interns there.Three months of work and pure, unadulterated fun. Not a bad idea at all.