Calcutta Part 3

The next day early morning I decided to take a stroll with my camera (as it was really bright by 6 am)

From far I could see this huge board and as I came closer I realised that it was the entrance to a garden. The bench and the lamp post indicates it to be a place to relax. (sometimes simple illustrations convey the meaning in a subtle way)

Early morning joggers were already leaving the park (and I thought I was the one who got up early! )

A little ahead of the garden is  the south entrance to the famous Victoria Memorial. There is a lot of history attached to the Victoria Memorial and how it was built but I won’t go into it.

 After paying a nominal entrance fee of Rs 5, I came directly in front of King Edward VII arch. The statue over the arch is really big but you fail to notice it as it is very high up

Before clicking I placed myself in such a way that it looked as if King Edward was looking directly at me. The horse’s one leg was raised, indicating that the rider was injured in action (if both the legs are raised, it depicts that the rider has died in action)

The lawns around the Memorial had a few people doing their stretching and breathing exercise

while the squirrels and the birds were happy to sunbathe in the  morning

Saw this tree on the lawns. One may link it to one of those contemporary modern art (with some inner meaning that the artist wants to convey) but to me it looks like the tree is decaying from one side and needs immediate attention

On the front right side of the Memorial is this placid lake with an old rusty pump. A good example of how rotary motion is converted to linear motion.

On the way back I decided to have tea and found many outlets  near the Gurudwara chowk.

People were having their breakfast either in their car or  on the benches provided.

Hot jalebis were being prepared and this guy had to literally work  fast to meet the demands of his customers

  

One unique thing that I observed was the people sitting outside the eateries. I mean its not only in Europe  that you find this phenomena of sitting out. . . . .

I feel there is a similarity here in Calcutta

Later in the day wifey was all excited as we were going to …… yes you guessed it right, we were going shopping ! I was more worried about getting to the place, but as usual the Calcutta taxi came to the rescue. He took us to the right place   (Dakshinapan) through the shortest route.

The whole complex had emporiums from different states of India. We decided to visit this one which was sort of a co-operative shop run by the government. The prices were reasonable and we did buy a little more than half a dozen including some Dakhai Jamdhani sarees. 

These ladies were very helpful in ‘selecting’ the sarees (and I learned a few lessons in salesmanship )

While the sarees were being selected I was more engrossed in the game of carom that was going on outside the shop.  My hands were itching as its been ages since I laid my hands on a striker.

After dinner we went for a stroll and found these pandals with deities all lit up and displayed at many of the by lanes.

Now, how can I end a write up on Calcutta without a picture of Durga? 

Truly a city of joy.

Next post. . . . . . life in Goa

Calcutta streets - Part one

It is always interesting to observe people and if you can capture the same on camera, then it will put a smile on your face when you go through the results later.

Had been to Kolkata (Calcutta) recently and was there for four days. Right from the chai wala on the street who offered us tea in the mud pot, to the shop keeper who caught up on his forty winks, it was fun capturing all that happened around me.

The rickshaw puller weaving through the busy traffic is a common sight in Kolkata. 

I hope to make a video on the same, but the best I liked was the taxi service in Calcutta. Almost all taxis are of the Ambassador make. You may have your doubts about it being road worthy but they perform well, stop at your beck, and will take you to your destination. No hazzles about the charge, they go exactly by the meter and will tender the exact change.

I liked the way the Taxis were maintained. If the factory fitted bonnet locks are not working, they have their own cost effective way of designing a lock.

Their driving is neat and move about on the road with ease (managing not to scrape the vehicle with the other vehicles)  

The vehicles get washed daily morning. There is no dearth of water supply.

There are regular ‘washer boys’ who do it for a nominal fee.

(continued in part II. . . . click here)

Trams of Calcutta

Calcutta (now Kolkata) is the only city in India where the trams are still running and I am happy that the government is not planning to take it off the tracks.

Visited Calcutta last week for a family function and I made it a point to have a ride in one of the old jaunty jalopies. It runs at its own pace, the frequency between trips may be far and few in-between, but it takes you from point A to point B, does not pollute, and is cheap.

The closest point for me to board the tram was the Maidan station and I am glad I did that as I could capture these slow moving carriages against the backdrop of lush green surroundings.

Brought back memories of the trams we had in Bombay which went off the tracks in 1964 (did write about it earlier)

While I took the ride, I was observing the driver and realized how alert he had to be. He has his left hand on the accelerator, his right hand on the brake and his leg operates the warning bell.

There are no rear view mirrors, so every time when the tram stops he goes to the side and looks back to see if all has boarded and then takes over the levers. There is no way he can apply sudden brakes, so he has to be always proactive and on the look out for the pedestrians crossing. His worst night mare must be driving through the thick of the city traffic, so his leg is continuously jangling the bell.  

At times the carriage is almost empty and the conductor is relaxed.

We had a mother daughter duo who was begging while making an attempt to sing a Hindi song with the help of two pieces of tiles to keep the rhythm. (it worked something like a castanet)

I did capture some good still and video shots of the journey and tried to make a five minute video of it.

About the video

Holding the camera steady in the tram was a challenge. So having the elbows (and knees) slightly bend I made it work like a steady cam. Many did not know that I was holding a camera so that ‘staring into the camera’ situation did not arise. I managed to capture some shots of the passengers inside and some lovely view of the race course and its fence outside.

After putting together all the snippets, the final task was to wave that magic wand known as Music.  Somebody rightly said that music adds magic to any video.

Getting the right music for this video was the challenge. Went through many Bengali songs but none of them went with the tempo of the movement of the tram. I tried the  popular song Ekla Cholo Re by Kishore Kumar (a very old one) with some lovely Bengali music but it did  not blend with the  rhythm. But when I tried Ekla Cholo Re by Amitabh Bachchan, it blended perfectly with the slow pace of the tram. After completing the video, one of my friends commented “this song goes unnoticed in the original movie (Kahani) but here the song and the video compliment each other perfectly”

After a few days the same guy said “why don’t you put it in a CD and send it to Amitabh? I am sure he will like it”

I said I just know that he stays in some Jalsa in Mumbai and don’t have the proper mailing address. Moreover, he is such a busy man making so many people crorepatis with his multiple choice answers that he won’t have time to look at a 5 minute CD from an ordinary mortal from Pune.

"Don’t you worry about that"  he said "just burn the CD and keep it ready, I will get the address for you"

Now I am really tempted to send that CD as I am mighty pleased with the outcome of the video. Maybe something rubbed off on me from the homeland of Satyajit Ray. 

(to see the video click on the picture below.)