Calcutta: A guide to India's cultural capital. Volunteering in Calcutta. Hotels, tourist information.

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In many ways Calcutta seems familiar: the English street names, the architecture, the English language. At the same time the context is so foreign. The effect is very odd, sometimes even frightening to the Western visitor.

Bengali culture is magnificent. Bengali is spoken by more people than is French or Japanese. To.learn.some.Bengali.words.and.phrases,.click.here. Rabindranath Tagore won the Nobel Prize for his epic verse Gitanjali in 1913; he wrote in Bengali. You can read Tagore's works in English translation; Penguin Books has an edition of selected poems.

Satyajit Ray made his wonderful films in Bengali; newly restored versions are available on videotape with English subtitles. Try to find, for example, The World of Apu. ..To.learn.more,.click.here.for.Satyajit.Ray.page..

For.the.Oxford.Bookstore.Gallery.page,.click.here

For.the.Bharat.Books&Arts.home.page,.click.here. The.Bengalis.are very fond of their capital city. For them and, indeed, for visitors from other countries, it's the cultural center of India. College Street has hundreds of bookshops, and there's a large university. India's most fascinating museums, such as the Indian Museum and Marble Palace, are in Calcutta. There are more publishers in Calcutta than in all the rest of India. Many poets and artists live there, and religious and cultural festivals enliven the city throughout the year.

Click.here.for.the.Kalighat.School.of.Indian.Art

Click.here.for.examples.of.Bengali.painting

Click.here.for.the.paintings.of.Ashok.Bhowmick.

Click.here.for.Indian.Museum.web.site.

Click.here.for."Yantra.Jaal".an.eMagazine.hosted by Prithwis.Mukerjee.of.Calcutta.

My favorite festival is Holi. Holi is a joyous festival: people run through the streets throwing colored water and colored powder at each other; everyone ends up green and magenta. The night of Holi I was invited to a concert at the Indian Museum. As I walked through the museum door, a beautiful smiling Bengali girl threw green powder on my face and handed me a soft drink and a box of Bengali sweets. In the open courtyard, under the night sky, the fountain was lit by multicolored lights. There was incredibly beautiful sitar music played by three musicians. .Click.here.for.Musicians.of.Calcutta.

Ramya.Ghosh.writes.about.popular.and alternative Bengali.music.with.links.to."RealAudio".and a link to Suman.Chatterjee's.page("the Bob Dylan of India")

I've been to London, Paris, New York but I don't think often about those cities. I always remember Calcutta and the Bengali people who have created a great culture in spite of hardships.

My last trip to Calcutta was in February 1998. I've been there six times over the past ten years and I've seen considerable progress, for example, the Calcutta Metro subway system has been completed, as has the second bridge over the Hooghly River. It even seems that there might be fewer beggars. Perhaps there's less poverty. These are my impressions. I must go again because I'm still overwhelmed by the city.

Some things to see and do in Calcutta:

Take a ferry up the river to Belur Math and Dakineshwar Kali temple.

Visit the Botanical Gardens and see the Great Banyan Tree.

Go to the Birla Planetarium, one of the largest planetariums in the world. Daily programs are in English, Bengali, and Hindi.

See a movie at the Nandan Cinema Complex, and look at the museum dedicated to Satyajit Ray. Click.here.for.Calcutta.Film.Festival.home.page

Take the two day, one night boat trip to the Sunderbans Wildlife Reserve. Try to spot a Royal Bengal tiger. You might see crocodile, python, wild boar, Rhesus monkey, kingfisher, monitor lizard, king cobra, or otter. Tours are organised by the West Bengal Tourist Bureau. Click.here.for.Sunderbans.page

Take the Metro to MG Rd. Station. Walk to College Street and look at the sidewalk bookshops. College Street may be the world's largest outdoor book market. Go to the Albert Street coffee house at Calcutta University. Talk to some students and possibly make friends over tea and samosas. Sometimes the conversations at the coffee house can be quite animated.

Go to the race track and bet on the horses, or watch a cricket match at Eden Gardens.

The Marble Palace must be the most eccentric museum of art in the world; victorian bric-a-brac stand next to masterpieces by Rubins, Reynolds, Murillo, and Titian. Tagore's house is near the Marble Palace and is now a center for dance, drama, music, and other arts.

Go to the the Calcutta Book Fair. Click.here.for.Calcutta.Book.Fair.web.site

Visit the Victoria Memorial. Click.here.for.Victoria.Memorial.site

Tour the Indian Museum, go to the Zoo, see Science City.

The climate in Calcutta is pleasant from late September through early March. For today's Calcutta weather, and a forecast from Yahoo!, click here.

For the best Calcutta related links on the web, click.here:calcuttaweb.com

Child adoption information, www.Ichild.org

For a scholar's view, click here, Sanjoy.Chakravorty's "Calcutta From Colonial City To Global City? The-Far-From Complete Spatial Transformation Of Calcutta".

From Calcutta With Love, Calcutta : Not 'The City of Joy', 'City of Pride?' ...... Introduction, Physical and Human, Geography, Topology, Climate, Housing, Population, Economy, Transportation, Administration & Services, Urbanisation Process, Problem Associated with Development, A Detailed Report on Air Pollution in Calcutta, Towards the 'City of Joy', click here.

If you can read Bengali, you can read complete Bengali webzine "Parabaas". click.here.for."Parabaas"

For the Bangladesh, India travel journal of JohnM...click.here.. 'Sugar looks a bit secondhand but what the hell, this is Bangladesh!! Sign on the window “Welcome to Pacific Restaurant we trust in taste”, wonder what that means?, makes the imagination run wild.'

For Glenn S. Hensley's photos from the 1940s, click.here.

The Hunger Site: give food for free, click.here

Obituary:


Andy Devane

Andy Devane was a genius, a gentleman and a precious soul. He was the greatest architect Ireland has ever produced yet at the height of his fame 20 years ago, made Calcutta his home. Andy was not someone you had a conversation with but rather you sat there and listened, straining to catch every word so softly spoken, craving to remember every sentence once the meeting was over. He had a deep reverence for, and a great friendship with, Mother Teresa and while his absence now leaves a void that can never be filled, those of us who knew him and loved him can take heart that his final wish was granted. Andy was laid to rest on January 16th in St. John's Cemetery in Sealdah, his remains having been borne to Mother House, a final honour so richly deserved. Andy leaves behind a legacy of lifelong achievement on both sides of the world. In Dublin some of the finest buildings ever created and in Calcutta, a special place in the hearts of those who will continue his work. Rest in peace dear man.


Michael Hopkins.

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Some visitors to Calcutta don't like the city at all and won't say one good thing about it. Often these are people who travel through Calcutta as quickly as possible without taking the time to look around and get to know the city. Many people who come to volunteer see only poverty. It's a shame to miss what Calcutta has to offer.

I enjoy taking pictures in Calcutta; it's a good way to explore the city. Often I ask permission before I photograph somebody. Sometimes I take a Polaroid photograph to give to my subject on the spot and then I take another picture with my Nikon for myself. If somebody wants to be paid and I really want a picture, I'll consider paying a few rupees. If I take a shot and nobody notices, that's fine too but, wherever I go, I do try to show respect for the people I photograph.

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