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Calcutta
is a decaying city full of beggars and mother teresa wannabees?
Decaying?
Hah! It is a dynamic, alive and happening place. Sure it has a lot of
poor people and big problems, just like most parts of India. But then
Calcutta has been written off several times and has bounced back afresh.
It is currently in the upward bounce phase. What wannabees? They're
doing something worthwhile, aren't they?
Ok
Its a vibrant metropolis. But would I fit in? I do have a kurta, but
what do I know about marcel proust's structuralist remembrance of post
modern magic blade runner reality? In fact I like potter and baywatch
and never get past thousand in the Crorepati show....
The
media image of the ridiculous bong intellectual is just a caricature,
a joke. People in Cal lead everyday lives, pal. They just respect learning
and culture a bit more than others, perhaps.
They
are fanatic about Bengali language, and my kids don't know....
For
your information, they certainly love their language. But everybody
in Calcutta understands Hindi and most try to follow English too. You
wont have any problems in Cal. Least of all kids who speak their own
special unprejudiced language anywhere.
BACKGROUND
& HISTORY
Calcutta is a fabulous, crazy place. The general media image is of poverty
and despair and bandhs and fights and gheraos.....mammoth processions
of Durga pooja and red flags...propah red nosed blimps in cavernous clubhouses...bejewelled
behnjis zari- crisp out of 'hum aap ke hain kaun' ( a popular recent hindi
movie) , cyber savvy computerjees flitting around the world....which of
this is true? All of it, say seasoned Calcuta residents.
So is Calcutta a great place to re locate? You shouldn't have any misgivings
about a job in Cacutta. It is a great place, for reasons below. Of course
it may not suit some. To many categories, it is actually heaven ( not
just bengalis). Do you figure?
HISTORY
Calcutta is a fairly recent city. The entire lower delta of the Ganga has recently arisen from the sea level, actually, so it figures there's not much old history in these parts. All the same in recent times loyal residents have been claiming it goes back to a 12 th century village(?) with a similar sounding name. But generally it is said during the times of the English, a trading post near an old Kali temple on the banks of the Hooghly - Kali ghat - gradually become Calcutta. Job Charnock an Englishman set up operations at Sutanuti, where cotton bales were traded. This settlement became the nucleus of the huge city.
Calcutta is unlike most Indian cities. The contradictions are very sharp but everyone seems to accept them casually. Cal was the birthplace of a spreading awareness in the 18th century about new ways of life: the early freedom movement was very prominent here. Heavy industry, modern education, universities and research institutes, the awakenings of reform and the struggle for Independence all began in Calcutta. However over the decades there's been a decline.
Calcutta took a long time to recover from the setback of partition. The penniless refugees streamed into the city. Then a couple of decades later, impatient of hearing slogans, jobless youth turned to naxalism. Now after a time of stability there's some whiff of possible change socially, not just in political games. Overall, the residents have seen bad times so there's a strong undercurrent of socialist ideas among most people and liberal outlook is the norm.
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