Urban Gypsy in Kolkata

Although it's mid November there is no nip in the air. But big surprise of all the winter delicacy of jhola gur or liquid molasses has already made an appearance. I landed in the city of joy on 1st November and was completely caught up in the throes of finding a suitable home. A nook which was well connected and not far enough from the metro (subway), quite and secure with enough light and ventilation and definitely not too far from our place of work! Phew! Well, these are just some of the parameters one considers when you rent a place, we are better off as we did not have to consider the distance from the child's school! Going by this buying a house will be a TALL order indeed.

Am back in this city after eleven years. In the last decade I have been visiting my home town on holidays. Much has changed in this city in the past years. But housing problems remain unaltered. At this point I quite feel like the main protagonist of Apu's Sansar. Like all other metros of India the 300 something old city has new malls, fancy sky scrappers, burgeoning population problem. But somethings don't change, just like Apu finding a roof over your head is still a task. Although today one has more options to look at but the quality of housing does not match either the price nor the amenities provided. The worst of them all being a total lack of an eye for an open court yard/ terrace/ balcony i.e. a space to garden, relax and read your morning paper or host a bar - b - que! Very disappointing! Here the tall sky scrppers go on for ever but nobody wants to breath the air. But finally after much disappointment Apu's Sansar is ready unfold on the new Anwar Shah - Eastern Bypass Connector. Three cheers to that dear readers :-)

Commuting though cumbersome has definitely improved a lot in the last decade. It is not very easy to set straight transportation problems in a megapolis like Kolkata where the city takes a shape of an amoeba always mutating and growing, but still it is much better than our capital city of India. One can avail public transport for mobility and need not depend solely on one's personal vehicle for easy movement. It amazes me to no end to watch the Kolkattans spirit of sharing resources. The three wheeler auto is the one such mode of transport. In Delhi too the middle class uses it as the mode of transport but sharing on special difficult days is the best they can do. But in Kolkata it taken to a all new level. Here 7 people travel and share the space without batting an eyelid. The 3 wheeler is infamous for it's bad cg, but here in Kolkata it solves the problem beautifully by carry to it's capacity.

Inspite of sharing resources a report of a study conducted by Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (South Asia) supported by the British High Commission in today's The Telegraph (the Kolkata newspaper you just have to wake up to) suggests industrial units and vehicles together contribute close to three-fourth of the city's carbon emission. Per capita CO2 emission in Kolkata is double the national average. Kolkata tops the list of gross emission in India! City emits 1.5 times more CO2 than Bangalore and 2.5 times than Chennai. Households acoounts for 9 percent of the emssion. Water supply and sewage treatment plants are responsible for 59 percent of the emission from civic amenities (that definitely indicates lot needs to be done to make these facilities efficient). But do not deapair Mumbai, Hyderabad and Delhi was omitted from this study (there was no explanation why), but the experts are sure these cities will definitely fare worse. This study was conducted on 40 cities of India.

My fresh chapter in Kolkata is taking shape after all and I am so glad to blog about it! Will be back soon with more stories of Kolkata 2009 -2010 dear freinds. Till then please post the negatives and positives of your respective cities.