Kolkata Diary

Three primary things which makes it a city of all odds. The perennial traffic snarls. Yeasterday being a full moon it probably affected the city even more in the evening with everyone going luny! I could not resist myself and hopped off from the cab and took a walk down memory lane on Southern Avenue, a favourite childhood haunt.
The second thing to shock you is the abject poverty and stream of migrant workers thronging the pedestrian walk ways. Largely from Bihar and smaller villages of West Bengal in search of a livelihood in the big city. Kolkata welcomes all, no matter what is your social standing. 'Acceptance' is the middle name of this city. We have lost much for it but the one thing which I truly admire is the tenacity to endure. And I hope one day that will again make it a more prosperous city. Although we get to see poverty every where in India but more so in Kolkata as the eastern part of India is more poorer than other parts of the country. Here the roadside garbage can is being used as the wardrobe/ closet! (please excuse the quality of the phone pic, the camera is really no-good but it still allows me to make notes as and when I need it and don't want to add to the e-waste any which way, so will keep continuing to use the same.)
Last but not the least the spirit of entrepreneurship against all odds! Look at this dual corner tea/cigarette stall. Neither of the shopkeepers can afford a sole venture hence this joint venture. Sometimes they even sleep in these small joints and life does go on.

Earlier in Northern Kolkata you could see these stores every where, but the Baristas and CCD s have reduced the numbers in recent years. But still you could find remnants of this on some streets, this one is on Southern Avenue. These stalls double up as "te - ta - te" corners over the city and definitely lending a character to the lane living.