I am very amazed by the instant reactions of
people when I say I come from Kolkata. Kolkata has a global recognition which I
never thought it had before I came here for the first time in 2011.
Grannie and most people here pronounce it as
“kol-cuu-tta” which sounds very funny, to me atleast.
“Oh
yes! Kol-cuu-tta! Lots of poor people!”
“Grannie,
do you know Kolkata? Wow!”
“Yes I
do my dear, Sister Teressa? She gave food to the poor”
Next is Louis, a man of about 50 and an avid traveller.
He has been to India twice for holiday and has visited Ladakh, Rajasthan and
Mumbai.
“Oh
yes Kaul-ka-ttaa, a very old and big city isn’t it? Very crowded?”
“Yes
it is, very crowded indeed when compared to Arnhem”
“I
read a book called The city of Joy, are there still people living in Slums? The
book mentioned about the honking of the public transport of the howrah bridge
and had some beautiful descriptions but the author was moved by seeing the
poverty around”
Now, I am really set back by this perception of
my city of joy to the outside world. I think for a moment. Slums? Very poor
people? Yes there are some slums near Sealdah, but not so significant that it
could be used to describe the city.
“Well,
I have been living in the city for the last 6years, but I don't think there are
significant number of people who live in slums. And, I think as it is the
largest city in the eastern part of the country, it has a constant inflow of
migrants from Bihar and other neighbouring states in search for job, and
sometimes they don't have a place to live yet.”
“Yes
true, but for us especially, when we see, the poor people lying in the streets,
our heart goes out”
I stumble for an answer. Why the hell did the
author name the book as city of joy if he had only to write and exaggerate about
the poor people. C’mon, I haven’t heard of anyone die of poverty in Kolkata.
On one Saturday while walking into the town
with Helga, I happened to meet a group of her friends in a cafe. One of the
women looked strange. She wore a orange cotton loose fitted kurta an orange
skirt. Her grey hair parted in the middle and supposedly a thin braid till the
waist. The moment they heard I was from Kolkata, the strange woman’s eyes
gleamed. She said she was in Kolkata twice, her last visit being 14 years ago.
She is a practicing Hindu and she had a Guru somewhere near Lake Gardens in
Kolkata.
“ohh
nice! Which places did u visit in Kolkata?”
“Very
less, most of my stay I was either meditating or working for the NGO. Are there
still so poor people in Kaul-cu-ttaa?”
I try my level best to defend my city of joy.
And all through the Dutch conversations over the coffee I sit back and ponder
over my thoughts. What caused these perceptions? Pffff…
Marco, a colleague, a man in his early thirties
and he and his wife is expecting his first child in a couple of months.
“Oh
Kol-katta..wow! a very big and old city.. As big as Holland I think?”
“Umm..
I think half of Holland?”
“Amazing,
how many people live there?”
“Ohh..
I never thought of the count before but let me check……hmmm…
interesting..wikipedia says 14 million!”
“wow!!
Amazing!”
A positive reaction at last made me happy.
The next one is from Harold, my next door neighbor.
May be late twenties, lives with his wife, has a very cute baby and a not so
cute cat.
“Which
place in India are you from?”
“errr..umm..
Kolkata?”
“oh
yes! A big city! I had been to India in 2008 and travelled all through New
Delhi, Varanasi, Shimla. But my friend said that there were some riots in
Kolkata due to a woman who wrote some book.”
I have tried my level best to change the
perception of the people I meet about Kolkata by my view of the rich culture,
the history, the architecture and the people.
Surely Kolkata will receive a lot of guests in
the coming years and it Kolkata will surely will not be called a big crowded
city with poor people by them at least.
