Under the bridge.....

If I were to be asked what it is, that I love about dear old Cal, the yellow Cabs, the red slogans and flags, the red minibuses, the tana/hand pulled rickshaw that border on human rights violation, the people, the smell of ‘bhar eh cha’ and coal on balmy winter mornings, which seems to reverberate throughout the city, amongst a motley of other smells, so unique, that you could call it the smell of the city itself, the sinking feeling I get while crossing the Howrah bridge to the station, and the inexplicable bliss I experience while doing the same on the way back, the maze of familiar streets I can call home, the maze of familiar streets where I can relive memories of moments long lost, the longing I feel for all of this while I am away, would have been amongst the many things I might have said, if only I had been articulate enough. Two days back I realized that there is one other thing I need to add to this not so exhaustive list; ‘bandh’, ‘strike’ or ‘chakka bandh’, call it whatever you choose to, love it or hate it, we will still have one every second week or so for no apparent rhyme or reason(we have had two so far this week itself), apart from maybe an extended weekend, which some of us would use to slip a holiday to say Puri or Raichack maybe; that is, if you are lucky enough to get yourself a reservation somewhere in the ephemeral ‘holiday season’.

But then if the whole point of your holiday is a change in surroundings, I suggest staying put in cal is the best thing to do. Why go to a new surrounding if it comes to you? Try taking a walk down the lanes, and it’s almost as if you have been transported to a surreal ghost town, not many places today where you can feel you are all alone in this world, well India’s most densely populated city doesn’t seem to disappoint on that count!!

A word of caution, if it’s a TMC called band, try avoiding the Rashbehari stretch, where didi reigns supreme, and needless to say wearing anything red would be as prudent as a black man walking into a Ku Klux Clan meeting.

Another thing, the song under the bridge,RHCP, though written about San Francisco, somehow seems to suit cal just as well.