Kolkata Best Bengal

Non-Resident Kolkatan Swastayan Roy takes a virtual trip through the City Of Joy

To ask a native Kolkatan to write about his city isn't always the brightest of ideas. You could almost count on him to take a biased view of things. So why then was I - a Mumbaikar now, but a Kolkatan by birth and aspiration - entrusted with penning this quasi-official guide to Kolkata? I think it has something to do with the long years I have spent away from my birthplace. These days I visit the city every eight months or so for around two weeks - or any number of days my boss deems adequate! This detachment, and my NRK (Non-Resident Kolkatan) status, I'd like to believe, have armed me with an acceptable amount of journalistic objectivity to separate fondness from fact.

People aren't wrong when they say Kolkata is a city of paradoxes. The most poignant among them is its un-splendid isolation in India's tourist map. While its denizens can't stop gushing about its warmth and character, the sad fact is that the City of Joy remains low down the priority list in any tourist's travel itinerary. Its other metropolitan siblings - Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad or Bangalore - attract Indian and foreign tourists by the millions. But Kolkata languishes in what seems like a remote eastern fringe of our country's overwhelming contour. Thanks to this, the state of tourism in West Bengal has also suffered. At times I wonder if all this is some quirk of fate or a chronic flaw in governance.

Enter the dragon

For the less adventurous, there are two ways to land up in Kolkata. You could take a train to Howrah, the terminal station for almost all long-distance trains that ferry people to the city. Alternatively, you could catch a flight to the city's suburban airport in Dum Dum. There's of course the exciting option of driving down along the Bombay Road or the Delhi Road, which connect the respective cities to Kolkata. And for those with all the time in the world, there are passenger ships sailing into Calcutta Port.

Regardless of your mode of transport, remember to arrive well within 10 pm at night and after 6 am in the morning. Transport services come to a standstill between these times, and you will be left at the mercy of touts, private car operators and taxi drivers who will take you for a ride - proverbially and literally!

Doing Kolkata

How long does it take to 'do' Kolkata? For the casual traveller hard pressed for time, a four-five day trip should work just fine. If you are planning on travelling further into Darjeeling and Kalimpong in North Bengal or some of the lesser known beaches down south, you should add another week to your travel plans.

In the main city, there are many must-visit tourist attractions, like the Victoria Memorial, a monument dedicated to the eponymous English Queen. Along with the Howrah Bridge that connects the city to the railway station, the Victoria Memorial is the most overused public icon used to promote Kolkata. Surrounded by well-maintained gardens and water bodies, it houses a fabulous museum with paintings and artifacts dating back to the Mughal era. What doesn't figure in the tourist books is the fact that some of the remote nooks and crannies of the gardens surrounding this breathtaking building also serve as a lovers' den both before and after dark. And not many people know that the massive Howrah Bridge over the Hooghly River (which is a tributary of the Ganga), one of the finest examples of a cantilever bridge, doesn't have any nuts or bolts!

Hail Victoria

Victoria Memorial is a kind of tourist and culture hub of Kolkata, just like the Gateway of India is for Mumbai. Your Kolkata trip is incomplete if you haven't visited this area. Overlooking Victoria Memorial are vast stretches of green, which play host to football and cricket matches all year round and the massive Calcutta Book Fair in late January. This is the Maidan, parts of which are also home to the legendary football clubs - East Bengal , Mohun Bagan and Mohammedan Sporting. Not too far away is the lovely Eden Gardens, probably the best cricket stadium in India with a capacity of over 100,000.

Running alongside Victoria Memorial is Cathedral Road that takes its name from the adjoining Saint Paul's Cathedral, a marvel of Gothic architecture. Studded with Florentine frescos, the church conducts regular services. In its backyard is the Rabindra Sadan, which stages a medley of plays and stage entertainment. Nandan, a multiplex movie theater located next to Rabindra Sadan, has daily screenings of alternative

Indian cinema and European movie fare. It is also the venue for the much-awaited Kolkata film festival. Also nearby is the Academy of Fine Arts, which hosts exhibitions of established and budding painters and sculptors. In the same area, you'll also come across the Nehru Children's Museum, which houses the largest collection of dolls from around the world.

Parallel to Cathedral Road is Red Road, the venue for the Republic Day Parade. It connects you to Outram Ghat, which has a nice promenade with the Hooghly River on one side and the Circular Railway tracks on the other. Here, you'll also find the mausoleum of Job Charnock, who is attributed to have founded Kolkata in 24 August, 1690. You should also be able to get a splendid view of the Second Hooghly Bridge, also called the Vidyasagar Setu, which links the city to its suburbs.

If you travel southwards from Victoria, you can reach the Calcutta Zoo, the lovely Taj Bengal Hotel and the lush green lawns of the National Library, which apparently has a copy of every book printed in India or shipped into the country.

Eat, drink and…

A few kilometres away is Park Street and the Central Business District. Park Street is one of the few areas in the city where restaurants and hotels are given liquor licenses - so you know where to go for your poison! Apart from its busy drinking holes, Park Street has some great restaurants that offer sumptuous food and decent service at a steal. The Trincas pub in this area has live music. Among the restaurants, Peter Cat, Bar-B-Q and Mocambo serve simply irresistible fare. If you want to relax over a cup of coffee, there's the newly opened Barista, though I am still hung up on the age-old Flury's for its cosy ambience and window seats that afford a great view of the hustle and bustle of Park Street. To cut a long story short, no gourmet should even dream of leaving Kolkata without a walk down Park Street.

While Park Street offers a range of up-market restaurants, Kolkata has no dearth of cheaper eateries that serve great food from all over the world. Check out Aminia and Shiraz for their Biriyani, Moulin Rouge and Mandarin for their Chinese fare and Kurry Klub for its Mexican and continental offerings. Shopping enthusiasts should not miss out on New Market situated very close to Park Street. The Indian Museum and the Oberoi Grand Hotel is also in the vicinity. Another popular shopping destination is the Gariahat Market in South Kolkata. Very close to Gariahat is the historic Kalighat temple.

As you move further north from Park Street, you will bump into Statesman House, the heritage building from where The Statesman, India's oldest English-language daily, is published and printed. Further north is the Calcutta University and College Street. College Street has a phenomenal variety of bookshops - you could pick up old and rare books from these shops at bargain prices.

Chinatown

If you swear by Chinese cuisine you will simply love Chinatown in Tangra. This place is located off the Eastern Metropolitan (EM) Bypass that hooks up the Eastern suburbs, especially the Salt Lake satellite city, to the main city. Chinatown is replete with tanneries and big and small eating joints-all owned by the expatriate Chinese community settled in this area since the early years of the last century.

Along the EM Bypass is Science City, which has a huge science and technology museum and a giant dome theatre. As you travel north along the Bypass, you can also visit Nicco Park, an amusement park, and Aquatica, a water park.

A little further, located in the outskirts of Kolkata are other interesting travel destinations, which you should visit if your schedule permits. Pre-eminent among these are the Dakshineswar Temple, Belur Math and Shibpur Botanical Gardens.

Summing it up

Kolkata is unique in more ways than most tourists care to find out, probably because very few actually visit it. This is probably because the city has never been adequately promoted as a tourism brand. All I can say, if I may tweak a popular adage, is that the proof of the pudding is in the visiting.