Calcutta - Change and the City

This is one of the most famous monuments in the world - in the pix it's only the top. But once you see the fairy on top, it's one guess away.

The Victoria Memorial - to millions of people who visit Calcutta (Kolkata) each year, is a must visit place on the tour-schedule (besides mother's house, nakhoda mosque, indian museum, new market, trams, river-side and howrah bridge....the list is shrinking these days - and no surprise if newer venues such as malls, budding townships replace these old spots).

Tastes are changing, as are people's mindsets.

Most of old Kolkata can be considered a museum laid out as a city. You don't need to put up props. Originals still exist and function...to say...trams still run the same way with the same technology. Men still carry living beings in form of hand-pulled rickshaws. Slums continue to exist and attract tourists who are here to spend time for charity. Ghats on river front still remind of the by-gone mode of transportation, primarily boats. And to substantiate that these ghats were once busy hubs of river transportation, there are still rusty launches and wooden hand-rowed boats in adequate numbers. We still have patches of cobbled streets but now extreme rare relatively what it was exactly five years ago. Layers of charcoal have covered the cobbled stones that lie embedded below the various layers of road making ingredients.

The point that's really irking people is - is change really going to set in. Change denotes different things for different people in our city. some see it politically, some see it technically, some see it in form of more cars and flyovers....but most see it as an increment in their salaries. Municipal servants see change as an annual bonus or additional allowance. And if change sets in, how is it going to change the city. The living museum has absorbed several changes over centuries, inhaling all ambitious planning attempts.

It's impossible for change of any kind to alter this city. For the London's once twin city, several eras thrive side by side. Several 'changes' introduced became a part of this city-scape. Many (and many more in future) who could see the city change, changed cities.

The quest for change ever continues...and while the affect of this urge is not visible here...it's making itself felt in world's best institutions and forums with our best change-makers out there! With ofcourse, the heart always at home.