Kalikata to Kolkata
Not from Kolkata by birth though the city holds an incandescent lure affinity for the city sprawled in the dream of an awestruck kid skimming the city of palaces and bustling streets on rare visits. Now at the turn of half a century’s inhabiting my skin smells of swamp clogged pores overlapping footprints of Charnock in villages three discovering, deconstructing, fixing shards of past and present, wayfaring land by Adi Ganga a pilgrimage the myth of Sati becomes moist inhaled in breath-taking wonder, the sunset liberates in Maidan green Kadambari Devi astride riding through dawn of Renaissance. The Deer Park long buried in Burial ground road rebirths in car park and mid night mirth a new address ‘Park Street’ oxygenates with aroma of exotic Swiss savouries, and foodie’s delights- temples, churches, mosques, synagogue, gurudwara a labyrinth of coexistence weave through century old lanes and roads, sprouting shanties. Orphaned buildings become traceless evoke smell of fresh paint and room fresheners in place a mini India gloriously abides and thrives in mixed chaat of idli, phuchka, biriyani, dosa, thepla and the iconic Kolkatar Roshogolla College para the bibliophile’s Mecca, buzz in ubiquitous musty cubbyholes, book shops, sizzle in coffee pot inviting adda and academics placid flows the river like milk of lactating mother the silt and salt nourish and nurture births from a port to promenade, the Outram Ghat at sundown arches a lover’s paradise From beyond the sea, a spice trader ends his trajectory in lip smacking jhal- muri! “Scoop”-ing morsels of happiness on my perch I conceive The soul of my city oscillating between glow-worms and neon.
Glossary:
Adi Ganga: one of the streams of Hoogly river
Sati: Hindu goddess
Kadambari Devi: wife of Jyotirindraath Tagore
Adda: A session of chat
Scoop: An ice-cream parlour in Outram Ghat, Kolkata
Amita Roy
Amita Roy is former Associate Professor in English. An academic of varied interests she is a translator, short story writer and poet.She has three volumes of translations of noted Bengali authors to her credit. She has translated Abanindranath Tagoreâs Khirer Putul which has been inducted into the Postgraduate curriculum (English) of Burdwan University, West Bengal. She has also published a collection of short stories Trail of love and Longings. Her recent work is a volume of poems Until Birds Sing.