Day 65 and 66 – Kolkata
Day 65 – Monday, 30th Dec 2013 and Day 66 – Tuesday, 31st Dec 2013
It’s Monday morning 8 am, our train – Shipra Express to Kolkata has pulled into Howrah station. We breathe the fresh East India air as we step out on the platform.
at Howrah
As we arrive at Kolkata station, we notice things different than other stations. Here, the railway authorities have given special access to the railway platform via a parallel road which makes it easier for senior citizens and people with kids to stop their cars right near their compartment.
parallel road to the railway platform
We can still see the distinctive yellow Ambassador cabs on the roads of Kolkata – what a wonderful sight.
Yellow cabs
Our hosts – Jayant mama and Naina mami’s house is a mere 1 km from the railway station and we reach their house by 9:30 am.
It’s 2 pm and post lunch, we leave with our cousin – Viral and Krutika to visit Belur Math. Belur Math is the temple of Swami Vivekanand and Sri Ramakrishna. The temple is huge and built on the banks of Ganga river. The house where Swami Vivekanand lived has been converted into a museum and we enjoy our visit here.
On the Ganga river, we see a lot of steamers ferrying from one end to another and we decide to take a boat ride. We head from the Howrah side of the town to Kolkata side. Well, most people use these steamers for their daily commutes and the evening ride was crowded.
boat ride
On the other side, we visit the temple of Kali Ma – Dakshineshwar temple.
Dakshineshwar temple
Kolkata has the oldest Indian metro line. We hop on the Metro and ride from Soha Bazaar to Esplanade. As it was a day before New Years eve, we could see a lot of people out on the streets, shopping and relishing some local street fare. Khyati and Krutika indulge in shopping in New Market while Viral and I enjoy some street food.
Mumbai – Pani Puri
Delhi – Gol Gappa
Kolkata – Puchka
Mumbai – Bhel
Kolkata – Mudi
These are the same food items but called differently in various metro cities of India. Unity in Diversity, it’s possible only in India…
Post dinner at a South Indian restaurant, we order some dancing coffee. The name sounded appealing enough and we decide to give it a try. Have a look at this video – the coffee and milk are separate when they serve us initially but as soon as we add some sugar, the coffee mixes with the milk. Quite impressive! We asked for the recipe but it’s a trade secret, you see.
IMG 2040 from Paras Mamania on Vimeo.
We head home around 10 pm and call it a night around midnight.
It’s Tuesday morning 9 am, we have a full day of sight seeing planned for us. Viral takes us to their building terrace and shows us the Howrah Bridge from there, although – it was a bit foggy, we were lucky and happy to see it from a clear distance.
Howrah Bridge
From there, we head to the Jain temples of Kolkata. There are a beautiful set of 3 Jain temples – Dadawadi and we offer our prayers here.
Jain Dadawadi
Our next stop is the Victoria Museum. Victoria Museum was built for Queen Victoria of England should she choose to stay here. Albeit, story has it that she lived in this palace for only one day.
Victoria Museum
Post that, this place has been converted into an exquisite museum and park. We visit the various art exhibits and get special explanation from Krutika – our host who is an artist herself.
Viral and Krutika and us
It’s 3 pm and we have some lunch at the Southside mall. Post that, we enjoy a game of bowling – it was quite thrilling as Viral and my scores were close and Khyati and Krutika’s scores were close. It was a competitive match and we played it quite sportily.
It’s 8 pm and we meet one of our other friends – Sourav and head to Park Street in Kolkata. Park Street is a very popular street where there were beautiful street lightings and live bands playing. We take a stroll down Park street and spend our evening there.
with Sourav
It’s 11:50 pm and we begin our countdown to the New Year. What a fantastic 2013 it has been. As the clocks hit 12, we welcome the New Year in beautiful Kolkata. Wishing all of you a wonderful New Year.
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Best wishes,
Paras