Park Street- Stay safe if alone

Not yet midnight and Park Street is flowing with drinks and the PYT-s clad in little somethings. Im in a salwar suit, for godsakes... coming out from a late night formal meet with husband in tow. Just crossing The Park in front of the paan shop is a group of fatso-s, average height 5'3''. I hurry towards the car, traffic is usually a mess at this time of night on weekends. "EY HEROINE. CHALTI KYA" comes the comment from the dwarf group behind me. On auto mode suddenly I swing around and walk toward the group. Immediately they start looking like trapped animals, guineapigs. My husband (thankfully, a 6 foot 160 pound-er) is just approaching the paan shop. As he sees me he realises something's wrong and catches up. The tallest in the group of 6, about 5'6'', is left to do the negotiating with my husband, who takes charge, while I stand fuming... well, because Im not being able to create the scene... and tapping my sandal on the kerb. "We are all family men, saar... Jaane dijiye". Yeah, right!!! Anyway, the paan shop seemed a better bet at spending time and energy, so we veered that way and munched our way back to our parked car near Flury's.

BTW, The Park's renovation does not seem to end. Its a mess with people and cars using the same narrow path in, with guards literally running after bikes which are not allowed inside. More so at night when most of the crowd is half drunk.

The black Knights go down in a blaze of glory

Their armour was still showing chinks and its a little rusted at the edges... but the Knight Riders made sure that the next days newspaper could not trash them much, or at all. At least Dada made sure. The uncanny knack of answering them with his bat whenever the time seems worst... Sourav Ganguly was a joy to watch in the final overs of the Kolkata teams goodbye match.
Saturday night the Knights put up at ITC Sonar, sans their franchise owner this time, while the Kings (Punjab team) was seen at The Park... their capitaine and the star bowler (at least) partying at the Roxy till the wee hours, and their franchise owner, the Zinta Babe, coming in to urge them to go sleep. Priety's other half, the delectable Ness Wadia, was seen too, at the safer Atrium, the coffee shop. Well, its been seen in sports that late night partying is usually not good for next days match. Rule stands. Hah!

Restaurant- Tero Parbon- Bengali Food

Tero Parbon
Food- Bengali. More or less tasty, their fish items are better than others. Mutton is sometimes slightly undercooked. The portions are small, one is good for one person only. The Pineapple chutney is a must-try. Their 'hilsa festival' in the season, is good.
Ambience- With Rabindrasangeet, antique pieces here and there, and Tagore's paintings, they have tried with some success to make it very old Bengal. The seating could be better, there are no sofas and can be vey difficult with children.
Pocket Pinch- Not very expenslve, but as portion sizes are small it sort of balances put. Meal for two with a starter, drink(non alcoholic), main course and a sweet dish, would be about 600 Rs. Not including specials like prawn etc.

Kolkata Travel- Mandarmani

For all those who think Digha is the only beach in West Bengal, here is a resounding WRONG. Almost as far as Digha, about 140 kms from Kolkata is Mandarmani, or Madarmani, as the locals call it. I read somewhere that it is the longest motorable beach in India. Grossly under publicised (which is a good thing, seeing Bakkhali's condition now), this stretch of heaven just never seems to end. Virgin sand takes on another meaning.

REACHING THERE- From Kolkata via Kona Expressway, via Mumbai Road to Kolaghat. Then Contai. Take Digha route. On the Kolkata-Digha road reach Chawlkhola. Be sure to ask directions, the left turn from this road is almost impossible to find unless you are looking for it very carefully. Once you leave the Kolkata-Digha road, the paved roads end and the bone rattling drive for 10 kms begin. Keep asking directions every few minutes. If you survive that drive, you will reach the beach and will have to drive on the beach itself for a good 4-5 kms till you reach your resorts. The beach drive can be tricky, at high tide this bit is submerged and vehicles might have to wait for the low tide. If availing public transport and Kolkata- Digha bus will drop you at Chawlkhola from where local transports are available. (Trekkers where you can hang on for dear life on the stretch). Its worth the trouble when you see the beach.

Go to this link for the wiki map of the area- http://wikimapia.org/510487/

STAY- Resorts line this beach, pick one according to your pocket. We stayed at the Sana Beach Resort. It was expensive, but very nice. Rooms were tasefully decorated, with AC, the reception area is huge and well decorated too. The food isnt bad either.

WHAT TO DO- Loll around on the beach. Some resorts have their beach beds, with umbrellas and towels. There are shacks where you will get simple yummy crab curry (they will make it for you if you order), prawns, beer, bread, eggs, packaged water and soft drinks. People drive on the beach, but ideally its not recommended due to the ecology of the area. You can walk/drive toward Digha on the beach itself until you reach a river cutting through to the sea. Its shallow enough to wade into, deep enough to have a small ride if you can convince a local boatman. We did. The resorts also have good game rooms or pools.

FOOD- As long as you keep the money flowing, there will be no dearth of food or drink. Vegetarians will have a problem, will have to stick to biscuits and bread-butter on the beach, or else get from restaurants of the resorts. All the resorts have their own restaurants.

You can google Mandarmani for more information. Lots of it available, including photos. For photos go here - http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Asia/India/East/West_Bengal/mandarmani/

Kolkata Shining

A drive along Rajarhat road yesterday gave me a shock. I havent been on that road in a couple of months and the amount of work that is happening is mind blowing. Couple of swanky new buildings have come up, reflective glass and all. Trucks and tractors everywhere. Seems like in a couple of years the skyline of this part of the city is going to change forever.
The work-in-progress buildings came in stark contrast with verdant greenery which still exists along the road. Cranes (the bird category) still can be seen here. A couple of men were even farming their tiny plots of land. This was more toward the airport side than Salt Lake. But these are all bound to go. When you see the 'International COnvention Center' proudly proclaim itself, you tend to forget the greenery. You think, yeah Kolkata! Finally!!
Price of progress? Can we begin to identify what exactly we are losing? Do we care?

Gandhi-giri from Gopal Krishna

Taxis and pedestrians stop and gape at the palatial building... only its pitch dark in there.

Thats our Governor trying to measure down to commoner status, sharing in the travails of power cuts which have harrassed Kolkata- bashis for months now. Months for people living in more fortunate areas (Salt Lake, for instance). For those in godforsaken corners of the city, its always been that way. I live near Bansdroni, in a place called Brahmapur. An area which plunges into the dark ages thrice daily, for an hour at a time. Then the more affluent thank heavens for their invertors and the children of lesser gods curse increase in airconditions in the neighbourhood, while sweat pools in around them!

Back to governor house. An "island of darkness" claimed newspapers, while the governor stepped out on his spacious verandah for some hot evening air. (Its not even fresh air in that zone) The buzz on smaller verandahs in our locality was more of a fellow feeling with the Gandhi of this age. Our masters and commanders in the red building did not sympathise. The sarcasm came thick and strong if the papers are to be believed.

But as long as the power requirement of the city exceeds supply, I should say, some Gandhigiri is still needed to open the eyes of venom-spewers who run the land.

Kolkata featured in the April issue of National Geographic magazine. Take a dekko.

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/04/kolkata-rickshaws/calvin-trillin-text.html

Restaurant- A Dash of This A Dash of That- City Center, Salt Lake

A tiny little place, as the City Center restaurants generally are. The food is cuisine of East Asian countries- Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar.

Though the space is less it has been done up tastefully with framed tiny clothes of East Asia.

Food- Its nothing to write home about. But it is different. Service is swift and polite. Music deos not go with the ambience, its Hindi.

Pocket pinch- Meal for 2- About 600-700 Rupees with a beer.
Value for money- 7/10

Restaurant- Marco Polo- Deshapriya Park

Ive been going there for some years now and the service remains impeccable. This restaurant has two floors. The lower floor has the bar and is a smoking zone but it has the better look while the upper floor is stark in comparison with no sofas and a smaller area. Suggestion- They could make it into a lounge type space.

Food- Absolutely delicious. I have not yet heard anyone deny that. Their kebabs are mouth watering, stakes are very good. The biryani is not that special, and has no variety. Its muticuisine, the logic being that they cover those places which Marco Polo may have visited on the course of his journey. So there is continental- stakes and salads, Indian of course, some Bengali, North West frontier... but menu is more or less limited.
Their desserts are good, but Im always full by the time I reach my Caramel Custard (very well made) or their chocolate mousse ( not that soft, but quite ok, very chocolatey).

Pcoket pinch- Expensive. A three course meal for 2, with a starter, two mail dishes and two desserts will cost around 1500 to 2000 Rupees.

Value for money- 7/10

Tram Tracks

Unending story?
This time its Tollygunj. The stretch from Tolly Golf Club area to Anwar Shah Road has been dug up for some weeks now, closing many exit points, reducing traffic flow to two lanes each and making it a nightmare during office hours .
This morning, hope shines, new tracks have already been laid. Still a long way to go, but hopefully once it is done the road will be drivable once again.
But once that stretch is done they are surely going to dig up the Anwar Shah crossing. Thats where the tram tracks are worst. The car literally dives down a cliff face and drives up another, hitting the bumper if one is not very careful.
And its dangerous, because no one is sure what the traffic lights signify... or even, why they are there. No one follows signals at the crossing, and I have never seen a policeman anywhere nearby.
PS- thats supposedly a highly accident prone zone. (Years back, I had lost a friend to a trucks rash driving at that very crossing, bang in front of the mutton shop)

A city diary

Have you ever googled Kolkata? Have you tried to find info on restaurants, movie halls, tourist sites, or just plain wanted to know whats on in the city. Its amazing how much info is available on any other city and how little on the cliched city of joy.
So, a city diary, because Kolkata needs some good PR.