I spent a significant period of my life in the city of joy, Kolkata nee Calcutta and its needless to say the I fell in love with the place. It’s not possible for one to stay in Kolkata and not fall in love with it. It has warmth like no other city. And the heady mix of its culture, food, literati, music – all contribute to making Kolkata what it is!
A friend of mine, an enigmatic fellow who loves reading, writing, travelling and loves Kolkata got fascinated by my impression of the great city. Yesterday, he was in Mumbai and made it a point to spend some precious moments with me. During this, he presented a poem written as a eulogy to me, which, in fact, is a eulogy to the city of joy. To put it straight, it celebrates my stay in Kolkata. It reads as under:
Oh Calcutta
In dusk we shall remember
The lands we have left behind
The restless rivers
The mango was sweeter
The stars were brighter
The cuckoo sang sweeter
The moon was brighter.
Beyond the blue of the sky
Beyond the red of the rose
You shall rise
To a new sunrise
It is no surprise
You are in paradise.
(Penned on 9/5/‘2026 while sitting in a place at Elgin Road)
Thanks Aparnab Roy for this precious gift which in fact is invaluable. It has thrown me into a sea of nostalgia!
Arvind Arya blog 
Chale thoda kosha mangsho aur moghlai porota khate hain 😋
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Kolkata has neither hills, nor any flora or fauna! Taking you will be impossible 😊
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Your blog on Kolkata nee Calcutta: Yes, being a resident of this city since birth, I do have a “blood-relation” with this city of joy, of mysteries and of curiosities. Kolkata is an ever changing place of human emotions ranging from extreme anger to passionate romance.
The evening ‘chai sessions’ nickname ‘adda’ at a roadside tea-stall where topics range from football to ballistic missiles !!! Fans of Ronaldo, Messi indulge in ‘serious’ analysis of techniques side by side with songs of Lata, Kishore Kumar, Hemanta with insights into tunes and lyrics not leaving behind the actors in films and theatres (Bachhan, Shahrukh, Hema Malini, Sharmila along with local idol Uttam Kumar, Suchitra Sen, Utpal Dutta etcetera. The daily heated debates on politics ranging from global to Indian provide subtle insights of the people of this city, along with loud arguments on books by authors both past and present ! (The list of topics can match the number of words in an English dictionary !!) The city still has its ‘colonial’ clubs that still cling to English etiquettes of ‘club-culture’ to local sports/cultural clubs in every locality that still have tea served in earthen handle-less ‘cups’ (locally called ‘bhar’) with a unique mix of cookie & biscuit to celebrate any joyous event.
Kolkata is a place which simply invades into the DNAs of its inhabitants. One can physically migrate to other cities, but the soul still lingers with the nostalgia of India’s oldest metropolitan!
Ashim
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I wish your comments could be published as an original blog for the larger audience
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Sir,Daroon.Fatafattiiii
Regards Subhash
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🙏
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