Tale of a City, Tale of two Friends, Tale of Dreams & Fancies

Author: Rajashree ( academician and traveler)

Photos: Anirban

In one of my early-morning yellow-taxi rides, the driver smiled and said; “People from almost everywhere comes to this city every day. They sleep on the streets. And can manage food for the day in minimum cost. Kolkata indeed is Mahanagar”.

As I nodded and smiled at him, I realized that, even though each one of us adapts unique ways of contemplating the city, we all, somehow, stumble upon a very archetypal idea of Kolkata. Most of us, who, at some point claimed, that they ‘belong to Kolkata’ has very specific ideas about the cultural variation that persist between the northern and the southern part of the city. While some are enthralled by the poetic manifestation of North Calcutta, mostly derived from books, photographs, paintings etc., a few might have felt a distaste at the morbid romanticism behind which lies the gory truth of life. South Calcutta on the other hand is always presented as ‘posh’ (for the lack of a better word). 

What remained much less noticed is one place within the city that readily defies all our idiosyncrasies related to Kolkata.

Hidden Varanasi within Kolkata

The “Ful Market” (market of flowers) as popularly known, located right beside the Howrah Bridge is not a very unfamiliar place. There are thousands of pictures available on the internet, many photo stories, contents etc. but the essence of the place might have remained un-clicked.

The place, in a sudden gaze, can remind you of North India, particularly ancient Benares, situated in the bank of Ganga. The market starts right before the Howrah Bridge, and extends itself to a decrepit old footbridge. The bridge ends into a spectacularly huge market which, interestingly enough, is also the ‘Strand Road’ alongside the river. The market of Roses, Sunflowers, Daisies, Jasmines, Lavenders, Hibiscuses etc. often extends itself sideways into

enormous structures from the colonial times, which are not houses, but ruins giving the space its peculiar tonality. The amalgamation of all possible colours immediately cures, for the time being, the dizziness of freedom that any metropolitan city brings upon us.

The narrow market-lane intermittently digresses to adjacent ghats that readily bring the visuals from Varanasi. Many temples and similar religious structures add to the ‘AryaBarta’ charm. The enormous structures along the river ghats are also made home by numerous people who divided them into confined areas to inhabit. Two particular ghats, named ‘Ram Chandra Senana Goenka Bathing Ghat’ and ‘Prosonno kumar Tagore Ghat’ bear that mystique quality which often makes travelers like us lose ourselves into a peculiar reverie.

The lanes finally meet Burra Bazar Circular Rail Station where the traveler again wakes up to a regular Kolkata. 

People & Religiosity of the Place

As you will walk the lanes of the market, you will spot many temple-like structures, enormous branches of trees, stones and pebbles smudged with vermilion, all screaming out to you a faith, a belief and one religion. While most of the city, offers a secular multicultural space, this particular lane would either fascinate you or repel you with its morbid religious undertone. Inhabitants are primarily Hindus and most of them are non-bengalis.

There are also many ‘akhras’ where people practice fist fighting regularly. This all the more will bring you closer to the particular culture that the place breathes out.

And Travel Keeps Enriching You!

A glimpse of the place will provide you with a joy of feeling lost amidst the city lights. If nothing more, it will definitely give you some deep insight. For what goes unnoticed in our daily lives is the mere fact, that sometimes it requires us to block ourselves from our structured visions and thoughts to discover ourselves. 

This remains an early morning tale of two friends and fellow travelers unraveling their fancies, aimlessly walking down the roads of a city, named Kolkata.