The city of dreams, the city of unhindered passion, the heart of India- Kolkata(also anglicized as Calcutta), a seven- lettered word is the city of lights, city of joy. When I first came to this city, I fell in love with it. The hustling-bustling city which has managed to capture and charm the lives of its citizens seemed to have a long, thrilling history. What I learnt is that this city has been the witness of ancient, majestic, omnipotent dynasties of India to the long drawn-out struggle for independence. This city has had innumerable rulers from the archaic Kings to the medieval British Governors and the contemporary leaders.

During my six days stay at my granny’s place in the city, I learnt a lot. This is one of the metropolitan cities of India and a megacity in the world. One would eventually get captivated by the old Gothic edifices of the Victorian era to the Indo-Iranian styles of architectures. This was also the former capital of the nation as well as the base of all the Parsis and Chinese(known as Tangra) who came from Iran and China respectively. The Tollywood or the Bengali film industry or the entry into the glam world, multinational companies, eateries and what not are situated here. The culture here ranges from street punchies called ‘phuchka’, to the famous ‘mishtidoi’ or sweet hungcurd and the much-hyped continental cuisines to street shopping(like Black Fridays in The US), on would go nuts! Name a thing and you get it here. Imagine, a city of such a huge population(near about 11 million), not a single individual is able to resist the tempatation that this city offers.

Leave this, my mom and I used to have disputes regarding this city and its potentials. I was of the view that this was like some other normal city. But on the contrary, this city soared above my expectations. I was dazzled at the sight of galores of tourist attractions that comprised of the much-hyped Victoria memorial, Writer’s building, churches, mosques, temples, agiaries, gardens,eateries, zoos and so. Needless to say, this city also has many lucrative employment offers and has managed to maintain secularism. And the best part is, Kolkata is like mini-London. The streets, places are named after the long-dead Britishers.

And so my journey came to an end. What I learnt through this is that this city has people- cordial, warm, amicable. Something which the other cities fail to have. Though the green covers are not as dense as compared to other cities or towns of the world, it has still managed to keep the enemy of the world ‘pollution’ at the bay. Another thing, the people are real foodies- they love to eat. That’s the reason it is said here ‘Live to eat’. I am sure that this city has the potential to enthrall everyone of us!