Human Stories - Kolkata

Two years of pandemic and my life changed from an avid traveler to just shuttling between two ends of the Capital city. With 2022 and lock down easing out,?my wanderings have started quicker than before.

Unlike my usual interest on non-metro and less crowded places, this time was one of the most crowded city in India, a city known for its literary depth,?a city famous for its temples, a city famous for its food and also a city where income disparity so evident in its everyday life (which big city doesn’t have it anyways) ..this time it had to be City of Joy, Kolkata.

I have always loved exploring cities either by walking or cycling rather than in cabs, considering it was a weekend and the roads less crowded, walking and exploring by-lanes was fun.?Walking through the city does give you a chance to explore, understand the culture but also always helps me to connect dots through people’s behaviour.??

?A)??Food habits give us a sense of belongingness: Though I am not a foodie, but I had a long list of recommendation of places to eat even before I started planning the trip.??A city which is famous for its street food, it was obvious for me to go and try it's 'puchkas' at two different joints on consecutive days. I can write a long tale about their taste but there was a unique thing which struck me this time.?

Both the joints were well visited and they had one thing in common, in both the places there were large groups of young college students apparently studying out of India and were visiting the city for first time. Amongst these groups, there would be one city-native person who talks local language, Bengali for the shop keeper and English for the friends and was explaining proudly the culture, relating to the street food and telling them how to eat it and enjoy the food. There was a sense of pride for city in their tones. Despite being away from their native place for long, they talking about food of their city gave them a sense of being connected.?I remembered that's how I explain Indian food to my friends and colleagues who come from other countries.

Food, we eat while growing up being the basic human need, does give us a sense of belongingness and is inherent part of who we are.??This is the sheer reason that despite having best food available in even the most acclaimed restaurant, one does crave for home food after few days (ghar ka khana!)

?B) Passion and excellence drives customer satisfaction:

There is a college street in Kolkata where you can find millions of books across genres in a sphere of 2 kilometers, you name it and you can find it, be it history, philosophy, science, religion, fiction, curriculum based or otherwise.?We went there without any particular book in mind but just for the feel of the place and ended up buying multiple books. Now that’s not unique considering the love for books we have, but to my utter surprise I bought the book,?‘Physics for non science people’. I don’t and can’t read science books by the sheer volume of formulas and complicated jargons it has, but the reason, I bought it was the ‘shop keeper, Mr.Das.?He was so passionate about his books, he asked our interests and kept on showing us books and discussed with us topics at length. His sheer passion and energy on his face was so evident that he cared less even if we buy it, he kept on narrating stories from this book as if it was a film reel and we ended up taking it, his passion was infectious.

The Tea vendor?: A tea-lover like me needs to find good tea-joints in any city I go. This shop was a little one tucked opposite the stock exchange in a corner shop, selling just few items, he has a huge clientele who would just drive by his small shop, you would otherwise ignore but for the long queue of people around the stall. The passion and smile with which he and his team serve the tea and few snacks item with it, makes the shop a case study of management schools in itself. I did notice each and every employee in the shop would engage with customers for a small chit chat, which gave it all a personal touch. Surprisingly, the pricing of a ‘kesar chai’ is almost 5 times I would pay to a tea vendor in Delhi, but he is able to justify it with all the specialty he puts in the tea.

?Both these shops are not big, no branding, no advertisement but if I ever visit the city again, I will first head to them for the sheer customer centricity they have.

?C) Human resilience is paramount despite all adversities:

Tourism industry though badly hit by Pandemic, I was amazed to see the optimism of the hotel staff.?Staying in a luxurious 5 star hotel and talking to hotel manager on the outlook of the business, he said we are giving away many freebies in order to remain in business and sustain livelihood for our employees though cut down by huge numbers. There was a sense of despair as he shared hotel was on low occupancy but they were trying all they could to keep the ship alive. It is difficult to keep the hotel going despite the deep pockets, but there is always a ray of hope, after each pandemic wave of tourism picking up.??

Right outside the hotel gate is a busy or should I say very busy flea market. There was a young, may be eight year old girl selling flowers which were almost wilting. I was observing her standing at the hotel gate, she tried to sell her flowers to me, unsuccessfully. With noon sun at its peak, she sat down tiringly at one corner and the moment she saw me looking at her, she again rushed to me, asking if I can buy her some food instead. I asked her, what she wanted to eat and there came a big childish smile and a spark in her eyes, 'Chowmein'.

Watching her eat 'chowmein' with great satisfaction was a treat for me. The moment she finished her much desired meal, there was an optimism in her eyes, of selling her flowers again and she jumped to the crossing again convincing others.

Optimism for future and?resilience, irrespective of rich or poor is a human trait we are borne with and it comes forth more in adversity.

D) We are all equal in eyes of God

As I headed to the most famous temple in the city, Covid and long queues did play in my mind. To my pleasure, it was not crowded and the arrangement was well managed with security guards at the entrance ensuring everyone was wearing a mask and maintaining a distance.

As we stood in the queue, there came a orange robed monk, who was trying to enter the temple without the mask and kept on arguing with the security that it is not needed and he will cover his face with his neck scarf. This monk seemed to be belonging to a big religious society is what I could infer based on the number of disciples with him. But neither the monk nor his disciples could convince the security personnel and finally they had to go and buy masks before entering the temple.

I smiled when the security guard told the monk, "Covid does not discriminate in monk or common man" and I mentally added neither does God !!

?As I headed back from Kolkata, it was bagful of famous sweets and even sweeter memories and its human touch which makes the place - city of joy… till the next wandering !