Day 46 (22 July): Imperial Legacy?
I explored Calcutta on my own this day. I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of cows and goats in the streets like I have found in other cities so far. That is not to say that Calcutta has the greatest infrastructure though as its roads are still pothole ridden as they have been elsewhere.
Calcutta was the first headquarters of the British East India Company and the largest, most powerful city in India until the Suez Canal opened in 1869 and Bombay began to rise in strength. Calcutta further lost out when the British moved their government to Delhi in 1911. Nonetheless, Calcutta clearly has more impressive signs of the imperial hold over India.
Some of the sights I saw today showed that, particularly the Victoria Memorial which is a large marble building (build with the same marble as the Taj Mahal) in the center of Calcutta’s big park, built as a tribute to Queen Victoria. Today it houses a rather good history of the city of Calcutta. Another area that shows the imperial legacy is the downtown business district (Dalhoise Square) where the city hall was the former head of the British East India Company and the General Post Office was built in similarly grand form.
Other places I saw showed a mix of British legacy and modern day Calcutta, these included the Hogg Market (a farmer’s type market which was housed in a British built Market Hall) and the Park Street Area which is the main upscale shopping area.
Observations:
1) Lack of tourist infrastructure actually makes Calcutta a more pleasant place to visit, especially because it means that the beggars have less people to prey on and are less skilled at hunting down white people like me. It did mean, however, that I didn’t see a single other white person all day and that a lot of the locals spent a decent bit of time staring at me. (Arnab’s dad thinks that has more to do with my height than being white though.)
2) Public transportation that works. There actually is some in Calcutta unlike Mumbai. I took the Metro (Subway) from near there apartment into the center of Calcutta and it was relatively painless, it also cost less than 12 cents for a half hour ride.
3) Respect for women. On the subway, the whole middle section of the car is reserved for women. This probably helps avoid problems women tend to find on Tokyo subways.
4) Pollution. Despite the rather pollution friendly subway system, I have never been to a place with worse air pollution than Calcutta. It makes the concept of calling LA smoggy a joke. It probably also related to the much, much higher humidity in Calcutta (around 95%). Their other form of public transportation, large diesel buses, doubtless contributes to the pollution.
5) Mother Teresa. Her missionary work was based out of Calcutta; I wonder if that has anything to do with why poverty or at least outright despair are much, much less obvious here than they were in Mumbai.
6) Card games are really popular on the street here. Its almost reminds of what you see on the street in China (perhaps because its geographically near by?)
7) Efficient use of resources. In the cab I rode in today the driver turned the car off at lights, presumably to save gas. Many other cars seemed to be doing the same.
8) Labor versus China. Arnab’s mother was telling me that India no longer seems to be able to compete with China in textiles. She said a similar (but slightly lower quality) Sari made in China costs only 150 Rupees (about 3.5 USD) while one made in India cost nearly 2000 Rupees (or around 50 USD)
9) Good that the India museum is lacking? Arnab’s mother seemed to think it was actually good that the India Museum is somewhat lacking because she thinks that India artifacts are probably better preserved and cared for in museums abroad with more money and resources.
10) Communism. The government of the state of West Bengal where Calcutta is located has been controlled by the Indian Communist Party for over 25 years. Somehow, I’ve never heard of this before.
Calcutta was the first headquarters of the British East India Company and the largest, most powerful city in India until the Suez Canal opened in 1869 and Bombay began to rise in strength. Calcutta further lost out when the British moved their government to Delhi in 1911. Nonetheless, Calcutta clearly has more impressive signs of the imperial hold over India.
Some of the sights I saw today showed that, particularly the Victoria Memorial which is a large marble building (build with the same marble as the Taj Mahal) in the center of Calcutta’s big park, built as a tribute to Queen Victoria. Today it houses a rather good history of the city of Calcutta. Another area that shows the imperial legacy is the downtown business district (Dalhoise Square) where the city hall was the former head of the British East India Company and the General Post Office was built in similarly grand form.
Other places I saw showed a mix of British legacy and modern day Calcutta, these included the Hogg Market (a farmer’s type market which was housed in a British built Market Hall) and the Park Street Area which is the main upscale shopping area.
Observations:
1) Lack of tourist infrastructure actually makes Calcutta a more pleasant place to visit, especially because it means that the beggars have less people to prey on and are less skilled at hunting down white people like me. It did mean, however, that I didn’t see a single other white person all day and that a lot of the locals spent a decent bit of time staring at me. (Arnab’s dad thinks that has more to do with my height than being white though.)
2) Public transportation that works. There actually is some in Calcutta unlike Mumbai. I took the Metro (Subway) from near there apartment into the center of Calcutta and it was relatively painless, it also cost less than 12 cents for a half hour ride.
3) Respect for women. On the subway, the whole middle section of the car is reserved for women. This probably helps avoid problems women tend to find on Tokyo subways.
4) Pollution. Despite the rather pollution friendly subway system, I have never been to a place with worse air pollution than Calcutta. It makes the concept of calling LA smoggy a joke. It probably also related to the much, much higher humidity in Calcutta (around 95%). Their other form of public transportation, large diesel buses, doubtless contributes to the pollution.
5) Mother Teresa. Her missionary work was based out of Calcutta; I wonder if that has anything to do with why poverty or at least outright despair are much, much less obvious here than they were in Mumbai.
6) Card games are really popular on the street here. Its almost reminds of what you see on the street in China (perhaps because its geographically near by?)
7) Efficient use of resources. In the cab I rode in today the driver turned the car off at lights, presumably to save gas. Many other cars seemed to be doing the same.
8) Labor versus China. Arnab’s mother was telling me that India no longer seems to be able to compete with China in textiles. She said a similar (but slightly lower quality) Sari made in China costs only 150 Rupees (about 3.5 USD) while one made in India cost nearly 2000 Rupees (or around 50 USD)
9) Good that the India museum is lacking? Arnab’s mother seemed to think it was actually good that the India Museum is somewhat lacking because she thinks that India artifacts are probably better preserved and cared for in museums abroad with more money and resources.
10) Communism. The government of the state of West Bengal where Calcutta is located has been controlled by the Indian Communist Party for over 25 years. Somehow, I’ve never heard of this before.
posted by Traveling Brian at 6:34 AM
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