Wet Wet Wet - That's Kolkata

Day 21, Sep 21, 06: Kolkata:

What I’ve been enjoying since last evening is playing the guitar. One of Rahul’s friends (Danny) has left his guitar back at our place. So I’ve been just playing around with it. It’s fun to play an electric guitar. I think I’m going to start to hone my musical skills with all this time I have on my hands.

Anyway this morning when I looked out, there was a consistent drizzle outside. Who’s afraid of a little water was my thought when I headed down the stairs? By the time I had reached the gate, it was a full blown downpour. These rain gods also have their ears peeled to our thoughts through those menacing grey clouds. So I headed straight back up five floors and waited patiently for the rain to subside a bit. It took twenty odd minutes and I was back out crossing the ever busy Park Street to catch a cab.

There were several tucked in on Bright Street just off the main road. I approached one of them and enquired with the driver whether he’d go to Dalhousie. To my utter surprise, he asked me not ask and just sit in the cab, reaching over his seat and opening the back door for me.”Boni ka time hai, jaha bologey, le jaynge”. I was his first passenger for the day and he told me he’d take me anywhere I’d want to go.

Anyway once in office and working away, I got a call from Warren. He was down from Delhi on business and though I was supposed to catch up with him last evening, which couldn’t happen, we decided to catch up over lunch. So back out in the rain again it was, at about 1.15 pm. It took me a good 40 odd minutes to get to Sudder Street, but once there, we decided to take a short walk down to Jongs. This is one of the finer Chinese restaurants in Kolkata and is on the corner of Chowringee and Sudder Street. The walk was more like a jog till there as it was still pouring. We entered in all drenched, but ready to munch on some good Chinese. Over lunch he narrated last evening’s experience with his colleagues at a shady place called Princess Bar. I hope he can narrate the same here. We had a good laugh over mixed fried Rice and Szechwan Chicken in Hot Garlic Sauce.

After lunch we decided to take a stroll down to New Market and I was so excited that I gave him a grand tour of the erstwhile shopping destination of Kolkata. Today’s generation has Forum and City Center. This was a nostalgic journey for me and it was a pity to see that the land mark “Canon” was missing from its place of pride at the center of the market. Anyway, little has changed in here and since it was still unscathed by the newer malls, a celebration was in order. Nahoum’s still has it. My mouth started watering the moment we walked in. A lemon tart for me and a Rum Ball for Warren and we had done justice to our visit to the New Market.

I feel like singing - Rain, Rain go away come again on a hot, hot sunny day. It’s been raining here for two days straight. There seems to be a depression forming over the Bay of Bengal. OK for the uninitiated, this means a cyclone is brewing up in the seas and as always heads up towards the Orissa or West Bengal coastline and end up plastering the Ganges Delta. You always end up reading about the devastation that it causes in Bangaladesh. Chittagong is usually worst affected.

On that note I’m heading back home now and it’s still raining.