Last evening, much to the disappointment of my aunt that I was going out with some 'guy' friends in the evening, I headed out to China Town (Tangra). Tangra used to be the mecca of Leather. All the tanneries were located here till several years ago. they were all moved out due to the Metropolitan Development Plan and non existence of Polluting Industries with the Metropolitan Municipal Limits. The only poullution I remeber is the stench that used to emanate from here.
Ofcourse with the exodus of the tanneries, which incidentally were all owned by Chinese people, the place has now become a mecca for Chinese food. Practically all the buildings on the main road in Tangra have been converted to restaurants.
What's amazing is that it is also a watering hole for most Calcuttans. The Alchohol menu offers options of 30ml, 60ml, 180ml (nip), 375ml (pint), or then 750ml (botlle). So depends on how much drinking one intends to engage in, just place the order. We decided to go with a pint of Smirnoiff. Add to that a half plate of Crispy Fried Chicken, Schezwan dry Chicken and Fried Fish each and we were set for the evening.
While we were halfway through the evening, we got chatting with the blokes on the table beside us. Sure enough, out of towners. We guessed so, because we were all laughing at the silly behaviour of some inebriated Bengali chaps on the table acroos the room. That was the starting point of our conversation. One of the chaps was from Mumbai and had been lured into Kolkata by the IT Sector. He was a software guy with Wipro. It was fun chatting with someone from out of town and though references were made to how happening Mumbai was, strangely I felt the need to convince the bloke that Kolkata was also a rocking place. Infact I felt some sort of pride in the fact that I was defending Kolkata and the good life it offers. Yeah, OK! I know I still feel strongly about the pollution and the lack of will to work here, but hell it's changing.
That said, they left and we carried on into the night. Well 11pm to be precise. After that I drove down to Shothpur, which is way past Dum Dum, a bit beyond Dunlop Bridge on B.T. Road. I quite enjoyed the midnight drive to the northern most part of Kolkata. Once back home, I ended up chatting till about 2am with my aunt. Finally she chased me off to bed, lest I keep her up all night.
Cause and Effect: Getting up this morning was painful!!
Ofcourse with the exodus of the tanneries, which incidentally were all owned by Chinese people, the place has now become a mecca for Chinese food. Practically all the buildings on the main road in Tangra have been converted to restaurants.
What's amazing is that it is also a watering hole for most Calcuttans. The Alchohol menu offers options of 30ml, 60ml, 180ml (nip), 375ml (pint), or then 750ml (botlle). So depends on how much drinking one intends to engage in, just place the order. We decided to go with a pint of Smirnoiff. Add to that a half plate of Crispy Fried Chicken, Schezwan dry Chicken and Fried Fish each and we were set for the evening.
While we were halfway through the evening, we got chatting with the blokes on the table beside us. Sure enough, out of towners. We guessed so, because we were all laughing at the silly behaviour of some inebriated Bengali chaps on the table acroos the room. That was the starting point of our conversation. One of the chaps was from Mumbai and had been lured into Kolkata by the IT Sector. He was a software guy with Wipro. It was fun chatting with someone from out of town and though references were made to how happening Mumbai was, strangely I felt the need to convince the bloke that Kolkata was also a rocking place. Infact I felt some sort of pride in the fact that I was defending Kolkata and the good life it offers. Yeah, OK! I know I still feel strongly about the pollution and the lack of will to work here, but hell it's changing.
That said, they left and we carried on into the night. Well 11pm to be precise. After that I drove down to Shothpur, which is way past Dum Dum, a bit beyond Dunlop Bridge on B.T. Road. I quite enjoyed the midnight drive to the northern most part of Kolkata. Once back home, I ended up chatting till about 2am with my aunt. Finally she chased me off to bed, lest I keep her up all night.
Cause and Effect: Getting up this morning was painful!!
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