A Convoy, A Crossing And The Big Yellow Taxi

I was on my way to work when I found myself unexpectedly held up at the Park Circus 7 Point Crossing.

Not the usual Kolkata traffic jam this time.

An Indian Army convoy was making its way through, so traffic had to wait while a whole line of Army trucks passed through the crossing.

There was quite a convoy to watch, with one truck after another making its way past. Naturally, being stuck in traffic suddenly didn't seem quite so irritating when there was something interesting happening right in front of me.

So, out came the camera.

And as I've discovered time and again while photographing the streets of Kolkata, somehow I always seem to manage to get a Yellow Cab into the frame.

This time was no different.

Right there, alongside the passing Army convoy, was one of those unmistakable Kolkata yellow taxis.

It almost felt like the perfect Kolkata photograph—a convoy of Army trucks passing through one of the city's busiest intersections, with the iconic yellow taxi sharing the frame.

I've photographed Kolkata's yellow cabs countless times, sometimes deliberately and sometimes completely by accident. But they have this uncanny ability to appear in the most unexpected places.

The Big Yellow Taxi is probably as synonymous with the City of Joy as the Howrah Bridge, the trams, the Maidan or Park Street.

And perhaps that's why I keep clicking them.

One day, when these yellow taxis have become an increasingly rare sight on Kolkata's streets, these photographs may end up being little pieces of the city we once took for granted.

For now, though, I'll continue looking for that splash of yellow.

Because somehow, a Kolkata street photograph just feels a little more like Kolkata when there's a yellow cab in it.