Missing Calcutta....

Born and brought up in Northern India, a punjabi by nature who loves everything about North India, I never thought of being in eastern city of joy called Calcutta, but that fascination always stayed. Although it has been re-christened as Kolkata but I do love to call the city as good olde Calcutta. During childhood doordarshan used to telecast a unity commercial featuring artists from every part of India... that gave me first glimpse of bengali and the city Calcutta with its Metro proudly boasting high for being the only city in India to have underground rail system. Well time flies fast....and I end up joining REC Dugapur, the REC chapter of West Bengal. The steel city of Durgapur famous for its steel plants and CMERI, is about 180 Kms from Calcutta, and here I go, I finally landed in the city which used to fascinate me for years. Not to stop there, after 4 years of engineering I end up having my first job in Calcutta. And I still relish my stay at the City of Joy. The city which is truly live always, any time of the day. Today its been exactly one year since I left Calcutta and joined my client locations in New Jersey, USA, But the city will always be an important part of my life.

Fortunately yesterday I found few pics of Calcutta in 1947. The earlier british capitol of India still got its periodic charm....

Calcutta Downtown


Howrah Bridge, Calcutta

Barbers on Calcutta streets

Billboards

Hoogly Bank

Coconut market

Night life

Red Cross of Calcutta

Chowranghee street

Chowranghee square, with Tram

Jai hai.. jai hai

Man in Black

He surely was somebody, the Man in Black

Well, you wonder why I always dress in black,
Why you never see bright colors on my back,
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.
Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on.

I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,
Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town,
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
But is there because he's a victim of the times.

I wear the black for those who never read,
Or listened to the words that Jesus said,
About the road to happiness through love and charity,
Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me.

Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose,
In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes,
But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back,
Up front there ought 'a be a Man In Black.

I wear it for the sick and lonely old,
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold,
I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could have been,
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.

And, I wear it for the thousands who have died,
Believen' that the Lord was on their side,
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,
Believen' that we all were on their side.

Well, there's things that never will be right I know,
And things need changin' everywhere you go,
But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right,
You'll never see me wear a suit of white.

Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day,
And tell the world that everything's OK,
But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,
'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black

- Johnny Cash