Thursday, March 15, 2007

Kolkata is incomplete without...

The trams
Kolkata

A photographer's paradise... One place where one can never get tired of shooting! Its a wonder as to how long will these trams remain in function! They are very much in function and is jam packed at times! Even though its slow, one wonders what makes it the preferred mode of transport for the hundreds of people daily..

The Hand Pulled Rickshaws
Heritage
These hand pulled rickshaws have been the face of Kolkata for long... the very sight of this reminds one of the novel City of Joy... Of late the government has issued an order to ban these hand pulled rickshaws. There are a group of people who are against this mainly for the reason that it will cause mass unemployment... currently there are around 10 thousand such rickshaw pullers there... Some also feel that this is actually a good thing in the crowded city of Kolkata and a welcome thing from the pollution that has been a characteristic of the city.

The street children
It haunts me...

There are so many children like these on the streets of Kolkata... they are indeed nice as subjects to shoot and perhaps the most easily available.. but after a while they start to haunt you.. the poverty.. the conditions in which they live... they things they do .. like begging.. looking for food.. not knowing when their next meals would come from.. or perhaps just sleep on the pavements.. hoping for a better tomorrow...

The footpath dwellers
Drawing room
The number of families stranded on the footpaths of Kolkata is just uncountable... There are always so many of them on the streets.. and it appears that their drawing , study, bed room are all on the footpath. The number of such families keep increasing due to people flocking to the city from nearby towns, villages and states.

The earners of the footpath
The Cobblers
On the footpath, its their office. They sit there whole day.. wait for customers.. eye each person passing by .. and then leave for the day.. to come back the next day....

The Yellow Taxis
WB-04C-0320
This is one thing that you can never miss in Kolkata. They are everywhere...! The Ambassadors taxis! One of the most comfortable vehicles to travel by! And with the FM radio on full swing, no ride across the city seems to be boring!

The Tea with the daily News
Tea and News
When was the last time you actually saw the newspapers on the walls for a community... when was the last time you actually sat with friends at a chai stall reading and discussing about the latest news... politics.. cricket.. unions..

The Howrah Bridge
Night Vision Howrah Bridge
The symbol of Old Kolkata...

The Street side Chowmein and Roll stalls
Chowmein stall
Its a wonder as to how the stomach never gets spoilt! These stalls are there at almost all areas of the city! Oh BTW the rolls and Chowmeins and the chicken chillies here are very tasty and cheap too!

The Victoria Memorial
Victoria Memorial
In houses one of the largest painting exhibitions of the Indian History with artifacts from the historical India. The architecture is indeed marvelous and amazing!

And above all.. Cricket!
Cricket
Where else but in Kolkata! The Cricket fever is always at a high here! No matter how the country's team performs... the streets have always been and will be a playground to millions!

Well.. This is one place where I could go on and on shooting.. and run out of films/ memory but never out of subjects!
An ancient city with a touch of modernity! I just love the place!
I have more pictures at this location My Kolkata Pictures

Do comment on the pics! I look forward to your comments and feedback!

10 comments:

Sandip Debnath said...

hey Happy.. nice to get ur blog.. and nice to see some good images from Kolkata.. kind of remembering my days.. great one.. keep it up.

vinay speaks said...

great pics ...u've summed up kolkata ..its like the book city of joy where the writer walks you thru all things essentially make up kolkata ...i find the rasgullas missing though ! :)

Kshitiz Anand said...

Thanks Sandip!

Kshitiz Anand said...

Thanks Vinay!

Vivek M said...

Very nice Kshitiz, you have a way with capturing people. The pictures are great, although I would have liked all of them in colour!

Kshitiz Anand said...

Thanks Vivek!

Me said...

Hi Kshitiz,
It was great to go through this site of yours.
Lovely pictures you have taken on Calcutta.
All the best.
pUJa(penguin)

naveen said...

Nice Kolkata......
Nice Pictures......
and above all nice photographer -:)

Unknown said...

Great job! BW works very well for the photos, especially the streetlife ones.

Agnivo said...

some pics.but u missed out an important aspect! the rallies and michils