In The Land Of "THE SHADOW LINES"

The date is the 23rd of July’06, time about 10:45A.M., I step on the soil of West Bengal (more specifically Kolkata) for the first time in my life. Till now, in my 18 long yrs of life, I have always been criticized for not visiting the “Mother Land” for all “Bangalees”, the ‘Haj’, the ‘Mecca’, the ‘Tirtha Sthal’ for the Bangalees – Kolkata! As per the general rule; “If you are a bangalee, then u have to visit d ‘holy land’ of Kolkata – along with the offshoots like Dakshineshwar, Belur etc etc….”

The solemn oaths of not visiting Kolkata ever in my life, are all shattered to infinite particles, d moment I step on the ground of Sealdah Station. All d famous lines n titles glorifying Bengal start dancing around my head. “I shall return to this Bengal”, “Amar Shonar Bangla” etc.. etc.. Only for my lovely sister did I agree upon blowing away my “Bishmapratigya”.

Surprisingly! I don’t mind my first glance at the now-normal Kolkata. And in the following subsequent glances, I get quite excited n start acting like a ‘pakka’ tourist. Camera in one hand all ready to shoot…. Sitting ram-rod straight in d ambassador, peering out of the window, mind reeling with information about d surroundings. By d time I arrive at my destination, my mind has become a kaleidoscope of information. The more I stimulate it, more of info I find. And at that very point of time, when I’m making a list of things am going to do here, my mind goes back to d novel by Amitav Ghosh, “The Shadow lines”.
Though the novel shuttles between Kolkata, Bengal as a whole, London n Delhi in many time frames, it still had left a lasting impression of d places in Kolkata, d author had mentioned about. Through that my mind had created a majestic colonial aura around Kolkata, a very important part f my new-found curiosity revolving around this city.

Even though it was clear from d beginning that visiting those places mentioned by d author so-o many years ago is a near-impossibility, but inferring that d streets n “galis” are d place to roam around, is very easy. I also thought of copying d way to visit d places from d novel. Rather than looking at what is there in front of me, or supposed to be in front of me, I try to look at d history behind it. Not only d political history filled with power games, but also d people’s history. The history of the reason of a building (for ex), to still stand tall amongst d jungle of d new monuments creating history for themselves. If no-one else knows that history, I am myself trying to imagine its history by the look of it. This experience has simply heightened my senses, n lo! I have created my very own Kolkata, with my imagined histories of each n every brick that has been laid down.

Its not only the current Kolkata that I see, but I see n experience d old ‘Calcutta’ as well, of the time when it was d capital of the country under the British rule, of the time when it had become d centre of all revolutionary activities against d British Raj n d time when d modern world tried to overtake its old world charm, but failed.
Yes, even with the modern buildings around, u can still find d old world charm lurking about somewhere. The colonial buildings n street lights, d existence f Ambassadors! (In d form of yellow taxi’s n also as personal cars), d sustained aged-look f d roads…. U can almost imagine d horse-drawn carriages of vice-roys n generals bursting out from d packed traffic on d streets, see d now-disintegrating trams running in their full regalia, revolutionaries like Subhash Chandra Bose, walking around spreading their msg.

No wonder Kolkata has become d ‘Mecca’ for d Bengalis. Not only 4 d pleasure, but it also instigates a strong tide of pride within u, of being a Bengali…. Being in relation with people like Rabindra Nath Tagore, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Subhash Chandra Bose etc..
Now am despairing over d fact that I was d one who chopped down d time duration of this trip. My heart has already started 2 plan d next, so that it can visit me when I am back in Kolkata, becoz u see, my heart has found a new home in d beautiful city of Kolkata.