Country boats for tourists at Prinsep Ghaat.

The day was cold and misty, and after some discussion on possible destinations, my wife and I (along with three other family members) decided on going to the bank of Ganga near the Prinsep Ghaat. The reason for my selecting the bank of Ganga was simple: I grew up reading novels and stories by writers from West Bengal, in many of which the hero and the heroine would drive along the Red Road towards the bank of Ganga to spend some time together. Although my life's heroine and I are no longer of that age, I thought it would not be a bad idea to see what we missed!

Prinsep Ghat overlooked by Vidyasagar Setu.

Our first stop, Prinsep Ghaat is named after James Prinsep, an orientalist who came to India during the nineteenth century and made a name especially for his contributions to deciphering the inscriptions of Ashoka. The monument erected (during the British raj) in his memory is a combination of Greek and Gothic architecture, and has been preserved well. The surrounding area has a nice garden which I was told is used for shooting movie sequences. As we went towards the river, we found the stair case leading to the river, and a nice promenade constructed on the river bank. Tall trees combined with flower beds beautifying the place have created a small park. Not unexpectedly, the benches provided for relaxation were all occupied by the present day real life heroes and heroines.
As we approached the second ghaat, we found country boats waiting to take tourists for rides along the river. But instead of taking the country boat ride, we drove to the Millennium Park (a short drive from the Prinsep Ghaat) from where one could take motor boats for cruise along the river.
By the time we reached the Millennium Park, it was time for the so-called “sunset cruise” that goes up to the famous Howrah bridge on the right and then turns back to go up to the Vidyasagar Setu (the second bridge on the river Hooghly) on the left. The afternoon was misty and visibility was rather poor. But one could still get a good view of the magnificent Howrah bridge from a distance. As the boat went close to the bridge and provided a full view of its structure, one could appreciate the engineering feat involved in constructing a hanging bridge like this one, especially considering that it was done in the first half of the twentieth century.  

Book stalls on the pavement of College Street.

By then, the sun had gone down quite a bit and was getting ready to take leave for the day. The reflections of the crimson rays on the gentle waves of the river created a sublime view. As the launch was gently cruising towards Vidyasagar Setu, and the time of sunset was getting closer, I was in my mind humming: din shesher ranga mukul jaglo chitey, and dinanto balai shesher phashal niye tori parey.
While talking about new faces of Kolkata, mention must be made of the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass (EMB) – a road on the eastern periphery of the original city that runs from north to south and connects major points of the city. We used that road often and found how one single road transformed the city's landscape so substantially. This road has created opportunities for the city to expand hugely with new housing estates, modern hospitals, business centres, shopping malls, up-scale hotels, etc. The road is being widened further, and a new elevated metro line is being constructed to connect the southern end with the airport at the northern end. I thought that the ambition and aspirations of the city are summed up well in a huge hoarding showing a smart young man with a brief case who says: “I live in Kolkata and work in Manhattan”. However, on my way to the city centre, as the taxi entered a road towards Beleghata with slum like housing and work places by the road side, I felt I entered the scene of Ramapada Chowdhury's famous novel of the 1960s, Baro Ghar Aek Uthan, and I wondered what the residents of that area would say about their places of living and work.

The front side of Thakur Bari.

The cultural background of a city is reflected, at least partly, in the bookshops it has. In that regard, Kolkata would easily rank very high, at least in the developing world. The corner of College Street (just opposite the famous Presidency College) and its surrounding streetsform a square that houses a large number of book shops – small and large – that can quench the thirst of any lover of books in Bangla language.
My first stop was Dasgupta's, a book seller since 1886. Although they did not have the books that I was looking for, they volunteered to make phone calls to the publishers and see if copies were available. This, of course, is a practice many book shops in that area have, and even a small bookstore can offer a “one-stop service”. But I hopped in and out of several other shops including the new outlet of Signet (the publisher of the early books by Jibonanda Das and Buddhadeb Basu) who have opened a small but smart looking (air-conditioned) shop and Ananda who has a similar one nearby.
We kept the pick of the cultural tour of Kolkata for the last – the “Thakur Bari of Jorasanko”, the house where Rabindranath Tagore was born, grew up and died. Located in northern Kolkata, a part of the huge house is open to public as a museum. The tour started from the dining room and a room marked as Mrinalini Devi's (the poet's wife) kitchen. A small room adjacent to the dining room was marked as the music room, but was not open to public.
The room depicted as the place where the poet was born (looked like a traditional “atur ghar”) is so tiny that it could not possibly accommodate anything other than a small bed. The poet's bedroom, the room where he breathed his last, his wife's bedroom (located in one corner of Vichitra Bhaban, at a distance from the poet's own bedroom) are small too. The room used by the poet for writing and receiving visitors – at the south-east corner of the same building, is also rather modest in size. However, the easy chair with cane work, together with a life size photo of the poet seated on the (same or similar?) chair, do create a feeling as if he was there even a moment ago.

The courtyard of Thakur Bari.

We went through rooms displaying the life of the poet, his interaction with other famous people, and his travels – including the rooms dedicated to his relations with China and Japan. An important aspect of Tagore's life was travel and writings around those travels. On one side of the hall room in Vichitra Bhaban, there is a map showing the countries visited (with years) by him. If one considers the time, resources and effort involved, it's simply amazing that he travelled to so many countries in different corners of the globe.
One of the rooms serves as a portrait gallery with portraits of members of the family. There are also rooms displaying the poet's drawings and paintings.
A hall room located in the middle of the Vichitra Bhaban displays a wooden replica of the house boat used by the poet during his trips to Shilaidaha and Shazadpur (in Bangladesh) in connection with his estate duties.  This was a gift from Bangladesh on the occasion of the 150th birth centenary of the poet. Those familiar with Tagore's work know that a large part of his creations came along with the harvests received during those trips. So I felt that the gift was very thoughtful.
Mention must be made of the courtyard at the centre of the house with a raised platform at one end that probably served as the stage for various events, and stairs and columns at another, providing places for the audience. The architecture of the house and the courtyard is such that performances could be watched even from the balconies. That was the place where many events took place during the poet's lifetime and the poet himself was involved in some way or the other – as an actor, singer or a director.
Though short, the visit did create impressions on us and raised questions in our minds – some old and some new. While travelling back, we got engaged in a little discussion covering various dimensions of the poet's work and life that included topics like his relationship with his wife, and the dichotomy between his expressed views and practices on social issues like women's education and empowerment.