I had promised my readers that I will come back to them again with my favourite city of Kolkata for it is impossible to wrap up an emotive writing on this great city in one instalment. Kolkata became increasingly dearer to us during our youth. There were plenty of reasons for that. Primary were the entertainment possibility that this city offered. When we were in college Suchitra Sen and Uttam Kumar reigned supreme in Bengali film. For us Kolkata was the city of Suchitra-Uttam. So we were naturally attracted to the city. But once we arrived there we literally forgot about these acting idols and immersed into what this great city had to offer. This, often, consisted of enlargement of the things that were dear to us when as children we visited Kolkata. My interests were many. Some of them were trivial. And others might merit adult attention. Kolkata in those days was city all of us longed to visit. Dhaka, then known as Dacca, was a tiny town without any paraphernalia that would make this a city. So Kolkata was a 'city' to look forward to.

Much of my weakness for Kolkata came from the verbal memoirs of my father. He had his college and University education in Kolkata. We have many anecdotes of my father while he was in that city. Upon our wheedling he told us that he had a physical contact with a girl before his marriage. We were all ears to hear his fantastic story. This story is hilarious. There was heavy rain fall in a monsoon day causing inundation of the roads surrounding the Calcutta University. My father was stuck in the campus due to flash flood with many other students. At one point they decided to wade across the road. A sari clad girl was hesitant to cross the flowing water and asked the boys for help. In those days boys were conservative. So no one came forward. My father became chivalrous and took her in his arms and with bold strides crossed water. He was heartily congratulated by the girl for his chivalry. That made his day. We never forgot to mention this anecdote when in our conversations 'physical contact' emerged as a subject.

We simply adored the University area and spent countless hours in the coffee house there with friends and, at times, with our seniors talking about intellectual matters that invigorated us in our youth. The Calcutta Coffee House was a sought after joint those days and I discovered many luminaries from the intellectual world of Kolkata in that place. I once discovered Satyajit Roy in a heated discussion with poets Subhash Mukherjee and Bishnu Dey. It was a matter of delight to have discovered the mortals of our dreams in flesh and blood. 

I also adored the Dhakuria lake; popularly known as the Ballygunj Lake. We went there for an occasional swim. Gariahat was abuzz withe shops of various sizes and denominations. It was always crowded, mostly with girls and women. So, in our youth that was a place we frequented.

Rabindra Sadan was founded in 1961 to commemorate the birth centenary of poet Rabindranath Tagore. We used to frequent the Sadan to witness the famous singers performing there. Hemanta Mukharjee, Manabendra, Shyamal Mitra, Shandhya Mukherjee, Pratima Banerjee et al used to perform there regularly. In our youth, thanks to the orientation on music we received from Chhayanaut, we were also attracted by the performances of classical music, vocal and instrumental. So while in Kolkata, we went to various classical musical shows, vocal and oriental, if they were free or if we could afford the price of the ticket. I was exposed to the music of such maestros as Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Kahn and instrumental music of Ustad Vilayet Khan, Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar at the Rabindra Sadan or in the Gorer Math now known as the Maidan sitting under the Shamiana for nearly a meagre amount.

Howrah Station was another high point in my life. I hopped in to a lift, at the Park Circus Tram Depot, going to Howrah and, on reaching the station, got a comfortable seat to sit in and spend hours watching various kinds of passengers. This provided me with substantial materials for my writings later.

I have hardly touched upon the girls of Kolkata who attracted us in that age of emerging youth. In those days just watching girls was an amazing chore. The smartly attired Kolkata girls and their un-inhibited going about was the main attraction for us. Such was our youth and the years of growing up. Kolkata is forever. So the city would emerge in my discussions many times in the future.

See you next week.