Calcutta (Yes, I prefer the British version of the metro’s name over the Indian version) is an anachronism that has survived the passing years. Occupying the area that once encompassed three villages, Calcutta’s recorded history began in 1690 with the arrival of the English East India Company.
Before the arrival of the British most of the land occupied by the present city was owned by landowners (Zamindars) which was transferred to the East India Company in 1698 for the purpose of setting up infrastructure for trade and thus started the city’s journey to become the study in contrast it is today.
British built their first building in Calcutta – Fort William- during the period 1696-1706 after getting the land rights. British won the Battle of Plassey against the Mughal appointed Nawab of Bengal in 1757 which helped the Company seize control of Bengal. It was declared a presidency city and became headquarters of East India Company in 1773.
Calcutta people were much more exposed to western ideas & thoughts, disseminated by the English population of the city, than others in the country with possible exceptions being Bombay and Madras. Calcutta was the first non-western city (in Asia?) to adopt British methods of education in its schools. Unions between English, French and local women were common throughout the 18th century and are the origin of the city’s Anglo-Indian community. It was a cosmopolitan of its time. All the above gave rise to the “Bhadralok” category of Bengali Populace which has been the dominant influence on West Bengal’s culture and politics for nearly 200 years now. It has the same connotation as the word “bourgeois” used in French.
Calcutta was the first city in India which not only adopted a lot of English ways of living but also created a parallel Bengali culture mixed with English idiosyncrasies. It is the city of “addabazi” at tea stalls/paan shops , it’s the city of Gupchups and evening stroll in the Maidan, it’s the city of early breakfast in China Town (which still has around 2000 ethnic Chinese who call it home), it’s the city of iconic eateries and watering holes like Flurry’s, Olypub, Peter Cat etc. which have been running for over 5 decades now. It’s quite common to meet a parent-child duo having their own set of stories of hanging out at these places. Such is the timelessness of this city (or should I say stubbornness to embrace the change).
It’s the city of avid fish eaters and siestas, it’s the city of Rabindrasangeet (which I believe every Bengali carries as a part of his/her identity despite the social/economical status of the said person) and above all it had been the fountainhead of progressive & revolutionary thinking in India for a very long time. Gandhi had said “What Calcutta thinks today, India thinks tomorrow” – and in that era one couldn’t have agreed more. Though slowly and steadily, over the 20th century, Calcutta lost its monopoly on the Indian thought and its hold on the national sensibility.
There is a very evident difference in the way Calcutta treats you as compared to other Metros in India. It’s laidback, it won’t seduce you with glitz and glamour – like a Bombay, it won’t go over the top selling itself – like a Delhi and it’s not as closed to outsiders – like a Madras. It would treat you with indifference, not giving more than a wavering glance let you figure itself out, a contradiction which has as many if not more ancient parts as it has newer ones. You would not be taken aback in your first encounter with the city. It would grow slowly on you and one day without even realising you would start doing addabazi, looking for the best Illish in bazaar for a sumptuous weekend lunch and humming Uttam Kumar song while walking through its streets. And that would be the day when Calcutta would have taken you into its folds.
Musafir 
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