Calcutta - My City Of Joy

Back Where It All Began

After two flights (on Friday the 13th, no less) and one quick connection in Singapore, here I am in Calcutta, the city where life began for me. Mid-October is an interesting period in this amazing city, because the Pujas are over and the nights are starting to draw to a close much quicker than before. The weather is still very warm, in the mid-30s range, and believe me when I say it is humid and muggy. But the cooler nights are not far off, as this great, ancient metropolis - in part, the scene for my first novel, `Vegemite Vindaloo' - becomes enveloped in the slow embrace of winter. The sight of Ambassador taxis (based on the 1950s Morris Oxford) are a comforting familiarity from my own fortunate childhood, yet they seem a strange anachronism in a city that is riding the subcontinental econonomic boom. I am, of course, armed with my camera, and I intend to capture images that showcase the city's beauty. Grime, crowds, poverty? Yes, of course they exist, and co-exist, here. But there is so much to see that is heart-warming and inspiring. Watch this space.