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12/01/06

AkTa KoLKaTa !!! EkDoM bHaLo !!!

its been fun so far now in kolkata... the first impression was not so good.. well getting into a locality which looks just like where are you are living otherwise does not make you more comfortable.. you just try to look for more things which you are used to like friends and family and that does not help you much.. does it.. eh !!! neva mind...

lemme write about what i have been doing for the last two evenings...

i went to 15 Park Avenue... yes that is an address that Konkona Sen Sharma was trying to look for in Kolkata... and i was with her while she looked around for it... and with her in tht search.. partcipating or not participating.. willingly or unwillingly were Rahul Bose, Shabana Aazmi, Waheeda Rehmaan and a few more... a movie very well written, directed, crafted.. work of art.. and someone who appreciates sincere acting and cinema should not miss this opportunity to thank Aparna Sen to create this movie...

i am not going to talk about the story of the movie much except that i loved it... it kept me thinking all the time.. something that i usually do not do while watching my favorites.. well they are comedies ofcourse...

thats how day before yesterday evening was spent... and yesterday evening...

left from office a li'il early and then from the guest house around 1700 hrs to check out some kolkata.. the real city.. and not the artificially built up so called posh just like any other city with malls...

took a shared auto to Korunamoyee.. and then a shared cab... to Exide.. you must be wondering what kinda name is that for a place.. well that place actually is Ravindra Sadan.. but there is a building called Exide House there and hence the name....

from there a Metro Ride to Dharamtalla.. or what is called Esplanade.. this is supposed to be a good place to just spend time but i had other plans.. i wanted to see what the trams look like.. and take a ride if possible too.. well the first wish was taken care and the second one is deferred till saturday... i took a few fotos.. but i am not sure they are what i really wanted to capture.. i have a few things in mind.. and i hope to take care of them in bright sunlight on saturday....

the tram.. the metro.. the light and sound show... the park.. the flyover...

what next... a metro back to Ravindra Sadan.. and a walk around the place.. was lucky to catch a light and sound fountain show near the place.. and it was just mindblowing... its a 45 minute show... from 1815 hrs to 1900 hrs.. and then from aroud 1915 hrs to 2000 hrs for anyone who wants to see it... and then had some mithai at Ganguram ki dukan.. and a double egg roll at a road side Roll Walah !!! and just walked around the place doing nothing at all... and hey.. also bought three film rolls.... and then took a cab back to koronamoyee.. and got down near City Centre.. went to a shop inside the city centre to have tea... and eat some Khatam Dhokla.. and then have some tea.. and then walk around taking snaps...

2100 hrs.. time for my movie.. Tom Hanks and Leonardo de'caprio starrer "Catch Me If You Can"... slept and got up to a severe pain in my left leg.. a bad muscle pull.. could not even stand up properly.. just waited for a while for the pain to reduce a li'il and then came to the office...

another experience this was... took a city bus.. blue and yellow..metal from outside.. wood from inside... a typical seating system.. basically to enable more people to stand... and wood all around.. and the way it is driven.. uff.. rASH :)

the kolkata bus...

what follows is my plan on saturday... any additions to this would be appreciated...

leave for howrah very very early morning.. take a bus from Koronamoyee to Howrah... and then then take a train to Belur Math.. and then a Ferry to Dakshineshwar Temple... go to Esplanade from there.. and then to a friend's place in Panchasayar... and then come back to Park Street... if time permits.. go to Kalighat.. and a recent addition to the list.. The Indian Museam... I also need to click a few fotos of Victoria Memorial in the evening.. so going back to Robindro Shodon is a must.. also need to buy mithai from Ganguram or some other shop in Park Street !!!

Wat Say....

and hey...

Roundabouts in Kolkata are referred to as "ISLANDS"...
the Autos do not have meters....
and the Taxis need to be given 180% of the amount displaying in the meter....
kolkata metro = about 78% of the mumbai local trains.. wahi rush.. wahi bheedh.. i could see and feel the delhi metro's future there....

7 comments:

  1. hmmm well i wrote on Rohit's blog on what i felt abt movie....i will copy paste it again

    i saw it yday....its nice....very nice.....shabana is excellent and waheeda rehman and konkana sen was good in their roles.....rahul bose has justified his role though i wud have loved to see more of him in movie.....the best part is all character actors have played their part well ..............movie is shot ok...tho i admit i was expecting more cuz i have heard a lot abt bhutan's beauty...somehow that doesnt come out that well....thot it was too sunny (exposure)most of the times.....screenplay cud have been lil more tight.....

    my only complaint....i wud have loved to c a definite end of the movie from the eye of director.....she has said in a interview that she left it on discretion of viewer but still a director shud give an ending.....

    c Hazaron khawishen aisi.....then u can really make out diff between good movie and a brilliant one....
    but that doesnt take away any credit from aparna sen...its a fantastic movie...must watch


    ur plan seems nice to me.....did u take a boat ride on hoogly ? try that if possible.....i hope u wud have got enough tips from sayantani by now :)

    waise i dont del metro will go same way.....its better managed, running in operating profits, and better infrastrucutre....but yeah i agree it wont be able to catre the ever increasing population of delhi

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  2. hehe deepak has already told you what he wrote on my blog... I SO TOTALLY LOVED THE MOVIE! probably the only sensible movie after Iqbal in recent times!!

    and hey.. kolkata...hmm... lagey raho!!

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  3. @ deeps...

    definite end to the movie.. yes.... leaving to the choice of the viewer good idea... coz that can lead to so many thoughts so many movies from there...

    about bhutan... there was nothing about that place... was it.. i think most of the movie was shot indoors...

    i plan to go to Bhutan sometime not very far away from today.. i will show you a lot of pics from that place :)

    i will see that movie too... about the boat ride.. abe vacation par nai hoon... business trip par hooon.. waise the boat ride would be done when i go from Berul Math to Dakhshineshwar Temple tomorrow...

    Delhi metro.. lets hope so... managed, running in profits, better infrastructure has nothing to do with the crowd... if the mode is good more people would prefer it... and that is what i meant when i said that i could see the delhi metro's future there :)

    @ rohit...
    yupp.. it was good movie...

    kolkata... lage hue hain dost :)

    @ lalit...
    bhai.. sunday morning ki flight hai dilli ki...

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  4. @ red...
    same to you bhi hai ma'am...
    long time no c

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  5. I didn't read anything but the pics were gr8...pura Bharat Yatra ho gayi lagta hai..gd hai!

    BTW welcome back(guess u in delhi today)

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