A hellhole on earth?

Soudhriti Bhabani, reporting about a proposl to entertain motorists with music during red traffic signals at street intersections in Kolkata (Mail Today, July 5 2011),provides a sharp comment in passing about the great metropolis itself. The reporter says - and I quote - "often described as a hellhole on earth, Kolkata is a city on the brink of an urban collapse."

On the 27th of June this year, I returned from Kolkata after spending 15 days with my siblings, other relatives, friends and a few acquaintances. Needless to say that my wife and I had a wonderful holiday despite the uncomfortable weather which, believe it or not, included a cyclone to boot!

For a "non-resident Calcuttan" that I am, a fortnight spend in Kolkata is usually spent in indulging in large doses of both hugging and hogging! This time was no exception. Add to this a few bouts of compulsive shopping and voila! You have your Kolkata holiday!

We drove around a lot (both sides of the river), walked about a good deal, visited people in all parts of the city, looked in on all kinds of shops from stand-alone retail outlets to the undying New Market, to the iconic South City Mall to the Metro Cash and Carry wholesale facility. We lunched or dined in various restaurants. We went to a few of Kolkata's famous clubs. We attended several parties. We even visited the serene monastery at Belur built by Swami Vivekanand to perpetuate the memory of the saint Ramakrishna Paramhansa.

Having so recently had such a good time, I could not but help raise a mental eyebrow at the pronouncement of the Mail Today! I realise that no city in India is perfect; that all cities have their plus and minus points; that each one portrays an unique characteristic. I can recall many regrettable atrributes of Delhi or, for that matter Mumbai - so much so that they grate on the nerves, they irritate no end. Yet I would think a thousand times before letting a comment like Bhabani's roll off the tongue(or pen) with such facility.


The cultural scene is flourishing as usual in Kolkata. In fact the new genre of Bengali music including the copyright-free Rabindrasangeet. is pulsating with excitement, creativeness , dynamism. The concept of the "Bangla Band" has revolutionised Bengal's popular music into contemporary rock and pop art-forms.

The Bengali stage is still producing high class plays & dramas albeit without the presence of the once legendary professional theatre of Star, Bishwaroopa and Rang Mahal.

There has been a remarkable revival of the Bengali cinema in recent years. Never has the Bengali screen and its stars caught the imagination of its audience in such a big as it is doing nowadays, by the consistent production of quality cinema of every genre.

From whatever we could see around us, we saw signs of progress - be it in the cityscape, the traffic patterns (did not find a single mal-functioning traffic light in sharp contrast to Delhi), the lifestyle, transportation (new buses, plenty of cabs), infrastructure projects like east-west metro corridoor passing under the river Hooghly, etc. Whether or not all the projects of civic amenities are completed within respective target dates, they certainly do not convey to me the unmistaken sign of a "hellhole - on the brink of disaster!"

Take Delhi - with its maddening, choking traffic without benefit of one-way systems or functioning traffic signals; with its incendiary road rage that takes a toll of human lives with alarming regularity; with its dubious yet well deserved sobriquet "the rape capital of India"; with its non-existent drainage system that floods all roads after every rain shower - even with one-tenth the rainfall of Kolkata! Will I call Delhi a hellhole? No way!

The simple truth is that no city can be dismissed so callously as Bhabani has done with Kolkata. As I have said earlier, every city has its merits and demerits. Yes, I agree that individuals are free to have their own opinions on these. However, this does not, or should not, allow columnists to pontificate on things that cannot be established credibly in any case!

The Kolkata I know, and I know it well, can teach the rest of India a few things about human and social values that are prominent features of civic society, in other words, a city. To dismiss such a place as a "hellhole" smacks heavily of preconceived notions. And that is a sad commentary on newspaper reporting.