Are ones which come along with your monthly pocket money.

hehe….

Disclaimer: The above joke does not aim to cause head injury due to banging ones head against the wall. Nor does it aim to cause damage to any electronic gadgets which might have been thrown, owing to frustration at a certain blogger with a poor sense of humour.

hehehehe….

Awright, let’s get this blog on the road.

My trip to Kolkata was one that I like to call a ‘Family Bonanza’. A family bonanza is a trip where you have to meet your extended family(Which extends infinitely) but the wanderlust in you makes you take a whirlwind trip around the city, preferably in a few hours, leading to some adrenaline infused pictures, mostly taken out of the window of a moving car.

So, without further ado, here’s presenting, The City of Joy.

Drumroll…:)

First up, we have a picture of a taxi, taken through a window of a car. I absolutely love the slight glimpse of the raindrop-stained window and the contrast between the bright taxi and the overcast, almost monochrome surroundings. It looks like a still from a Wes Anderson film.

The yellow taxi is iconic to the city of Kolkata. It is such an adorable little car and it reminds me of the car from Noddy:)

Hehe….

I didn’t ride a yellow taxi on this trip, because, even though the car is an iconic entity, it is rather complicated to hail the taxi since it has become a sort of a heritage due to the growing popularity of transport companies like Uber. It is rather sad to see something iconic take a backseat since people these days hardly ever hail a taxi by waving their hands. Currently, the yellow taxi can be hailed by installing an app and getting it verified at a certain booth which is present at some of the city’s locations. It is rather tiresome to got through that process and hailing a Uber easily becomes the more convenient option. Some of the taxis can be hailed by waving your hands and yelling for the taxi to stop, but you never know which ones still work that way:)

Technology is a good thing, I do not deny it, but I do feel that it overcomplicates things and I’m not sure if I like being such a slave to it.

That is a debate for another time.

This is one of my favourite pictures from my trip, because it gives me the feeling of time coming to a standstill. Kolkata, as I have mentioned earlier, is a very bustling city yet there is solace and serenity which can be found amidst the chaos. I love how the traffic signal shows a yellow light, possibly telling us all to “Look”, not just at the signal, about to turn red, but also at the world around. I feel that we humans are so busy complicating the world, in the process of finding inner peace, that we forget about the solitude that comes with simply slowing down. The shade of the tree feels so protective and therapeutic and the overcast skies add a nice sense of restfulness.

Moving over the restfulness, let’s give in to some cricket fever because relaxing is for the weak.

hehe….

This picture, mi amigos, is none other than the Eden Gardens, the oldest cricket stadium in India and the third largest cricket stadium in the world. The pictures of India’s victorious moments in cricket really made my heart beat in nationalistic pride, since we, as a country have come a long way from being underdogs to being a superpower in the sport. I also like the blue tile work, which makes it look like comic book art:)

My dad was really happy on seeing this picture, because he’s a huge cricket fan and he also comes from the generation that has witnessed India’s victory at the 1983 world cup, which is showcased in the third tile from the left.

The cricket craze in India is so electric and it is really something that can unite the country.

This is one of the most symbolic monuments in Kolkata, namely the Howrah Bridge. Built in 1941, it is a suspension bridge across the River Hooghly, connecting Kolkata with its twin city of Howrah. The bridge has such a unique look and it reminds me of the bridges which one can make out of a string which is used to play the never-ending string game. I was lucky to get a clear view of the bridge as there aren’t many points where one can see the entire bridge at such close quarters. This picture is taken from a pier called Millennium Park, where one has to somehow manage to get to the ferry line, without actually getting onto the ferry, and take a picture.

Ferries are very popular, both as a means to commute and as a tourist attraction.

The Howrah Bridge also has a newer version, called the New Howrah Bridge.

This one is pretty too, but I feel that the original one has a more unique look. I do like how the bridge is silhouetted in the overcast surroundings. It makes the structure look rather eerie and almost leviathan.

And that is a wrap.

In the next blog, I will be talking about some of the historic buildings of Kolkata, all in an adrenaline pumped road trip:)

Until next time,

See ya!