Kolkata Metro

My Beloved and I arrived in Kolkata yesterday morning, hardly having slept at all for the day and a half we were in transit. In the early evening, we struggled to stay awake late enough to adjust to local time by taking a LONG walk south along J. Nehru Road from Sudder to the fountain in the Maidan that is south of the view of the Victoria Memorial. While we did not ride the Metro, we did descend to the station at Park Street, proceeded south underground for a block or two, then reemerged near the Asiatic Center, only on the other side of J. Nehru. We will probably use the Metro tomorrow to travel north to the neighborhood where artisans are busy at work making images for Durga Puja.

I was in Kolkata many times in the years 1978, 1979, 1980, and 1982. There was no metro, though the last time I was there, excavation had begun. I recall a local resident explaining the extra rubble in one area of town, shrugging his shoulders, and muttering, “Given our population growth, it will be obsolete before it’s finished.” I am planning to return to India after all these years, and I’m especially curious to assess the accuracy of his prediction.