Kolkata - Old vs. New - a photo on Flickriver

            I cannot say I have seen many Indian cities, but Kolkata is definitely a unique place. The cities that I have visited since my stay in India, have been ditching the old in favor of new. New buildings everywhere, new construction everywhere. 

My first impression was of shock as I traveled thru the city streets from airport to hotel. I love old buildings, but here the old buildings were poorly maintained, seemed like they had not received a coat of paint in last 20 years. The streets were full of old-fashioned vehicles - hand carts, cycle rickshaws and yellow Ambys. In Kochi Ambassadors are a rare sight. I was comparing Kochi with Kolkata. And thinking that Kolkata is one of the four biggest metros, how could it have missed the economic development.

The shock was so intense, that after reaching the hotel room, was scared to step out. Hard to describe. Maybe this is the real India. Bangalore and Kochi are perhaps anomalies. In order to make the most of the stay, we decided to go for a short walk outside the hotel. Was surprised by wide sidewalks, and clean sidewalks. Though there were street hawkers on those sidewalks. Then decided to go to the mall for food. Was glad we did that, it offered the much needed modern, clean, crisp feel I was looking for. 

After that when we returned to the hotel, it was night. Noticed that the streets were well-lit. That along with wide side walks transformed the city. That is when I started noticing the positive side of the city. 

Over the next six days enjoyed the food, in fact this is probably the only city where every single thing we had during the six day stay was tasty. I am not a fan of bananas, but I tried Mochar Ghonto and liked it.

Enjoyed walking on the streets at evening, something that cannot be done in Kochi or even Bangalore. Enjoyed calling the yellow Amby cab and being charged by the meter, and just being driven thru the city. 

The traffic was crazy, but was amazed at the discipline - two-wheelers including the pillion rider wore helmets, everyone stopped at the stop line and didn't block the pedestrian crossing areas. The city is commuter friendly - sidewalks, wide-roads, pedestrian over bridges, multiple modes of transportation - from cycles to buses to trams to metros.

It hard to capture the Kolkata experience, where the old still lives with the new, and is refusing to fade away. — at Kolkata.

Taken in: India / West Bengal / Kolkata / Princep Ghat (show map)

Taken on: April 13, 2013

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Canon EF-S 10-22mm Lens

India

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Camera: Canon EOS 50D, f/11.0, 10 sec, 10mm, ISO 400 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 50D
Lens:	EF-S10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM
Aperture:	f/11.0
Exposure Time:	10
Focal Length:	10mm
ISO:	400
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.0 (Windows)
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