What’s in a name?!

Why is it so hard to stay away from thoughts of Kolkata? - I do not know. And I have been looking for an answer in all these fifteen years that I have moved away from the City of Joy, to no avail. Kolkata is, was and has always been an integral part of my daily existence so to speak. I have looked for tiny dollops of Kolkata in every aspect of my immigrant life and it never mattered how big or small its magnitude was. In my mind, I am ambivalent - I switch back and forth between its positive and negative traits, but at heart, I like to forgive and forget and move on with the everlasting feeling of love that I can only have for this city where I spent a considerable part of my youth.

Captive in Calcutta connections

A candid confession here: I am not a quintessential bengali. I am a Bengali by birth and have lived a considerable part of my life in the City of Joy - Calcutta or Kolkata. I am not sure if that disqualifies me from being a true Kolkattan or not but I cannot write or express my thoughts unless there is an element of truth attached to it. As a flashback, I would have to go back several years when I first moved from Benaras to Kolkata as a ‘tween’, with my family, owing to a company transfer that my father had to take. Thus began my tryst with Kolkata, and consequently the saga of love, laughter and life in Kolkata too.