THE CHOWRINGHEE
“Chowringhee is inextricable from the idea of Calcutta. The stuff of movies and novels, dreams and memory. A permanent sense of vintage. From the days of the Raj, where dissent and dissidence flowed alongside flappers and flaneurs. To reinventing Bengal between the excesses of the neo-Baroque and the audacity of Art Deco—Chowringhee has remained at the heart of it all.”
THE SAFAR
“As a teen, I spent many summers hanging around Sudder Street in Calcutta. Between tourists, touts and cheap hotels. I was fascinated by the backpackers and their made-on-the-go sling bags, carrying books and bottles and all sorts. Two and more plastic shopping bags, tied together for reasons of comfort, convenience, and a sort of coded traveller style.”
THE ALIPORE
“Fringed with a handful of the city’s proudest landmarks, the feline-packed zoo and tiger-encrusted gateway of the National Library greets you into the leafy lanes of Calcutta’s Alipore. The lovechild of affluence and history, its corners lie mottled with old Victorian bungalows and luxury apartments. But for me, like most of Calcutta, Alipore is a mood—of bustling headliners and city-slickers but also of lazy midsummer evenings spent staring through canted bay windows and wondering about what was.”
