There were no autos for Charu market. Mom and I didn't want to get into the Metro for just one stop. The buses were crowded and the cabs won't go for such small distances. All of a sudden, mom pointed towards the Tollygunge tram depot. We hurriedly crossed the road and got on the first tram that was leaving the depot. However, that tram halted at the gates and the driver went somewhere inside the depot. We took our seat in the first class section of the tram. There was one passenger on the single seat. We were happy to ride a tram after so long.
Five minutes passed and we became restless. Few more passengers got on the tram. I checked for the driver. Someone said that the tram will leave soon. Another five minutes passed. What's the use of taking the tram! We could have waited for the autos as well! After another five minutes, mom and I got up to leave. The moment we stepped foot on the steps, a powerful wind threw dust into our eyes and mouth. Purple lightening struck across the sky. Large droplets of water started falling on us. We were not prepared for this dust and thunderstorm. We came back to the tram. It started raining. Was it divine intervention that stopped us from leaving the tram?
Within few minutes the tram started rolling. More passengers and the two conductors boarded the tram. I was not able to close the window next to my seat. A gentleman sitting in front of us helped to close the window. By that time I was almost half drenched in rain. It poured like you would hear only in stories. All of a sudden the weather was so cool that I was almost shivering. The conductor started chatting with us and with the gentleman in front. We talked as if we knew each other for a long time. The old dilapidated tram was telling its own story which you could hear only if you cared to listened.
The warmth and friendliness of old Calcutta had slowly vanished somewhere into the dying city of Kolkata. A sketch inside the tram depicted horse-pulled trams. It rained out of the blue that day. And as if sitting inside a time capsule, I felt like being transported to Calcutta as it was 40-50 years ago - warm, friendly, relaxed and with a unique aura of its own. The common Bengali man likes his adda no matter where. Perhaps the trams will not exist in future in Kolkata. They are no more there in Mumbai. After all they bring only losses to our poor government. Another piece of old Calcutta charm will be gone with the trams. Kolkata would slowly grow up into a modern city like any other - rootless, harsh, fast-paced and money-minded.
When I first came to Calcutta, trams used to fascinate me and often (whenever possible) I would choose to travel by trams. Some nice routes are no longer there. The government tied up with the Australian government to revive the trams of Kolkata few years back. You can still see that colorful tram that Melbourne tram operators rode in a static condition at the Tollygunge tram depot. Read in newspaper today that the state government has decided to make minimum Rs.4 ticket for the first and second class in trams, touted as an initiative to remove class system (though it looks more like a profit-making idea). I just hope that this will help to maintain the tram routes in Kolkata and preserve the tram culture in the city. If Melbourne can, why can't we?
Within few minutes the tram started rolling. More passengers and the two conductors boarded the tram. I was not able to close the window next to my seat. A gentleman sitting in front of us helped to close the window. By that time I was almost half drenched in rain. It poured like you would hear only in stories. All of a sudden the weather was so cool that I was almost shivering. The conductor started chatting with us and with the gentleman in front. We talked as if we knew each other for a long time. The old dilapidated tram was telling its own story which you could hear only if you cared to listened.
The warmth and friendliness of old Calcutta had slowly vanished somewhere into the dying city of Kolkata. A sketch inside the tram depicted horse-pulled trams. It rained out of the blue that day. And as if sitting inside a time capsule, I felt like being transported to Calcutta as it was 40-50 years ago - warm, friendly, relaxed and with a unique aura of its own. The common Bengali man likes his adda no matter where. Perhaps the trams will not exist in future in Kolkata. They are no more there in Mumbai. After all they bring only losses to our poor government. Another piece of old Calcutta charm will be gone with the trams. Kolkata would slowly grow up into a modern city like any other - rootless, harsh, fast-paced and money-minded.
When I first came to Calcutta, trams used to fascinate me and often (whenever possible) I would choose to travel by trams. Some nice routes are no longer there. The government tied up with the Australian government to revive the trams of Kolkata few years back. You can still see that colorful tram that Melbourne tram operators rode in a static condition at the Tollygunge tram depot. Read in newspaper today that the state government has decided to make minimum Rs.4 ticket for the first and second class in trams, touted as an initiative to remove class system (though it looks more like a profit-making idea). I just hope that this will help to maintain the tram routes in Kolkata and preserve the tram culture in the city. If Melbourne can, why can't we?
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