THE KOLKATA KONNECTION
For me, a trip to Kolkata is always a mixed bag - I love the food, I hate the heat and mugginess. I love the crafts and textiles, I hate the traffic. I love the colonial buildings and old Bengali baris, I hate the long dusty ride from the airport. I love the old wooden buses with conductors at the door with little folded currency fans around their fingers, though I dread travelling by one on a hot summer afternoon. I hate the slow traffic-curbing trams - I just don't see the charm. I am still not sure about the yellow Ambassador taxis - I adore the flower-bedecked shrines on their dashboards and the fact that they look superbly graphic. I still can't put a finger on the "pace of the city." Many intellectuals (all Bengalis by heart) have deliberated on the city's intangible pace. After living in Delhi, let's just say it is a little slow and frustrating. Life seems slightly sluggish and there is no urgency whatsoever. For me, the city - a communist bastio