Kolkata Files



Very soon after signing off it was clear to me that sooner or later I will have to end up in Kolkata. I knew leaving Mumbai will be painful and emotionally draining but I must admit that there was a hint of excitement to all of this. And no, excitement not for the hype that brand 'porno-shree' carried but more so in the anticipation of an opportunity to explore a new culture, a new city and new people, in the backdrop of small and big battles to win the ultimate war for 2nd mate's license.
After my early childhood days' and Jamshedpur neighborhood experiences with Bengali junta going there to stay for months was like going to Korea to learn Taek-wan-do. There was a lot to see, a lot to observe and a lot to reflect upon and conclude; after all it being the communist bastion of India and myself the child and grand child of some hard-core communist leaders it seemed to be the present of my past. It's present because they still hold the power there. And my past because either I disapprove or I don’t understand them, in any case I am not one of them. And kindly note that while I explain all this, the word 'future' is nowhere used.
However I did grab a book titled 'Marxist Philosophy' from my father's book-shelf and tried my best to go through it, just to prepare myself better to understand the city. I don’t know I succeeded or I failed.