Kolkata — Protean, Janus faced and a potpourri of contradictions. Nostalgia, longing and the tugging at your heart strings at times when you’d least expect. You’d think you’d know her inside out, with the river finding its way through the city. And yet, it startles you, surprises you, fills you with hope, disappoints you.
She’s the lover with open arms, but one who holds certain cards close to her chest. And then, as you walk through the lanes and by-lanes, you know there is another city within this. Gritty, sometimes sordid, sometimes struggling but always with the heart of a person who can stop mid walk on a busy thoroughfare to take in the beauty of a graffiti or little children playing football across the street.
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Kolkata holds on to certain things while letting go of certain others. But that’s true with so many other cities. You’d think that you carry her in your heart. You should know that she carries you within her too.
Sayan Aich Bhowmick
Sayan Aich Bhowmik is currently Assistant Professor in the Department of English, Shirakole Mahavidyalaya. His articles and poems have appeared in The Dhaka Tribune, Outlook Magazine, The Chakkar, Singapore Unbound and South Florida Poetry Journal.
