Rediff On The NeT Travel: A travel feature on Calcutta, India


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Born: 1699.
Parent: East Indian Company official Job Charnock.
The company already had a trading post on the Hooghly at Satanuti which expanded to become Fort William in 1699. A few years later, Satanuti and a couple of other villages, including the settlement at Kalighat, were linked together to form Calcutta. Charnock became the first governor of Calcutta.
The battle of Plassey (1758), under Robert Clive's leadership, handed Bengal over to the British. Bengal eventually became the foundation for the British empire in India.
The British built Calcutta into a 'City of Palaces.' But the squalor, fetid hovels and marshes led to her being nicknamed the 'Village of Palaces' by many. By the end of the Bengali Renaissance, Calcutta's star was on the descent and, in 1911, she lost her shining position in the Raj constellation when the imperial capital was transferred to Delhi.

Population: 10.92 million

Languages: English is widely spoken and understood. Bengali and Hindi are the other languages used for communication.

Time: Five and a half hours ahead of GMT.

Climate: Maximum temperature: 35 degrees Celsius. Minimum temperature: 12 degrees C. Rainfall: a maximum of 300 mm.

Best times to visit: Between November and March. From late April till June, the heat is oppressive. From June to September, Calcutta virtually becomes a swamp.

Proper Attire: Light summer suits work for formal meetings. Casual clothes are fine for evening engagements. Shorts and tank tops are not frowned upon anywhere except at religious locations and hotel bars and clubs.

Be wary of: Beggars, con artists and pickpockets. The beggars are usually found near the big hotels and can be very persistent, while con artists and pickpockets flourish. Caution is advised, especially in crowded places.

Inputs from Payal Singh in Calcutta. Pictures are courtesy Dinodia Picture Agency.

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