Introduction to Kolkata - the city of dreams

A visit to Calcutta can be the most memorable holiday you have. Perfect strangers strike up a conversation with the tourist in Calcutta about the previous day's match. Cab drivers ply the traveller on his first visit to Kolkata with innumerable tales. Shopkeepers dole out a rupee's worth of goods, and ten of advice. On buses, in trams, in the tea shop around the corner, complete strangers turn into comrades as they pore over the day's papers.

That's Calcutta!

As the day grows old, tourists pour in to admire the vestiges of the first love of the British Raj. They hold hands outside the Victoria Memorial, speak in hushed tones under the roof of the St Paul's Cathedral, stare wide-eyed at the wonders in the Indian Museum. Knowing fully well that what they're seeing inside these buildings on their vacation in Calcutta is as rare and precious as the building itself.

That's Calcutta!

No Kolkata visit is complete without a festival. From behind decorated doors, conch shells sound, incense billows, and brilliant red, yellow and white flowers strike a contrast against green leaves to herald a season of festivities. The air is rent with the fragrance of camphor, vermilion, ghee, the sharp smell of new clothes and pungent aromas from the kitchen as an excited babble of voices blends with the resonance of chants and hymns, giving the holidaymaker in Calcutta a sense of home.

That's Calcutta!

Some call it the city of joy. Some, the city of dreams. To some, it's all about festivity and living life king-size. Some hang on to the name Calcutta. Some swear by Kolkata. Whatever your persuasion, come, explore the city that lives!