A Riot of Colours | Kolkata Kaleidoscope

Light shops in Erza Street

Holi… a riot of colours. It doesn’t have to be Holi to bring on a riot of colours in the city which has raised me. Kolkata. Perpetually on a roller coaster. Perpetually on a riot of colours. Millions of colourful memories occupying gigabytes of memories in the computer. Hundreds of unwritten posts. It is impossible to capture the city in all it’s essence but the images that constantly haunt me are the images from it’s streets, markets, strong faiths (make shift temple under a banyan tree, or in the dashboard of a taxi), decadent buildings, people, the stiff nosed club culture… a riot of colours… and the evening ice lolly indulgences from the ice cream vendors. This post has been inspired by the amazing blogger and friend Sarah Walton aka The Hedonista’s last year’s post on Holi… where she has captured her travels around the world through different colours – yellow, blue, red, green and pink. I had put it down in my diary as a must-do-a-similar-kind-of-a-post. But as most resolutions are to be broken, most checklists also remain unchecked – I couldn’t conjure up my travels through a single post. I closed my eyes and all that came to my mind was Kolkata in a kaleidoscope. For those who are not initiated to Kolkata at all, I would suggest that you book the ‘Confluence of Cultures’ walking tour with Ifthekar Ahsan and his Calcutta Walks (a few pictures in this post are from the my walk) which will take you though the different cultures and the communities that have influenced Kolkata through the ages – from Chinese, Parsi, Armenian, Muslim, Marwaris, Biharis… more and more colours than you can ever imagine. No special Holi recipes like the colourful Kulfis this time. Instead, I am capturing Kolkata, the city that I grew up, through a riot of colours, keeping food pictures to the bare minimum – as otherwise, the post would naturally tilt towards food. Here’s wishing happiness and colour into your lives… Happy Holi Everyone!

Unblogging it all… Ishita

Colour on People

My father enjoying the Ganges

Bohri Muslims in North Kolkata

The cool dude on the streets of Kolkata

Homes on the streets

The man who’s been serving at Shiraz for the last two decades

At the traffic signal, Kolkata

Purnimadi, the Lady Friday at my parents’ house for the last two decades

Colour on the walls

Bow Barrack, Confluence of Culture walk with Calcutta Walks

Confluence of Culture walk with Calcutta Walks

Chinese Club, Confluence of Culture walk with Calcutta Walks

Confluence of Culture walk with Calcutta Walks

Graffiti on the wall?

A dilapidated house in North Kolkata

Shovabazaar Rajbari, North Kolkata

Pareshnath Temple, Kolkata

A neighborhood stationary shop

Colour in motion

The dashboard of taxis, Kolkata

The yellow taxi, Kolkata

Truck art

The tram

Tram on the roads, Kolkata

The public bus

The rickshaw

Truck art, Kolkata

Traffic jam, Kolkata

The auto rickshaw

Traffic in Gariahat

People on the streets

92.7 Big FM

Colour on the walls

Pareshnath Temple

In the fish market

In the market

Mosque in Park Circus

St Paul’s Cathedral

Mosque in North Kolkata… Ramadan Walk with Calcutta Walks

Pareshnath Temple

A make shift temple under a Banyan tree

Colour of food (a mini preview)

Mukhorchok chanachur – a legendary savoury since

Basanta Cabin, Kolkata

Bhimnag Sweets

Kwality Walla Ice cream vendor

Mango Bar, or Aamshotto

At home

Drinks on the streets… Ramadan Walk with Calcutta Walk

Ramadan walk with Calcutta Walks

Bhelpuri

Making of Masala Thumsup

Masala Thumsup

Street food

Bhelpuri on the streets

And then there is the Kolkata Police

Kolkata Police… the cute dude!

and the Five-Star street saloon

5 star saloon

and then the rains.

Kolkata drenched in rains

Last but not the least, the colour of heritage – Howrah Bridge!

Howrah Bridge, Kolkata

The 165 years old Howrah Station

Howrah Bridge, Kolkata

PS: Recipes in this blog that will sweeten up your Holi…

♦ Bhapa Mishti Doi
♦ Firni or Ferni
♦ Gulab Jamun Rabri
♦ Gajorer Payesh/Carrot Pudding
♦ Kulfis | Celebrating The Colours Of Holi!
♦ Rôshogolla/Rasgulla
♦ Semaiya Kheer/Vermicelli Pudding
♦ Shondesh/Sandesh Pudding

Disclaimer: Please note that this post is not a sponsored post and the subject, story, opinions and views stated here are my own and are independent. While you enjoy reading the posts with lot of visuals, please do not use any material from these posts. You can catch my daily food and travel journey on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.