And then I landed
If you’ve ever watched The Jungle Book, you might be able to form yourself up a fairly good image of my first view of Kolkata. The ground emerged from beneath misty aeroplane haze. I saw luscious, jungly clusters of palm trees and odd, irregular-shaped houses. Deep jewels glistened and shimmered in the ground, eventually revealing themselves to be dark pools of water. But as we came to land I noticed that the rivers were filthy and strewn with litter.
This is a city of constant paradox. Rich vibrant colours scream out for attention, but are numbed and mattified by the relentless dust. Bejewelled, beautiful women sit barefoot in the dirt next to filthy, swollen nippled bitch-dogs. The rich/poor divide reaches out constantly to slap you in the face.
