Roadside Foods

Indian street food is pretty famous and most tourists gorge on the delicious and affordable roadside food in India to get the real taste of this amazing country. The street food in India is an amalgamation of various flavors that stimulate the taste buds of tourists as well as locals. In every big metro, you will find all roads and small narrow lanes having at least one such portable food stall. The snacks are prepared right there in front of your eyes. You can also ask for extra flavors such as more spice or more tanginess. Given here is information on famous Indian street food items. Drooling already?

Chaat
The quintessential North Indian street food, chaat is an all time favorite of all people, whether locals or tourists. It is made of an assortment of crisp, salted, small pancakes sprinkled with various masala powders along with different chutneys (Indian sauces) and a dash of yogurt. For dressing, some grated ginger and some pomegranate seeds are used. Another version is the fruit chaat that is available with chopped seasonal fruits offered with a dash of spicy masalas and a hint of lime juice.

Bhel Puri
This street food is prepared in different ways in different parts of India. Though the main ingredients remain the same, here are different additions in different parts of India. Essentially, it is puffed rice with generous servings of "sev" mixed with chopped onions, tomatoes, boiled potatoes, green chilies and coriander. It is served with a dash of lime juice, rock salt, normal salt and a hint of red chilly powder.

Pani Poori a.k.a Golgappas
It takes a big mouth (literally!) to gulp down the famous pani pooris also known as golgappas in northern parts of the country. Basically pani puris are small balls made of flour. They are filled with mashed potatoes and sweet sauce, dipped in tangy water and are to be eaten whole. If you bite it into half, the ball breaks and the water flows out.

Aloo Tikki
Aloo tikki can be considered as an Indian version of the vegetable cutlet. It basically flattened balls of boiled and mashed potato mixed with flour, kneaded into soft dough. These flattened balls are shallow fried in oil on a huge pan. They are served piping hot with different chutneys.

Pav Bhaji
Pav bhaji is essentially dry buns topped with a cube of butter, combined with a mish-mash of hot cooked vegetables along with raw onions or radish. You can add more tanginess to the mish mash by adding some lime juice. It is very filling and most people skip dinner if they have it late in the evening.

Vada Pav
This street food is famous in the southern parts of India. It is usually eaten as breakfast in many parts of the south of India. It consists of vada wrapped in bread that is served along with hot concoction or different chutneys. The vada is usually made of boiled and mashed potatoes deep fried in oil. This hot vada is then wrapped up in bread and served.

Transport System of Kolkata

The transport system of Kolkata is a mix of modern mass rapid transport and the old transport modalities like the rickshaws. Kolkata is connected to the rest of India by the National Highways, the extensive network of the Indian Railways, and also by air.

Railways

Kolkata is well-connected to the rest of India by extensive railway network of the Indian railways. Two divisions of the Indian railways - the Eastern Railway and the South Eastern Railway are headquartered in the city. The two major railway stations of the city are at Howrah and Sealdah. A third terminal called Kolkata has recently been constructed. This station is in North Kolkata and can be reached by a road opposite to the RG Kar Medical College just beyond Shyambazar.

The electrified suburban rail network of the SER and the ER is extensive and stretches far into the neighbouring districts of North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Nadia, Howrah, Hooghly etc.

The Circular Rail encircles the entire city of Kolkata, and is at present being extended. A new railway line off-shoot is under construction that would connect the airport to the lines going to Sealdah.

Metro railway

Kolkata was the first city in South Asia to have an underground railway system that started operating from 1984. It is considered to have the status of a zonal railway but is not a zone. It is run by the Indian Railways.The Metro is a very well maintained and clean system that itself has become a tourist attraction. The line begins at Dum Dum in the north and continues south through Park Street, Esplanade in the heart of the city till the southern end in Tollygunge. At present, the line is being extended southward up to Garia, and this new portion of the Metro will be on surface.

Buses and taxis

Kolkata also has an extensive network of government run and privately owned buses. The private-owned buses are quite typical of kolkata and are usually very crowded. The private-owned buses are of two types. The regular ones and the mini-buses. The regular buses are coloured light-blue and yellow. Earlier the rules for building buses were slack and this led to rickety uncomfortable buses. The laws have been tightened up a few years back and the new Blue-Yellow buses are far more comfortable. The mini-buses contains less number of seats and all are of brown and yellow colour. The mini-buses were started in the late seventies as a relief for the office commuters from the overloaded buses by being a sitting-only service. But, this has given way to severely overloaded and crowded mini buses. The government-run buses are run by several authorities like Calcutta State Transport Corporation (CSTC), South Bengal State Transport Corporation (SBSTC), West Bengal Surface Transport Corporation (WBSTC) and the Calcutta Tramways Company (CTC). Recently Aircon buses have been introduced by the WB Surface transport Corp. These buses are white coloured and connects places like the Airport, Santragachi ( a station on the Howrah-Kharagpur railway line) and Tollygunj. The road network in south Kolkata starting from Park Circus, Ballygunge, Gariahat, Gol Park, Dhakuria, Jadavpur all the way to Garia consists mainly of Gariahat Road, Gurusaday Dutta Road, Ballygunge Circular Road, Rashbehari Avenue, and Prince Anwar Shah Road.

The metered-cabs are mostly of the brand "Ambassador" manufactured by Hindustan Motors. Once in a while, one or two Maruti Omnis can be seen painted in yellow. Recently, air-conditioned cabs (known as "Blue-Arrow) and maroon cabs ( running on Compressed natural gas) have been introduced. The all-yellow ones have a Bengal permit and the black-yellow (hard to find) ones have a Kolkata city permit. The meters - though digital - are generally out-of-date and there is a conversion chart to refer to while converting the meter-reading to the actual fare.

Howrah Bridge and Vidyasagar Setu are two suspended bridges connecting Kolkata with Howrah over the Ganges. Vivekananda Setu is the third bridge over the river. The fourth one is under construction. A network of expressways like Kona Expressway which is partially complete, Belghoria Expressway which is under construction, widening of southern stretch of Eastern Metropolitan Bypass and construction of the second Vivekananda Bridge will hopefully ease the traffic congestion.

Tram

Kolkata is the only city in India to have a tram network. Trams are under the administration of the Calcutta Tramways Company,a government of West Bengal Undertaking, popularly called CTC. The trams are claimed to slow down other traffic^{[citation needed]}, leading to groups who currently voice abolishing the trams. The environment-friendliness and the old charm of the trams attract many people. The tram lines laid in some major roads are being renovated to maintain the tram lines on the same level plane as the rest of the road, thereby smoothening the road. In places, the original central boulevards reserved only for the trams have been removed,the tram-lines are thus brought in the same plane as that of the road.The usable space of the road for vehicle movement has there by considerably increased. With embedding of tram tracks in the road surface, the over all surface has become smoother, easing the traffic to some .

With the tracks now running in the centre of the heavy traffic roads,commuters are encountering difficulties in getting to the trams' stops through the traffic and as a result, less number of people are able to use the tram easily^{[citation needed]}.Mostly trams are found to be running with many seats vacant even during rush hours.This has also caused reduction of revenue for Calcutta Tram Company. One possible remedy towards difficulty of approachability to the trams could be to relay the tracks on outside left and the right sides of the road, adjacent to the footpaths.However,relaying the track may not be possible now as the modification will need enormous expenditure^{[citation needed]}.

Rickshaws and Auto-rickshaws

Rickshaws pulled by men and auto rickshaws are commonplace. Many migrants from Bihar and rural Bengal are involved in Rickshaw pulling. Rickshaws are also on the list of probable abolishments on humanitarian grounds. Auto-rickshaws have become a very common mode of transport for short distances. They are usually not metered. There are several routes and the auto-rickshaws of a particular route ply between two distinct places of that route only. Autorickshaws can accommodate 3 people in the backseat, however, 3 passengers on the back and 2 more on 2 sides of the driver is a common and potentially risky behaviour.

Airport

The Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport ( at Dum Dum (previously known as Dum Dum airport) is the only airport in the city, operating both domestic and international flights. The number of people using the airport has consistently increased over the last few years and there are talks to start another airport in the southern suburbs of the city. There was a flying club in Behala, but has not been used for quite a few years.

Port and water-transport

Howrah Bridge, linking Kolkata with Howrah since 1943

Kolkata is also a major port and together with the Haldia dock systems, the Kolkata Port Trust has been amongst top performers in the country. Kolkata Port has regular passenger services to Port Blair from the Netaji Subhas Docks.

Also the twin cities of Kolkata and Howrah are connected by local water ferries through the extensive ghats like Fairlie Ghat, Howrah Ghat, Shibpur Ghat, Prinsep Ghat, Cossipore Ghat, etc Small boats are used for recreational purpose. There are plans to start utilizing the canals running through the city as water-transport network. The first service is scheduled to start from September 2006 - and would cover the Belgachhia-Laketown stretch of Kestopur Canal.

Besides all this mode of transport, like in other Indian cities, walking is very common way to commute between the workplace and nearest railway station or bus stop. Privately owned cars, though less in number and usage compared to other large cities in India, are growing by leaps and bounds and are slowly becoming the transport of choice for a large number of people being helped by the growing economy, higher per capita income and the easy availability of loans from financial institutions.

Kolkata Nights

ightlife in Kolkata is popped with energy and excitement. The people of Kolkata are believed to have a natural bent of mind and as such very creative. Whatever the reason be but the consequence reveals active participation and adoption of versatile lifestyle by the upcoming generations. The nightlife that started as a phenomenon in the state towards the last decade of 20th century has engulfed the city in deep chasm, an eternal bliss. Younger generations prefer action based participation rather being mute audience in the cinema halls. For these people it is innovation, it is discovering the beautiful side of night if not life.

The nocturnal activities take a full blast at midnight in the city. The pubs, bars, coffee shops and discotheques come to life. There are drinks, glittering neon, sign boards and lots of noise. The dance floor rumbles and the music flows as more and more people come to these places. The best liqueurs and cocktails unfold under the roof of these places. Muscles move ad heart thumps with the beats produced by massive amplifiers. It is hard to define such feelings one experiences at these places. An appropriate term would be like expressing oneself or maybe living life to its full.

With the advent of all these avenues the characteristic features of Indian youth is fast changing. Fun and excitement at the rate of money is the motto of the clubs and discos in Kolkata and at large. The nightspots in the city are growing as more and more people come to beat the chill of the night. These places have become important also because of the courtship practices by young people. The urban and elite stratification are gone. It is party time and everyone is invited. The growing popularity of such places owes to the fact that the average spending power in the metropolitan cities have increased to a good lot.

The city also has many art and culture centres wherein performances are regularly hosted. The city as such caters to both the materialistic as well the aesthetic parts of its population. Cultural shows, Classical music, drama and more are organized at such places. Add to this the popular cinema and the picture of nightlife in Kolkata city reveals itself before the eyes. Some reputed nightspots include Anticlock Dance Club, Big Ben Dance Club, British Council Dance Theatre, Incognito Dance Club, Academy of Fine Arts, Rabindra Sadan Dance Theater, Sunset Bar.

Park Street Then And Now

The tokenistic renaming of Park Street as Mother Teresa Sarani ? or, should it not have been Beata Teresa Sarani, if the papal process of sanctification really marks a commemorative quid pro quo for Subrata Mukherjee having been invited to unveil the Mother?s statue in Naples ? has evoked a report that Park Street will remain forever associated with much that is Westernized, and after Indian independence, a brand label for Calcutta?s restaurants and evening life. As a resident of the street from the year of Pearl Harbour till I left to study abroad in 1954, may I add a different note of distress about the meaningless change of name in our urban heritage, about which the mayor and the chairman of the Road Renaming Committee (who also happens to be founder-chairman of the West Bengal Heritage Commission) have been adamant ? despite popular entreaties.

Park Street abbreviates a landmark that existed, in the late 18th century, where the Loreto Convent now stands. The Deer Park included the residence of Sir Elijah Impey (a Warren Hastings henchman, first chief justice of the supreme court in Bengal, and the man who ordered Maharaja Nanda Kumar?s death sentence for forgery). The street was then called the Road to the Burial Grounds, of which there were three at the eastern end, before the New Cemetery opposite Mullick Bazar. The deer were either eaten as venison, or disappeared from the place and the name, early in the last century. The French or Tiretta cemetery was desecrated to build one of Calcutta?s early high-rises near Rawdon Street in the Fifties. The bigger cemetery, opposite the old one that is now preserved, was pulled down to build the Assembly of God Hospital. Only the graveyard remains in which rest Sir William Jones, General ?Hindoo? Stuart and Rose Aylmer. Vikram Seth has lovingly described it in A Suitable Boy.

Park Street used to be British Indian elegance personified. Stately mansions came up at the western end replacing the lawns of the old garden houses, extending up to the Survey of India, Murshidabad House and the three buildings of No. 87. They are all now ramshackle, requiring restoration. Fine restaurants have deteriorated or been liquidated. The rest of the street?s architectural consistency has been ruined by unthinking further buildings over whatever front lawns were left; some without any regard for the way the frontage of the ensemble of buildings gives specific character to streets. The building housing the residence of the deputy commissioner of police (South) is completely hidden by the unsightly barracks built round it after independence: it used to be a fine pair with the Catholic Archbishop?s Palace next door. The street is now a medley of architectural neglect and promoters? vulgarity, in the same way as the once gorgeous Theatre Road, sorry, Shakespeare Sarani, has been transformed. One of the people responsible for the present change told the Heritage Commission that the Park named in the Street commemorated the infamous Impey, and deserved to be replaced by the beatitude of his fellow Christian, the saintly Teresa.

The morality of a society in the bygone past has nothing to do with the heritage of a city that owes its entire urban existence to that society and to its evolution. Municipal fiats rewriting history cannot replace antique colonial graces. Chowringhee and Lower Circular Road, which Park Street connects, or its southern neighbour, Theatre Road, have in no way been improved despite the fact that the Road Renaming Committee saw it fit to associate them with Jawaharlal Nehru, Acharya Jagadis Chandra Bose and Shakespeare. The architectural uniformity of a street front, the cleanliness of its pavements, the care devoted to the maintenance of its buildings and the civic values of its inhabitants, passers-by and traffic give character to a street or a road, not the iconism of some fad, whether patriotic or internationalist. People are remembered by the institutions they built, or by the values they inculcated, not by the whims of road renamers.

Mother House near Entally will always draw those who may wish to venerate Beata Teresa. The fact that the change of names from Central Avenue and Ballygunge Store Road to Chittaranjan Avenue and Gurusaday Road in the Thirties and the Forties heralded the Corporation?s policy of tinkering with the heritage of old names, will not affect the veneration of people for the memory of C.R. Das that is enshrined in the Cancer Hospital, or for the memory of G.S. Dutt, which he himself took steps to ensure by the munificent donation of Bratacharigram and his folk art collections on Diamond Harbour Road. It is high time Calcutta gave up its prejudice against old street names, whether Bowbazar, Ballygunge or Park Street, no matter whether they are in the mother tongue or in English.

Park Street Kolkata

Park Street, recently renamed as Mother Teresa Sarani, is probably the most prestigious thoroughfare of the city of Kolkata, India. The street derives its name from a deer park of Sir Elijah Impey , Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in Calcutta, 1773-1789, that was located on this street. Park Street has now been renamed Mother Teresa Sarani but the old name is still in common use.

Location and importance

This road runs from Chowringhee Avenue in the west to Park Circus in the east. The portion of Park Street between Chowringhee Avenue and Mullick Bazar has been the one of the city's main attractions for years. It connects directly to Park Circus on the east from where other major roads such as Gariahat Road starts and connects to important areas such as Ballygunge of south Kolkata.

Park Street remains Kolkata's foremost dining district with noted restaurants and pubs such as Trinca's, Mocambo, McDonalds, KFC, Peter Cat, Flury's, Bar B Q, Oasis, Olympia, Moulin Rouge and many others. Celebrity restaurants like Indian Cricket icon Saurav Ganguly's signature restaurant-Saurav's- The Food Pavilion is a top draw. Then there is the Park Hotel, Kolkata, famous for its in-house restaurants and night club, Tantra. Kolkata's nightlife revolves around Park Street's nightclubs, pubs and coffee houses. Also there are landmark coffee shops like The Atrium and Barista's. It is often known by names like "Food Street" and "The Street that Never Sleeps".

Park Centre offers a wide variety of apparel, especially ladies’ garments, cosmetics and electronic gadgets.

Park Street has several notable buildings such as the Asiatic Society, St. Xavier's College, Calcutta, a Seventh-day Adventist Church, and the South Park Street Cemetery has cenotaphs and tombs of prominent figures from the British Raj era and Kolkata's Armenian population. Park Street remains the recreation zone for Kolkata people since the British era. A visit to Kolkata is deemed incomplete without a visit to Park Stree

Ghats In Kolkata

Outram Ghat
Outram Ghat is situated along the Strand to the South of Babughat which was named after General Sir James Outram. This used to be the main mooring for ships to Bangladesh and Burma. This place is now an unique spot for people to chill out in the sweltering summer afternoons and evenings. It houses the Explorers Club, an association for marine adventurers. It also has a floating restaurant and you can find country boats for hire.

Princep Ghat
Between the Water Gate and the St George's Gate of the Fort William, on the riverbank is the Prinsep Ghat. It was built in 1843, James Princep was the secretary of 'The Asiatic Society' from 1832-1838. His life was a prolonged, tenacious research on meteorology, chemistry, Indian scriptures, numismatics, archaeology, mineral resources etc. His remembrable achievement in his life has been to decipher the doctrines of Emperor Ashoka, from the inscriptions in rocks and boulders.

He was also the Mint Master at Kolkata when he deciphered the Brahmi Script employed by Emperor Ashoka in his Edicts. James Prinsep was died on 22nd Aril, 1840 at a mere age of 41. The memorial is set in a square with Ionian Column s holding up a 40 foot roof. Afterlife of Prinsep, the people of Kolkata collected a fund and built the “Princep Ghat to commemorate their beloved man.

Annapurna Ghat
Anciently, Annapurna Ghat was known as Raghu Mitra's Ghat and his father was Govindo Ram Mitra. During the establishment of British, Govindo Ram was appointed as the 'black deputee'. Bishnu Ram Chakraborty of Bag Bazar became the 'Ameen' of Kolkata when Hastings was the Governor General. Before setting off for England, Hasting has presented him 52 acres of land. Bishnu Ram Chakraborty was built four Shiva temple in Raghy Mitra's Ghat in 1776 and he worshipped everyday of Goddess Annapurna and then the Ghat came to be known as Annapurna Ghat.

Armenian Ghat
Built by Manvel Hazaar Maliyan in 1734 was of Armenian origin and hence the ghat was named after him.. He had constructed the bell-room and tower atop the Armenian Church. The Kolkata station and Ticket Reservation Room of Eastern Railways was situated in Armenian Ghat from 1854-1874. Passengers take the ticket from here and then the launch or steamer of the Railways which used to ply from there to Howrah took them to Howrah. The passengers used to board the train from the platform at Howrah. This system was stop after the construction of Howrah Bridge. Horse-pulled trams used to ply from Sealdah to Armenian Ghat regularly. At present, Armenian Ghat has transformed into a store-house of the Port Commission.

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