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<\/p>\nSimultaneously noble and squalid, cultured and desperate, Kolkata is a daily festival of human existence. And it\u2019s all played out before your very eyes on teeming streets where not an inch of space is wasted. By its old spelling…<\/p>\n
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Simultaneously noble and squalid, cultured and desperate, Kolkata is a daily festival of human existence. And it\u2019s all played out before your very eyes on teeming streets where not an inch of space is wasted. By its old spelling, Calcutta, India\u2019s second-biggest city conjures up images of human suffering to most Westerners. But Bengalis have long been infuriated by one-sided depictions of their vibrant capital. Kolkata is locally regarded as the intellectual and cultural capital of the nation. Several of India\u2019s great 19th- and 20th-century heroes were Kolkatans, including guru-philosopher Ramakrishna, Nobel Prize\u2013winning poet Rabindranath Tagore and celebrated film director Satyajit Ray. Dozens of venues showcase Bengali dance, poetry, art, music, film and theatre. And while poverty certainly remains in-your-face, the dapper Bengali gentry continue to frequent grand old gentlemen\u2019s clubs, back horses at the Calcutta Racetrack and play soothing rounds of golf at some of India\u2019s finest courses.<\/p>\n
As the former capital of British India, Kolkata retains a feast of dramatic colonial architecture, with more than a few fine buildings in photogenic states of semi-collapse. The city still has many slums but is also developing dynamic new-town suburbs, a rash of air-conditioned shopping malls and some of the best restaurants in India. This is a fabulous place to sample the mild, fruity tang of Bengali cuisine and share the city\u2019s passion for sweets.<\/p>\n
Friendlier than India\u2019s other mega-cities, Kolkata is really a city you \u2018feel\u2019 more than just visit. But don\u2019t come between May and September unless you\u2019re prepared for a very serious drenching.<\/p>\n