The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Metro | View from opar Bangla
It’s quarter-to-nine on a Thursday evening. Two huge buses roll into the office premises of Shohag Paribahan in Marquis Street, one after the other. Out pours a medley of people — a group of sophisticated women in saris, salwars and jeans, a young couple, a very old woman in a taant sari worn in the traditional Bengali style, a group of boys in jeans and t-shirts who might have walked out of the latest campus flick, people in modest clothes — all eager to make the best of an extended weekend with a trip to Calcutta. Luggage is hurriedly collected and the visitors make their way to hotels in and around Marquis Street, Sudder Street and Free School Street.
City of Joy
For many visitors from Bangladesh, Calcutta is the place that offers better medical care than their hometown. Many are here on business. But for many Dhaka visitors, Calcutta is also a pleasure trip. Bangladeshis account for much of the crowd in Free School Street, Sudder Street and Marquis Street. “About 70 per cent of my customers are from Bangladesh. The hotels in this area are filled with them. They visit most during vacations, winter and before the Ids. Business is a little low when the tourists are not here. Most of our food is prepared in the traditional east Bengali way,” says Bhupendra Saha, of Prince, a Bengali cuisine restaurant in the area. Money-exchangers in the stretch depend mostly on the Bangladeshi visitors. “Our daily transaction amounts to almost Rs 1 lakh and 90 per cent of it is through Bangladeshi customers,” says Pallab of Chittagong Foreign Money Exchangers.
How does an average Bangladeshi tourist find the city?
“What I most enjoy about coming to Calcutta is the feeling that it’s a different country and a different place despite it being so close. Though my husband still says that the two Bengals should be one,” smiles Jasmine Sarkar, a Bangladeshi housewife. She is here for her husband’s medical check-up, but says she has spent more money shopping for gifts, than on the doctor. “There’s always a long list of requests from people back home when they hear that we are coming to Calcutta,” she smiles.
It’s 9pm and Layla, an executive, has just alighted from a Dhaka bus with her husband. She has stylishly streaked hair, wears a big watch on her right wrist and a fashionable black kurta. A soft stole hangs on one arm. “In Dhaka I couldn’t walk about without a dupatta. Here people are more broad-minded,” she says. “We wouldn’t be able to take women to a night-show in a Dhaka cinema hall,” says Md. Abdul Matin, a finance manager at a security firm, here for medical reasons too. A young girl confesses that she wouldn’t wear such “bold” clothes in Dhaka. She probably meant jeans.
Md. Muzaddin Khan, a Dhaka businessman, has been coming to the city since 1997. He has just left Radhuni, a Bengali cuisine restaurant on Free School Street, and readily settles down for a chat, but is interrupted by a call on his mobile, and is heard explaining that “the two women are journalists”. “My friend saw us talking and well…,” he smiles sheepishly. Jasmine feels that cases of snatching on the roads are fewer in Calcutta .
For a ride
But the city reveals its prickly side. “I think there’s a tendency to take people for a ride. Especially shopkeepers and taxi drivers. Ei 420 byabohar tai pochhondo noy (We don’t like this duplicity),” says homemaker Zakia Sultana. She is here to see a doctor. The city’s attitude has left Matin a little disappointed too. “People in Dhaka tend to be more hospitable, especially to tourists. I have often felt a faint hostility from the people here because I’m from Bangladesh,” he says.
The irritants don’t completely take away from the joy. A group of young men from Bangladesh having dinner at Radhuni look happy. “You get booze very easily here. Not in Bangladesh. We are an Islamic country,” says one of them. They have made good use of the availability here.
Many like the blend of the modern and the old-world. “Calcutta has developed a lot. The city’s infrastructure is much more developed than Dhaka’s. It seems better connected with roads, especially in comparison to Dhaka. Calcutta’s economy, too, seems to be flourishing,” says Muzaddin Khan. “Dhaka has all the outward signs of development. Most old buildings have been torn down and are being replaced by multi-storeyed ones. I like the old architecture here,” he adds.
Party town
The heat and dust are familiar. So are the traffic and the teeming multitudes. But the landmarks find favour with the tourists. And films.
“I went to the Indian Museum with my children once and really liked it. I also checked out Science City,” beams S.M. Abdul Majed. Films are a draw for many. “I love watching movies, but we don’t have much of an option in Bangladesh. I like to catch up with the recent releases while in Calcutta,” says Kamrain Khan, principal, Dewdrops Preparatory School, Chittagong. Not just Bollywood flicks, even Hollywood releases draw the audience from across the border. “You may get to see an English movie within a month of it being released in the West. That’s decent. We get to see very few English movies in Bangladesh,” sighs 31-year-old Shadab (name changed on request). Fatema Rizwana, a freelance HR consultant in Dhaka, also liked the look of the National Library.
Memories and literature act as guides. “I can’t remember ever going to Calcutta with my parents and not going to Jorasanko. I also like to go to old clubs. I like the old world charm and club culture,” says Shadab. “Calcutta acts as a base for trips to other places. I like to head to the hills via Bagdogra. Many students of architecture and anthropology at Dhaka University visit places like Bankura and Bishnupur. Many families move on to Digha and Santiniketan.”
And of course there are the party people. “My husband and I were also here on New Year’s Eve. We went to the party at one of the clubs. It was real fun,” says Layla.
For originals
Shopping remains a high point of the Calcutta visit for those fortunate enough to have time and inclination after the hospital visits and business demands. Ethnic-wear for women and cosmetics are to Bangladeshis what Dhakai saris are to the Calcuttan. Dhaka has a fair share of malls, and branded stuff might be easy to pick up back home, but “saris, three-pieces, suit lengths are what I like to buy here. I also like to pick up cosmetics, because back home you don’t get genuine products,” says Tanya Akhtar, a young resident of Dhaka. “There’s nothing that you won’t find copied in our country. I pick-up Fair & Lovely face creams, Cobra and Kiah shampoos, toiletry, medicated skin creams, medicines and multivitamins on my trips to Calcutta,” says B. Mashuda, a homemaker.
Trousseau treasures
Shopping for trousseau is common, for it’s something to brag about if you have shopped in Calcutta for your wedding. “Zardosi outfits are a top draw. I also want to check out Ritu Kumar’s collection while I’m here. What I get of her stuff in Bangladesh is not half as good,” says soon-to-be married 24-year-old Tani. She also plans to buy traditional weaves like Kaanchivaram, Gadwals and Paithani. Not just for brides. Grooms too love to flaunt stuff bought from Calcutta. “When my son was getting married a year back I got him panjabis, phatua and nagra shoes for his gaye halud from Calcutta,” says Mashuda. Price and variety draw shoppers here.
Kids love the toys here. “We have just reached and already the kids want to go to New Market,” smiles Raiha Khatoon. Says Abdul Majed: “My son asked me to get him a remote-control operated helicopter, but I couldn’t find one. I got a cycle,” he says.
No poor cousin
It would be wrong to think, though, of Dhaka as a poor cousin of Calcutta, or that the visitors are awe-struck. There’s much that the tourists find lacking in Calcutta, especially those that belong to the better-off sections. The malls don’t draw much of this crowd. “There must be many new malls and places, but we have malls in Dhaka. We want the traditional stuff,” explains Shadab. “People in Bangladesh are more extravagant. Those with money like to live the good life,” muses Rizwana. Agrees Shakila Maahbuub, a working woman from Dhaka: “I don’t see any good cars in the streets of Calcutta . We have the latest models of BMWs and Mercedes and they change every six months.”
Street food, though, remains a winner. “I love the rolls and phuchkas in Calcutta. We get it in Dhaka too, but it tastes different in Calcutta. I also like the restaurants in Park Street and I love Flurys,” says Rizwana. “Aminia and Nizam’s, and the fish at Kasturi in Free School Street,” sighs Shadab. Many like the Indian flavour of gravies and veggies. Like Shakila, who loves daal makhani.
business of ADs not adding up
Calcutta is losing out on a business from Bangladesh.
Ad films worth $60,000-70,000 are now being made in Bangladesh. “Three-four years back the big projects were done by Indian directors. From Calcutta, the popular ones were Opus and Amit Sen. But slowly all these big projects are being directed by local directors. Now five major projects are all being handled by local directors. The reason for the shift is that many local directors have come up whose work has been appreciated,” says Shariful Islam, a brand consultant based in Dhaka .
For some work though, Bangladesh is still dependent on outside help. “The problem is that we have only three workable 35mm cameras in Dhaka, which seriously limits the scope of work, whereas in Calcutta they can get six-seven cameras in a day’s notice. Also, overall control of the crew is much better and people can be accessed much more easily in Calcutta or Mumbai,” Islam adds . “The production cost in Calcutta is quite similar to that in Dhaka.”
For post-production, Dhaka filmmakers also go to Mumbai, Singapore or Bangkok. “One thing that is affecting work in India is that it is difficult getting repeat visa. Singapore and Bangkok don’t pose that problem. Money transfer and government restriction are other problem areas, where control of money movement is much stronger now and hence making it difficult for producers to get the job done outside,” explains Islam.
There is another market, although a small one, where the budgets vary between $10,000-15,000. These films are done through small producers in Calcutta, but that number is not very big.
Dibyendu Bose of Opus agrees that the number has gone down. “Work from Bangladesh has been irregular in the last one year. It is about 20-25 per cent of our total work. Before that it would be 35-40 per cent. Visa is one problem. Their expertise is also improving, which is good, for they can best understand their market. In fact, the reason they came here was because they lacked expertise, equipment and post-production technology. And they preferred to come here rather than go to Mumbai because of the similarity of language and culture,” says Bose.
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