Happy Anniversay-7th Feb 1996 -22 years in Kolkata

It was the 14th of February 1996.A week had passed since I had moved to Kolkata on transfer. The steel company that I worked for had arranged my accommodation in their transit guest house in Alipore which had residential apartments on its higher floors. I moved in there months later.

The food at the guest house was really good and the bearers and their service complemented it. There was a multi cuisine choice with prices so ridiculously low that one often thought that the tip was more than the cost of the dish. In a week I had got used to the place including the loud greeting of “Good Night’ from the receptionist as I walked in from work early n the evenings. I never learnt what he said at the end of the day to the other guests!!

The Wills World Cup was being inaugurated on the day. Kolkata wore a deserted look and leaving early from work was not frowned upon. The very lucky made their way to the Eden Gardens to witness the opening – a sound and light laser show that by the evening had turned out to be quite a nightmare with the south winds creating havoc. The others like me were glued on to their TV sets.

I reclined comfortably on the settee in my room and positioned the cushion to prop my neck. The Sony TV was in the corner of the room .A big screen TV with an equally big body that loomed large at the back. The Kolkata humid days were yet to begin but the day warranted the use of the fan at a slow speed.The motion of the fan was accompanied by a continuous, irritating squeaky nouse.

I rang the bell and the heard the knock of the door. It was Das – man Friday to all of us on transfer.

I answered his quizzical expression and asked for a Cola and added that it should not be cold. His expression became more quizzical.

A few minutes later he came in carrying a banana on a plate and set it on the table in front. It was my turn to adopt a quizzical look.

“Cola"?

“Kola !"


Comments

  1. Unknown28 August 2018 at 19:34

    Funny... man! Your baptism to bengali..haha!
    I have very fond experience with my stays at ITC guest houses in Delhi and Kolkata. These are companies who look after their employees

    ReplyDelete

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