Oh! Calcutta

Calcutta was a dream, and is a dream
To the teeming millions in the countryside.
A dream in stones – the Victoria Memorial,
Captured in plastic jerry-cans on the foot-path

The East India Company of the yesteryears
Built the city, the cathedrals, and the docks.
They left some customs on sitting rooms
Of Ballygunge and Tollygunge areas.

The Howrah Bridge is a world of its own
Where in thousands dwell, and young men wrestle.
The Alipore Zoo is a weekend family centre,
Depending on which side of the fence you stand.

In conditioned luxury, few are chauffer driven
For millions, life hangs by three fingers.
Lunch-packs under their arms, the world stands
And waits in the queue for the 420 bus.

The executive with his VIP brief-case;
The school boy loaded with his tuitions and text-books
The daily laborers push-cart their lives day through night
When beggars plead, and lepers chase flies.

Sorry Kipling, here East meets West in a nightmarish union
And history and science jostle for the first place.
For all this and much more, I love you Calcutta,
City of my birth, and centre of my civilization