Serpentine bylanes at loggerheads,
Alluring you into an enigmatic journey.
Red-oxide floors, shuttered windows,
Tell a tale of bygone history.
Clarion call of crows at daybreak,
Sunshine filled barandas,
Let's reminisce for old times' sake.
Mouth watering phuchka,
Fish fry and rasogolla.
Honks of rickshaws during sleepy afternoon,
Is no less than a boon.
The first cup of brewing tea
By roadside stall, makes you glee.
Tagore's songs and Ray's bioscope,
Will always beget unrestrained hope.
Durga pujo sets the festive mood --
With spirited joy and lip-smacking food.
Thakumar jhuli is now grandma's tales,
Gamchas are fading away with the gale.
Howrah Bridge and Victoria Memorial,
Tranquil Gangar ghaat is truly pictorial.
The tingling sound of the evanescent tram,
No more load-shedding and telegram.
Once rock addas are hardly to be seen,
Old Calcutta is now Kolkata by all means.
By Nandini Sengupta
@metaphors_of_life