My friend Anubhab invited me to visit Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal and former capital of India. I have never seen a city as crowded as Kolkata. Where did all those people come from? At the break of rush hour, you'd see thousands of Bengalis appear from every nook and cranny of the city. The sight was like a colony of ants scampering away from their anthill because of impending danger. It was choreographed chaos, a rehearsed madness.

At Howrah Station

The bridge to cross Hooghly River (final portion of the Ganges River before the Bay of Bengal)

I particularly liked walking the busy streets and admiring the colonial buildings of its British past. It reminded me of the old buildings in Hong Kong which shares the same colonial experience. Though not exactly a stroll in the park because of humidity and traffic, meandering about in the streets of the fabled Kolkata has its unique appeal to the intrepid traveler. Ladies and gentlemen, the streets of Kolakata.

We met up with our officemate Souvik on College Street where the famous Indian Coffee House stands. Bustling with students, professors and other intellectuals, the ICH is known, not so much for its coffee, but for its visitors. The long list of famous personalities who were regular visitors include R. Tagore, Amartya Sen, and Subhas Chandra Bose. The ICH is also known for being the seedbed of the literary and cultural movements in the 1960s. A lot of people visit this place for "adda," long intellectual discussions on various topics such as politics, literature, current affairs or just about anything.

Rickshaw on College Street (allegedly banned in Kolkata but they are still around)