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Sitting in a quite café in Foleshill Road, supposedly a desi suburbia of the small city of Coventry, a friend of mine once humoured the changing of Calcutta’s name to Kolkata. He said, “What is the point in changing the name, when the essential characteristics of the city refuse to be reformed? It is a city that has forgotten time.” The comment hurt my flaming Bengali ego at first, but when I had time to ponder over it, I saw more and more validity in his point.

There is a tendency amidst Bengalis to blame outsiders for the demise of the erstwhile grandeur of the city. But time hasn’t forgotten Kolkata, the Kolkattans have forgotten time. The arguments about economic stagnation, social dislocation and cultural degradation are best left to experts, be it optimists or pessimists. But how does Kolkata appear to someone who is visiting the town for the first time in months?

Perceptions do matter. There is a tendency among the Bengali elites to scoff at the opinion of so-called “outsiders”. One of my elderly family members remarks, “Aage ekhaane thaako, taarpore ekhaankaar bepare jaante parbe” (Without living here, you will not be able to know the city). This attitude is a convenient excuse to shy away from talking about the real problems with Kolkata, albeit seemingly cynical. The tourist does not come to the city to live, he comes to enjoy it.

And what about the expatriates, the thousands of hard working people who have ventured abroad, be it other states or countries, in search of a better fortune (mostly because the city failed to provide the same)? How is our first interaction with our once native city? Not good I am afraid. And there is little sign of change.

When the flight touched down from London, I was busy idealising my ex-hometown. Every non-resident Indian does it, at least until he hasn’t lost hope with Kolkata’s inertness. The callous behaviour of the Bengali crew members towards their fellow Bengalis on the flight did not make a serious dent in my optimism. Perhaps I was too excited to see Kolkata again- the temptation to share some of the intangible “joys” of the city was too great. The possibly-not-so-deliberate ignorance of Indians by fellow countrymen- the infamous “crab mentality”- was not enough to spoil my tryst with Kolkata.

I did notice the slight improvement in some of the organisation of the airport. The aerobridge was working for the first time in all the years I have been travelling abroad. Even the immigration queues were neatly divided into “Indian Passport Holder” and “Foreign Nationals”, not to mention for the first time. These are the most basic amenities in most airports around the world, yet here I was rejoicing at their sheer presence for the first time in what is supposedly the international airport of India’s third most important city.

Unfortunately, old habits die hard. The first person to speak with a visitor is the immigration officer. A polite “Hello” or “Namaskar” goes a long way. But even a “You’re welcome” after a “Thank You” from my side was absent. Perhaps customer service skills are too much to ask from hapless Airport Authorities of India personnel. Why should they even make an effort? Their jobs are not challenging, incentives to perform well are non-existent and they have the leftists to fight for their job security. I wouldn’t complain unless they went out of their way to harass visitors. Firstly, I have a fundamental objection to the lengthy Disembarkation Form which we need to fill in. Why should Indian citizens give a reason to come back to their country? The officials seems to ask us Indians the most personal questions, most of which are irrelevant, and not the foreigners who might actually end up being illegal immigrants. Anyone who has been to London or New York can easily testify how thorough the immigration officers are there towards “aliens”. Secondly, there are certain categories of passengers intimidated the most by the babus. Among them are young women, foreign tourists and individuals who ask the slightest question about their methods. We can afford to waste money on numerous populist public Leviathans, but we cannot afford to install a simple scanning device at the airport which allows the checking of hand-luggage without the officials yanking out all our belongings and displaying them on the table, not bothering to put them back in after their inspection is completed. Welcome to Kolkata, unfortunately!

The airport’s infrastructural support system itself is shockingly inadequate. I have never seen the automatic conveyer belt properly functioning. The luggage is littered alongside the belt, with passengers tripping over one another while fetching their suitcases. There are excesses of empty conveyer belts, chairs, desks, tables- showing that the number of airlines operating to and from Kolkata has diminished over time- incurring opportunity cost to the taxpayer as we speak. I wonder why.

Moreover, a first time visitor will be completely stumped with the lack of tourist information centres, currency conversion agents (at the Arrivals gate), shops and adequate travel arrangements. The organised taxi service is not properly utilised. For one, it is located far away from the gate. Secondly, freelance taxi drivers often pester tourists from the gate to go with them, often resulting in the visitor having to pay premium rates. The common sense of linking the Dum Dum Metro with the airport is lacking. With the London Underground or the Marta Subway in Atlanta, one can get to the city centre within half an hour at a cheap price. As usual, we have failed to learn from strong points of others. The bus depot is far away as well, and till date I haven’t seen a luxury bus service operating from the airport to the city centre. The factors that are constant in this torment of the new visitor to Kolkata are harassment, cheating, frustration, confusion and bewilderment.

So why are some of us still opposing the privatisation of the AAI? If this is the state of affairs, surely the only way is upwards. British Airways operates Heathrow’s Terminal 4, which is many times bigger than Kolkata. Yet when I arrived there some years ago, an apprehensive Indian teenager with stuttering English, it was so easy to find my way. What if the situation be reversed, and I was coming to Kolkata for the first time? I don’t even like to think.

From airport into town, little seems to change. The same old pothole laden roads, the same garbage littered on the streets, the same illegally parked cars congesting traffic, the same invisible policemen at the crossroad and the same gas guzzling cars and auto rickshaws. The very few Toyotas and Hondas, which might have helped Kolkata’s rotting environment to a great degree, are forever lost in the jungle of the prehistoric Ambassador. Last I visited Delhi, I noticed certain minor but very visible changes in urban infrastructure. Of course, in the “maanchhi naa, korbo naa” city of Kolkata, change is nowhere in the horizon.

I am not here to offer merely a criticism without prescription, which I consider inadequate analysis. Many of the crackpots planning the urban areas through out India are parts of what I call the “unorganised sector- cadre nexus”. Various vested interests compete for influence in the corridors of power, and because of the haphazard nature of their organisations, they are hard to track and bring to justice. For politicians, they provide the much needed manpower to “influence” local elections.

To resolve this, India Inc. must come forward and work in partnership with the West Bengal government. Organised industry will benefit in many ways with a better urban infrastructure in Kolkata, not to mention from the improved image of the city. It will be easier for governments to enforce contracts, maintain a certain level of service and liaise with an established company than with several contractors on an ad hoc basis.

To return to a previously made point that needs re-emphasising, perceptions do matter. As long as the BBC keeps branding Kolkata an “industrial wasteland”, and rightly so might I add, Buddhadev Bhattacharya’s efforts to reinvent the city’s image will be futile. Worryingly, the newly elected mayor’s first press release reiterated the false promises of slum development. We do not need to ensure that slums are better drained, better electrified and better linked. We need to make sure that there are no slums in the city. If the government focuses on generating industrial growth in the city, more and more opportunities will arise for dwellers and increased prosperity will entail reduction of slum dwellers. Our outlook has always been to look at the bottom rung of the social ladder. On the contrary, we need to look at the top, and contemplate how to get more and more people to that level. Looking below will only drag those from above into the same mess.

After all, why should a simple visitor to the city be facing such hassles? Why can’t Kolkata welcome me with open arms?

Aruni Mukherjee

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