Notes from Kolkata I

The first thing you notice about this city is the smell, not really a stink, but a very pungent aroma. I think it is the food. My office smells of it, the pantry smells of it, and the parts of the city I have visited over the long weekend smell of it. Another strange thing - no perfumes. Nowhere did I smell the pleasant odors of 'agarbattis', 'attars', and other assorted sweet smelling things that are so prominent in Mumbai. But then I didn't smell sewage either, or maybe I haven't travelled enough yet.

Another thing I miss is the 'Udipi' restaurants. I hated being tired and hungry and not finding a Udipi place to tank up at. Come to think of it, I never saw any restaurants catering to the middle-class (that's me) at all. They're either shabby, dirty sheds with a few tables, or air-conditioned joints that charge you a bomb for a plate of 'idlis'. But I will keep looking; the Shettys are a shrewd and persevering lot. There has to be a cheap snack restaurant around.