A Foggy Day ( In Kolkata Town) !

A foggy day, in London town
Had me low, had me down
I viewed the morning, with much alarm
British Museum, had lost its charm
How long I wondered,
Could this thing last
But the age of miracles, hadn’t past
For suddenly, I saw you there
And through foggy London town,
The sun was shining everywhere

Fred Astaire’s memorable 1937 song could well be used to describe the mood of Kolkatans this winter. You see Kolkata, this year, has seen temperatures plunge to lows not seen in decades. Kolkatans, already notorious for their phobia for any climate remotely cold, brought out their woolens with a vengeance! Department Stores ran out of stock of winter clothes, before you could spell w-i-n-t-e-r.

On top of that, the New Year in its wake brought a heavy fog cover everyday early morning. This became and still is a hot (or should it be cold?) topic of discussion and the local newspapers covered it regularly. One morning I came across an awesome photograph of the fog and it inspired me so much that I decided go out one morning to click photographs of the early morning activity at Maidan.

The Maidan (literally open field), is one of the largest urban parks in Asia, housing among others, the famous Eden Gardens stadium and the Victoria Memorial. It is a vast stretch of field. The homesick British rulers apparently wanted something to remind them of Hyde Park in London (I cannot vouch for the authenticity of this story)!

So, one Sunday I woke up shivering at 4:30 a.m. and was off to Maidan. Parking my car at Park Street, I walked to the Maidan area and started clicking. Here are some of the photographs of the Sunday morning activity at the Maidan.

The cold and the heavy fog was no deterrent for these kids, who had gathered to play Cricket. St. Paul’s Cathedral is in the backdrop.

Click, click go the mobile phone cameras, as the youngsters wait for the Cricket match to start.

The vast open space of the Maidan is perfect for people wanting to learn how to ride a motorbike, one of the most common forms of transportation in India.

And then, there are the numerous morning walkers…some in groups….

….and some solitary.

The fog started dissipating and “the sun was shining everywhere”. I was so engrossed and happy clicking pictures that I hadn’t realized couple of hours had already passed.

It was time to head back home.

39 thoughts on “A Foggy Day ( In Kolkata Town) !”

second image is beautiful ! Nice post

Know-All says:

January 29, 2013 at 1:13 am

Thanks a lot Belinda, for taking your time out to view my blog!

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Another lovely write-up, Sayantan. Love the photographs.

Know-All says:

January 29, 2013 at 8:22 am

merci merci!! 🙂

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Excellent post and lovely images!

Know-All says:

January 29, 2013 at 8:23 am

thanks a lot Shutter tripper! 🙂

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Page ta khub sundor hoyeche…and nice poem… 🙂

Know-All says:

January 29, 2013 at 9:25 pm

Thank you Tanmoy!! Foggy Day is a very old song…one of my favorites 🙂

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Love the Michael Buble version of this song 🙂 Love the Sayantan version of the Maidan 🙂

Know-All says:

January 30, 2013 at 8:59 am

thanks a lot Penny!!! 🙂

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I think my beloved Kolkata is at its best in winter. And your pictures has triggered that debate again… Should I plan my annual trip in October for you know what or winter………???? I didn’t have an answer till I saw these pictures and for now feel its got to be winter……

Know-All says:

February 5, 2013 at 7:54 am

thank you Arindam…I agree, Kolkata is at its best in winter…

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These images are wonderful!

Looking through your lovely posts brings me fresh memories of Kolkata, so please do keep writing often! And thanks for visiting my blog!! ^^

Know-All says:

March 4, 2013 at 10:28 pm

thank you!! you mean you have been to kolkata?? really enjoy reading your blog…keep them coming.. 🙂

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I really enjoy fog-photos, they have such a dreamy quality 🙂 The way you’ve shot it is simply great! So atmospheric and moody, and everything disappears into mystery! How I enjoy your photos! I would nag about more updates, but still have left to see much of your previous work – and I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy the exploration 😉

Know-All says:

March 21, 2013 at 11:58 pm

thank you soo much Ksenia!! And you describe the fog so beautifully…lets just say that i enjoy your blogs just as much if not more… Of course I would have liked to post more often and not just 8 posts in 2 months…but then again, i have to earn a living by daytime…which is quite energy sapping 🙂 thank you again 🙂

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Fucking awesome!!!

Know-All says:

September 19, 2013 at 8:52 pm

hahaha…Thank you so much!! I can assure you that I have received many compliments for my photographs, but never before has the combination of those 2 words used!!! LOL! Thanks again! 🙂

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- neverclipmywings says:
  
  September 19, 2013 at 9:11 pm
  
  hahahahaha I’m so glad about it! Sorry if it sounded a bit aggressive, but those were the two immediate words that came to my mind 😀
  
  Reply
  - Know-All says:
    
    September 19, 2013 at 9:33 pm
    
    Aggressive! Not at all…i just couldn’t stop laughing! 😀
    
    Reply
    - neverclipmywings says:
      
      September 19, 2013 at 10:00 pm
      
      Is it good? Hahaha… English is not my first language, so besides doing some mistakes sometimes I can make some weird combinations… Haha
      
      Reply
      - Know-All says:
        
        September 19, 2013 at 11:28 pm
        
        No worries, it is not my first language either!! 😉 So, I can relate to those combinations!! 😀
        
        Reply