Kolkata
A port city shaped by revolutionary zeal
The port city of Kolkata, formerly known as Calcutta – a name that conjures up suffering for most Westerners due to the well-published stories of post-war torture of British troops, but was a centre for intellectual and cultural change across India. A city of trade ties, Kolkata soon became a British capital, and later during India’s struggle for independence was a hotbed of revolutionary unrest and freedom movements. Rabindranath Tagore, a poet-composer, Sri Aurobindo Ghosh, a philosopher-poet who founded a utopian city, Satyajit Ray, a filmmaker extraordinaire are some of the legendary people whose roots were in Kolkata and have made significant contributions to the fields of literature, music and movies. Kolkata is a rich, cultural potpourri of a quintessential Indian experience – the colonial elements overlaid by a patriotic, revolutionary zeal.