Metropolitan Calcutta Poem by Bijay Kant Dubey

Calcutta,
Calcutta,
Old and new,
Calcutta seen from Howrah Bridge,
Calcutta from Kalighat, Dakshineshwar,
From the Padma,
Calcutta from the terraces, balconies
Of architectural buildings,
Calcutta colonial, post-colonial,
Calcutta commercial, metropolitan,
Calcutta maritime, aeronautical.

Calcutta of bars,
Dance bars, night cluubs,
Theatres, discotheques,
Shopping malls, multicomplexes,
Heritage ramshackle trams plying,
Of bigger platforms and stations,
Bus terminuses,
Factories and productions,
Disrupted by traffic signals and traffic jams,
Ambulances wailing, beacon light flashing,
Double-deckers and foreigner tourists in AC buses,
Of fly-overs, underground railways,
Docks and launches.

What is not in Calcutta,
What not to be found,
Opera singers, theatre artistes,
Artists, beauticians, decorators,
Architects, sculptors,
Trainers, divers,
Boatmen, fishermen?

Zoos, dockyards,
Museums, academies,
Institutes,
Saw I
Parks, gardens
With flora and fauna,
Robots, mannequins,
Beaties faded and smiling,
Skyscrapers,
Life pulating in flats,
High, tall buildings,
Dark corridors,
Shanties with poor people
Living on footpaths,
What did I not?

In Calcutta I saw a maiden
Smoking
A cigar
By the roadside,
Should she,
I do not?

While crossing the airport area of Calcutta,
It came to my sight
A plane hovering around
Just like a shark, a whale,
An aeronautical excellence.

Calcutta,
Calcutta,
Your Calcutta,
My Calcutta,
Their Calcutta,
Our Calcutta,
Calcutta our life and blood,
How to live without you,
You on our mind and heart,
Calcutta,
Calcutta?

While walking past in Calcutta,
I came across a big and bulging white owl
Sculpted by a scupltor.

My joy knew no bounds
When I marked the kites
Circling high up into the skies.

Buddha,
A golden Buddha
By an artificial hill
With a waterfall
Saw I
Meditating and blessing.

The half-busts,
Life-size statues of great men
I saw them at road-crossings,
People hurrying past,
Waiting for traffic lights to green,
The fleets of cars and automobiles,
I do not understand,
Where do they come from
And where do they go to,
When does it come to a standstill,
When does Calcutta sleep it and awake it?