40 hours of Train-ing!...Part 2

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Howrah Bridge
Have you ever stood on the Howrah Bridge? I mean, stood, as in stood still, without walking? Those who have will know how the entire bridge shakes, as if there’s an earthquake, with every passing bus and car. It’s actually quite an exciting feeling, and if you look closely enough, even the lights on the poles along the railing shake! These vibrations on the bridge, somehow, have become for me, a feeling I’ve always come back to, making the Rabindra Setu (the bridge’s Bengali name) one of my favourite spots in Cal.
I know you’d say that’s peculiar, but for me, if you stand there and see the busy cars shoot by under the dazzling lights of the busy metro, people hurrying along, to travel to or from the city (mostly middle-class travelers on sleeper coaches) – you’ve felt the pulse of Calcutta, with the movement under your feet conveying the intensity of life as it flows – hot, racy, and ever-alive, round the clock. It’s the artery through which people pour into Calcutta, like a life-vessel.
It made me remember the time when my friends had blindfolded me and brought me here (they knew I loved this place, and the river) on my birthday, before we went on the steamer. Even then, I knew where I was soon as I had stood still.

Ghoosh to shoot here!
I had my camera tucked away when I went onto the bridge, for I knew shooting from here was prohibited. There was also a more-or-less conspicuous metal board announcing the same. But being in India as we were (without meaning to generalize), we do take notices at scoff-value, and do exactly what it asks us not to! So, invariably, there was the odd first-timer to Cal, killing time (much like me) before his train perhaps, shooting the bridge from the bridge (and that honestly makes for a lousy shooting angle) with a point-and-shoot, or the more common mobile-phone camera. Well, as you would have it. The mama (that’s the slang for the policeman in Calcutta, literally meaning ‘maternal uncle’) is on the prowl and surprisingly sharp to take to task every megapixel-sized offence. The long arm of the law…or wait a minute, what’s this? Mamu’s more dexterous than you anticipated, as I discovered standing there looking at the drama (I still had time to kill, you know) – the offender gets promptly taken to the side, and then a quick exchange of hands means a 50rs note and the ‘seized’ shooting-device have changed hands. Another story about Cal told in brief…ghoosh (bribe) is good side-business here, and a 50rs note is always handy, if you’re driving without license, need to get a truck past the traffic signal anywhere in Calcutta, or… of course, if you're shooting the Howrah Bridge from the Howrah bridge!