Kolkata. The new and much more urban version of Calcutta. It is transforming though slowly. It changed name and now changing in appearance. It was Kolkata once but that was one of the three villages. Where East India Company found their trading post in 1690 by Job Charnok. East India Company made it their main business center and rename it Calcutta. Calcutta, the "London of East". It saw it's ups and downs. Once the primary city and capital of British India lost it's crown to New Delhi in 1911. New Delhi became capital of British India and Calcutta became the key city of eastern India.
After the British gone in 1947 Calcutta was still important. It was a business hub and den of new liberating ideas. The wind changed it's direction after the leftist Government came to power. The work culture, of which Calcutta had pride slowly started to fed away. Slowly it started declining from it's former self as the main city of East India. In the business world it lost it's importance rapidly. The Government didn't have the interest to stop it. So, it lost to the time.
From 1995 there was a trend going on in India to rename the cities to their former names. The name they had before colonial rule. So, on 2001 Calcutta became Kolkata once again. The Bengali people always pronounce it Kolkata. For the English speakers it was Calcutta. Now it's Kolkata for all. but what about the transformation ? Did it also started with the name change ?
In my view, it was always transforming itself with time. It's appearances may change a little with new shopping mall or flyovers or skyscrapers but in heart Kolkata was always Kolkata. The name Kolkata is hopefully now started chasing it's former self Calcutta. By new summits and advertisements to the outsiders it started presenting itself as the business hub it once was as Calcutta. The main city and business hub of eastern India.
So, it's better to be Kolkata to Calcutta than Calcutta to Kolkata and hope it will be soon.
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