“Which is your place to live happily ever after?” asked my friend.

Without even a second thought I replied Kolkata.

Wham, a thunder might have hit him or at least he was struck by a lightning. He had a look of utter disappointment on his face to hear Kolkata instead of New York, London or may be Singapore. I had no frame of reference to describe the look on his face, may be this is what my parents felt when they were expecting a girl and I popped out. But that was in history and I had hardly any memory of that (not that I should have any). I was searching the recesses of my brain to find a few more tangible instances to compare the present situation but in vain.

“Out of all the places, Kolkata, why? It’s a waste. I’m also from there and I find nothing in that place to brag about. Most of the other cities are far better than Kolkata”, my friend retorted. He had gathered his wits and now he wore a rather defiant look (like “I’ll be back” Arnold type).

“It’s not about Kolkata”, I replied, “I think in general a person finds solace at the place which is his homeland.”

“Kolkata is my hometown and I don’t find anything that makes me happy”, he said curtly.

“If you don’t find anything to be happy over there what can I do?” my mind was screaming at the highest chord. It was also cursing me for being such a naïve to answer Kolkata when in reality I should have answered a foreign city. “Now handle the mess you have put yourself into”, japed my mind. I was always afraid of this type of confrontations as more often than not I am at a loss in such occasions. May be this is due to the middle management hostility to which I was subjected to from my very childhood. Anyways I thwarted the voices in my brain and asked, “What makes you to think in such a way?”

Being a Bengali I knew that I had hammered the last nail in my coffin. Never and I mean never invite a Bengali to arguments as we love them (though I consider myself an exception due to my lack of knowledge in different spheres of life) and if it ends in a brawl, then nothing better than it.

“To start with look at the political condition that prevails over there. A single party dominating the state for years and you call this democracy! As part of political wars Common People are being butchered at places, Nandigram being the latest in the list. The infrastructure is bad, rather there is no infrastructure. Old people who have one foot in the grave running the state. Factories are closed. People are unemployed. Corruption is going through the roofs. It’s a dirty place with garbage on the roads”, riposted my friend.

And my Lord this is the long and short of the story and my educated friend Sayan (that’s me) has lost the case. His words wrung my heart. They were true but were they really what they seemed to be. That was the exact kind of situation, to be a part of serious discussion, which I feared. I remembered how my grandfather said to me once that I could do nothing better than a dumped comedian or joker due to my incessant cracking of PJs (pathetic jokes) which none but me understood. I had a dry throat and there was no water nearby. Drat then I knew what it meant to be “Khaal kete kumir aana” (digging your own grave).

“Tell me will you go to politics?” I asked him.

“Why should I go into that dirty water? It’s not for cultured people”, sallied my friend.

“Exactly we learned youth don’t want to get into the politics. We blame the city, the society but forget the fact that society does not make us; rather society is just a mere reflection of its members. When we go to US, Europe we don’t spit on the road (not because we are sober but because we are afraid of their laws). But when we are back here in our lovable city we litter the place on the pretext of not finding any dust bin. I do agree that dust bins are not in abundance in Kolkata but the shops are. Each shop has at least one bucket to collect trash. Drop it there. Whenever we get a chance we try to cheat others to have meager monetary gains and I can give umpteen numbers of instances wherein people don’t buy bus or rail tickets while traveling, bribe officials for their own benefit. And it’s not only Kolkata which is facing these crises, I live in Bangalore and more often than not I find police taking bribes, electricians taking bribe so on and so forth. You cannot change a place from without if you do not change from within. You say old people are ruling but you are not ready to take a plunge into politics. Let others do something and I will cherish the fruits that it bears. This attitude of ours lets a handful of people take advantage and rule us. People are unemployed and so they do anything to earn their daily bread and butter. The political parties take advantage of this situation of theirs. After all who doesn’t dream of better life? Have we done anything really to help those unfortunate people? The answer is plain and simple – NO. The question is not only about unemployment. It is also about illiteracy. If some amount of knowledge is their in the stomach then even an ordinary person can do wonders as he can distinguish between good and bad, take the examples of Dhirubhai Ambani, Chris Gardner”, I replied.

“But the living standards of the people are not at all noteworthy. We still see old cars, cycles. Conveyance is a problem”, argued my friend.

I replied, “Kolkata was the city of middle class people and I say “was” as now it has become the hub of the riches. It’s not necessary that every other car needs to be Ford Icon or Fiesta, what matters is that you get the conveyance that you need. It takes one third of my salary to get a decent house in Bangalore, Mumbai or any other so called posh metros, whereas in Kolkata one can survive with a meager salary. It’s a place for people from all walks of life. It has a low cost of living and sadly and thanks to the IT companies the cost of living will increase in near future. You say you do not have proper conveyance in Kolkata. In Bangalore you might have to walk miles to get a bus stand and even there the bus might not stop forget about any place in the middle of the road. Now if I can talk about Kolkata, we have local trains, buses (though the condition may be a bit dire to say the least), auto rickshaws, taxis, cycle rickshaws, metro and even those private vehicles (whose drivers carry people to earn a few extra bucks). The prices are nominal (barring that of the taxis, though Mumbai is no better at tariffs). What else one can want; a pickup service. For God’s sake that is only given by companies to their employees. To understand Kolkata we need to understand its culture and way of life; it’s not only about high rises and malls but also about the road side food joints and the simplicity that encompasses it.”

“The people are dirty and you do not get a hygienic food out there”, my friend muttered.

Now this is a food for the mind and my mind was all gung ho at my proceeds. I said, “Don’t tell me you never had phuchka, alukabli or roll from the road side or footpath shops! I have had food from the roadside shops may be from the day I was born (ok that’s a bit exaggerated) and did not suffer. Nevertheless better be safe than sorry and I can understand one’s concern about health living in this age of “Phurphure” pollution. But to tell you the truth in other cities it is just the outward show, a goodly apple rotten at heart. You seem to have the feel of everything good as the ugly part is hidden behind the doors. And believe me this time I am not exaggerating. One of my friends is in hotel management and his anecdotes if revealed would make many leave eating at many of the so called posh restaurants. And just tell me where else can you find such good food, such varieties of food at such low costs. Not that you don’t have posh restaurants in Kolkata, rather you have some fabulous ones like peter cat, marco polo to name a few.”

I was finding a certain pleasure in refuting the points being put by my friend and for the first time in my life I realized that beating someone with words is far better than literally beating someone up (which I do more often than not). Ok I’m ready come with whatever is left.

“Hey Kolkata lacks the spirit dude”, he quipped, “in Mumbai even after serial bomb blasts everything was back to normal within an hour, whereas in Kolkata a small accident causes road blocks and stuffs. Moreover, the climate also sucks.”

“Yes, yes, as if you get air conditioner wherever you go. Reality bites dude”, I sneered “you say Kolkata lacks the spirit of life. Forgetting such a dire situation in minutes is lack of humane emotions. I still remember when my favorite doggie died (but that is again delving into history lessons). The way we stand beside each other at times of need, the way we celebrate every occasion is commendable. Out here the life is so mechanical we don’t even get time to socialize. In Kolkata, people like to know each other, people like to be friends. Adda on rock, ornithology (bird watching – just being cryptic), playing cricket, “baro mashe tero parbon”… You name it you find it. It’s a place that has doled out success and failures to you and friends to celebrate each of those moments. What else do you want? Now climate Delhi has an extreme climate, Mumbai is equally sticky, Chennai is bad. Bangalore among these stands out for its climate but it is also changing. The reason is simple – global warming, deforestation and pollution. Kolkata is far better than many places. Climate also plays a major role in water and electricity problems which are in abundance in many of the metros. Delhi has major power cuts, Bangalore faces water problems. So I would say it is better to sweat under the sun than get dehydrated or drown and lose life whenever we go out.”

By this time he was at a loss of words, but still being the royal Bengal tiger he made a last attempt, “In Kolkata there are no places to chill out. The night life is abysmal. You don’t even get a pub or disc open after 12 or 1. Think of the plight of the BPO people.”

Ha come to the point so what was pinching him is the fact that Kolkata is dry compared to other places. Now I understood “akhir kira hai kaha”. It’ not about the BPO people, it’s about him. Anyways I replied with a sardonic grin, “You are talking about night life, right. In kolkata you can find restaurants open till 11, conveyance till 12 (though I agree it is not for all places). What else do you need!!! Talk about BPO’s and their plight, don’t you think it’s the byproduct of the kind of job they are in and invariably it’s the same everywhere. Personally, though Bangalore is IT hub, I do feel it’s an overrated city. You can find medicine shops open even at nights in Kolkata (not often is the case in Bangalore). You can find conveyances late in the night as well. You can also find pubs and discs open as well. And as far as places to chill out are concerned, I think we have many be it coffee house, central park, Swabhumi, Victoria memorial, maidan, forum, city centre. The list is endless because even a small rock turns out to be a place to chill out as far as I am concerned. Kolkata is not a city of concrete, rather it’s our dreams, our true love. It’s here where we experienced all the beautiful moments of life for the first time.”

I don’t think I convinced him that day but little do I care.

You cannot find everything at one place and even if you do so it might not make you happy. Each one of us is different and has different views. Some like to see the glass half empty while others still find it half filled. Saying all these I do feel that we are so concerned with our failures that we try to vent our frustration by criticizing other things without recognizing the fact that it is we who can make difference even in those areas if only we want to do so.

As far as I am concerned “Being happy does not mean everything’s perfect. It means you’ve decided to see beyond the imperfections”. So bottom line is any place can be Utopia – A place to live happily ever after…So which place is your place to live happily ever after?