The last week has seen a rapid decline in mercury. The nip in the air isn’t just indicative of a rise in chaa consumption, but the first hint of winter. If you are a Bengali in Kolkata, you will identify with this song by Sawan Dutta (The Metronome) because you are or you know someone who exhibits all these signs as winter knocks on the door in the city. And if you have spent winters in Kolkata, you know that it is truly the most magical time of the year. We attempt to list a few reasons why…
Hoodie season
While dadus love the identity-protecting monkey tupi, hapless school kids are forced to adorn earmuffs. But, no matter your fashion preferences, there is a hoodie for every mood and of every colour on the streets of Kolkata during this season. The beginning of November is often synonymous with going to Gariahat or New Market to purchase new hoodies for the season. Irrespective of how unique anyone’s aesthetic is, there will always be a monochrome hoodie, a superhero one and a printed one in every wardrobe. The time to feel cosy in your clothes is here.
Baddy fever
No matter which neighbourhood you’re in, winter is characterised by the makeshift badminton courts that pop up everywhere. The para’s sportspeople put their non-existent sports management degrees to use by building Olympic standard (in their opinion) courts with some chalk, some bulbs and a net. Before February, at least two out of the three items are stolen or broken, and yet, we jump back to old habits by next winter, and it begins with collecting chaanda to buy a new net.
‘Rajaai’ romanticism and the love of ‘lep’
The single most beautiful thing about winters is bargaining for “two more minutes” of snuggling with your kol balish in the morning, despite knowing it's time to wake up. There is a high chance that most romantic Bengali poetry came from the soothing contentment of lazing under your lep or rajaai in the winter.
Good-morning energy
For those who do manage to wake up, winters see the people band together to storm the city’s haze-laden parks, particularly Maidan, Rabindra Sarovar, Subhas Sarovar, Eco Park and Central Park Salt Lake. Their ‘good-morning energy’ could put your kindergarten teacher to shame, and the occasional senior’s laughter clubs seem intent on convincing you that therapy is a social construct.
Kochuri breakfasts
After a winter morning jaunt, you’ve got to replenish the calories you burnt. Kolkatans seem perpetually locked in a love-hate relationship with cholesterol, most visible in the number of kochuri-torkari plates they can demolish at the stalls outside Calcutta Stock Exchange. And no matter how full you are, there’s always room for one last baanre’r cha from Kona Dukan!
Marathons galore
November sees smartwatch and Fitbit sales shoot up, as runners take to the streets before the crack of dawn to prepare for marathon season. You can see the runners everywhere, armed with bottles full of Gatorade (or some other orange liquid), giving you gyaan about pronation, comparing hard ground and soft ground, and reminiscing about their personal best at the TATA Steel Kolkata 25K.
Boi Mela
Boi Mela isn’t just a book fair or a place to buy books every January. For Kolkatans, it's the annual festival where lovers hold hands with abandon, nerds wear their intellect on their sleeve, and people let go of friends — because it is impossible to find them in the huge crowd. It is a nod to the city’s big beating heart for literature, that kids still brag about the number of books, rather than chocolates or gadgets, that they managed to buy keeping in the budget of their pocket money.
Sunsets, reflections and romance at Prinsep
The early morning and evening ferry rides at Prinsep Ghat present the most spectacular sunrise and sunset views on the river with the Hooghly Bridge in the background. It has forever been a spot for blossoming love, quiet introspection, and new Instagram pictures.
Mishti gets sweeter
From hallowed sweet dens like Balaram Mullick and Nabin Chandra Das to your local para’r mishti dokan, everyone seems to be celebrating because this is the season of nolen gur! The quintessentially Bengali date-palm jaggery is infused variants of every imaginable sweet dominating counters. And then of course, there will be the seasonal rice-flour-gur preparations of pithe! This winter if you want to go exploring, venture to the outskirts of Rajarhat, or the outskirts of Narendapur and Baruipur in the south and you will see families making seasonal nolen gur in steaming vats in their backyards.
Park Street cholo!
You can pretend that the novelty has worn off as much as you want, but winters are incomplete without a visit to Park Street, especially once Christmas is close. Be it singing carols at Allen Park, tasting the pound cake at Flurys, or just wandering the lit-up neighbourhood, there’s something for everyone. Park Street at Christmas is way beyond a tourist spot. It’s an emotion.
