Dharmatala is the Ugliest Place in Kolkata!

(Image: Telegraph India)

A year ago, I was waiting at Esplanade to meet my ex-girlfriend. We made a plan to have Biriyani at a popular restaurant in Dharmatala. When I reached the place, I checked the time on my watch- it was 6:30 p.m. That meant I had to wait for half an hour more, as our mutually-fixed time was 7 p.m.

I bought a bottle of cola from a street-side pan shop and went to a corner where the pavement ended. You know the situation of the Dharmatala pavements, encroached by the hawkers which leave no place to walk. Both the left and right sides have grabbed. The narrow space between the right and the left sides is for public use. In some parts, that space is non-existent.

H1

H3

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H7

a

H2

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I was standing at the (a) spot waiting for my ex-girlfriend. The hawker (h1) sitting next to me told me to leave. When I asked him about the reason, he replied with a lot of annoyance in his voice, ‘just leave’. I gave him a stern reply, ‘I’m standing on a pavement. What is bothering you?' He replied fiercely, ‘This is a place of business. Customers come here every day. Don't you understand?’ I failed to fathom what the guy was saying. The pavements are for public use, not for doing business. In reality, they have grabbed the pavements and doing their business.

Meanwhile, other hawkers had also assembled to lend their support to him (h1). The tone in which they were talking helped me to understand that they want me to shoo away. I realized there is no point for an argument with them as they were more in numbers. Also, it was their territory. So, I left the place.

Later while returning home, I saw many people are using the main road to walk rather than using the pavements. I kept wondering why people use main roads that are for two and four-wheelers. The answer was in front of my eyes- the encroachment. Not only encroachment, the shouting, the hooting- make the place unbearable.

Later I was talking to one of my friends about the incident. He laughed at me and said it was quite 'normal' considering the Dharmatala standard. He went on to share his experience. He went to Dharmatala with his British wife to do some shopping. When they were bargaining, a guy pinched his wife from behind. It was such a shame.

Dharmatala is no doubt the ugliest place in Kolkata now. The time has come to clean up the mess and reinvent Dharmatala.