The Park Street Bash

No self-respecting Bengali (which includes both as the Bengalis call,the Bengalis and the non-Bengalis) can ever afford to give the place a miss during the Christmas-New Year week and this year was no different. The cold crisp weather only made it better. The party started at every street corner and stretched beyond it. With the sellers on the street selling balloons,festoons,caps,party hats even the occasional encyclopedia,there was much to fill the heart and the belly. Walking down the road in front of the restaurants it is difficult to walk down without feeling the occasional rumble on the stomach.

From the Park,to the Flurys,to the Peiping,the smell of roast turkey,mingles with the smell of baked goodies and the coffee and some great tea.

But it is not merely the restaurants and the places that make Park Street the place to be on the New Year’s eve —- it is the people who do so. It is the indomitable spirit of the Kolkatans who come down from all over the city and beyond who make it to the most happening street in the city and make it a must to be there.

One really does not need to walk down the street; one just gets carried away by the crowd of people who throng the road. The sea of humanity carries one,from one end to the next,and any thought of swimming against the sea of humanity is a disaster.

But what makes the place ethereal and unmatched are the lights strung up all over the place that almost gives it a fairy tale like setting,and transports you from the city of potholes to the city mentioned in one of the numerous fairy tales we read as a kid. Something enchanting,giving it an almost surreal quality that cannot be matched by any other city in the city. Perhaps that is the reason why people choose to indulge in their fantasy and make the one trip to Park Street on New Year’s eve.