Kolkata Can Shock With Its Contrasts and Extremes, but It Is Actually Good for Living. Photos and Thoughts

I bragged about my immunity to colds, which I developed in November after having flu in Jodhpur, believing sneezes and coughs in the crowd wasn't a problem... But my immunity eventually cracked during a freezing cold Kolkata-Varanasi train trip. As a result, arrived sick in Varanasi... A good opportunity to post some more photos from wonderful Kolkata, resting in bed and drinking hot tea with lemon...

Huts under a bridge by Ballygunge Junction train station, Kolkata

I said "wonderful Kolkata", but many might question: "What is wonderful in these huts under the bridge? Is this all Kolkata can offer to a traveler?" Answer is: nope, Kolkata has much more. I visited some official sightseeing places in 2014 when I came to West Bengal for the first time. I loved Victoria Memorial with an amazing top-notch English park decorated with statues, as well as a botanical garden with the Great Banyan, the second-largest tree canopy in the world.

As for 2025, I focused on street photography although also visited Kalighat, the historic British cemetery, Alipore Museum, and a famous flower market.

Open-air urinals decorated with yellow posters offering prostitutes, by the Howrah train station

One of the most shocking things you can easily photograph in India is open-air urinals... But the more you are in India, the more you understand how useful these constructions are.

There are a lot of people in Kolkata, including dozens of thousands of villagers commuting to Kolkata and back home, who can't afford even to pay 3 rupees for a bathroom. And all those people would pee against walls if public urinals weren't available. It would not only make the city smell terrible but would ruin many small businesses - fewer people will buy tea from a shop if it is located next to a wall used as a public toilet - nobody wants people peeing next to their work place.

Many people still pee against walls in Kolkata but the scale would be catastrophic if not open-air urinals as well as decent pay-and-use bathrooms, which can actually be found all around the city.

A giant ruin on the 4 wheels - shaby public bus in Kolkata

Some buses in Kolkata look awful, and, of course, a photographer can't help but photograph the worst of them. But let me also mention that public transportation is well-developed in this city - buses everywhere, and each route can be found on Google Maps. Metro - at least central stations - looks okay, with totally modern trains running between them.

What is wrong in this city is upcoming full transport collapse... Despite the number of private cars being low per capita if compared with Bangkok or Eastern Europe, traffic jams are bad as well as air pollution. Can't imagine what will follow when more people can afford to buy a car.

A pulled rickshaw in the vicinity of the Sudder Street

Another exotic type of scene you can witness in Kolkata. Once, pulled rickshaws were wide-spread all over Asia. In Kolkata, they are still regular as transport mode. As I know, the government wanted to ban them, but the pullers rallied to protect their craft...

Some people can say giving a job to these guys might be a reason to try this form of transportation (but personally I never wanted to try it). But from my point of view, it's a bad idea to ride your kids on this archaic vehicle.

Hazra Road guys

Tough topics were highlighted above, time to have a break and meet good people of Kolkata... I complained about the excess of attention in Rajasthani cities, attention that eventually turned into stress for myself, and Kolkata is a place to have rest from this. Kolkatans don't mind being photographed, but - unlike talkative Rajasthanis - they normally say nothing as a reaction, only some might have a small talk with you, like these guys, but they always know when to stop - people in big cities, like Kolkata, are busy themselves or at least know what it means being busy, and they are usually well-mannered.

A fruit vendor by Ballygunge Junction train station

There are many people selling agricultural stuff by train stations - obviously, they come from the suburbs and villages on trains daily. You can have the lowest prices at such markets.

I like the excess of the orange color in this scene, and I also wanted oranges... So after the buy, I asked the permission and got it.

Many such people like this attention - they are poor but try to look fancy and appreciate when a stranger with a photocamera notices their style... I'd say it's the most normal reaction.

Another model. The man slightly smiled to my question about taking a photograph, nodded, and posed proudly.

A quiet street in the Hazra Road vicinity, with a signature yellow cab

Okay, averagely residential buildings look awful in Kolkata, these ones in the image are something in the middle - not falling apart at least. But if you want to rent a place, you can find plenty of amazing apartments in Kolkata - British-designed with super high ceilings - charming old flats... I lived in such a place with my friend (through airbnb).

Secondly, the city's disrepair has its own charm, especially when combined with the dim winter light.

Banyan Tree on Dover Terrace

Another charm of Kolkata - banyan trees. There are plenty, and many of them host Hindu shrines. The one in the image covered a fragment of a wall and completely buried it below its roots.

Shrine of Kali

Here and there, you can find Hindu shrines devoted to different gods but the most popular one in Kolkata is Kali, "a major goddess in Hinduism, primarily associated with time, death, and destruction". You can see a statue of Kali in the left bottom above. This:

Kali statue in a shrine of Kali

It's not a coincidence: the British founded the City of Calcutta at the place of a Hindu village called Kalikata, which is translated as a land of Kali; Kolkata also hosts a famous temple called Kalighat devoted to the same goddess.

Toni photographs decoration of someone's house

There are also all sorts of decorations in the lanes in Kolkata - often with the same trash/derelict/disrepair flavor which we - me and Toni (in the image) - are fond of.

Newspapers still exist in Kolkata as form of mass media, although the digital era is already in full power there

Kolkata, here and there, becomes modern, but it still retains the signs of the past times - the signs we can't already witness in Europe and most cities of Asia. That's why traveling to Kolkata is also traveling in time... Hurry to visit it before this time travel gate is closed by the progress that inevitably will fully change this city too one day.

The photos were taken with a Nikkor 24mm f/2.4D on a full-frame DSLR Nikon D750 in January, 2026, in Kolkata, India.