09/06/2026
Twenty-five years ago, Calcutta officially became Kolkata. Has anything truly changed since then? In many ways, the name change was inconsequential. Throughout history, the city has worn a long mala of names around her neck: Kalikata, Kolikata, Kalkatta. She never needed the decision of elected officials to adopt new appellations. When the name Kolkata was officially consecrated, it did ruffle feathers among some sections of the anglicised elite. But it was far from revolutionary. The name had long been alive on Bengali lips anyway. So then what? Has nothing changed at all? Outsiders and Bengalis alike often dismiss the city as doomed to stagnation, trapped in her past. There is no doubt that nostalgia permeates Kolkata’s aesthetic - you cannot escape it here.
But Kolkata is far more than that. Scratch the tired image of a sleepy city, and you see a megalopolis in motion. New takes on Bengali cuisine. Edgy comics. Alternative lenses from younger photographers. An irreverent underground scene. Heavy bass, rap, and humour from the margins.
Kolkatae onek kichu hocche toh - much is stirring in Kolkata, and it is time to recognise those reshaping the city’s imagination. This is a tribute to a city of textures and contradictions, of irresistible quirks and irreverent grace. This is Kolkata for you: heavy on nostalgia, but enough attitude to dance with it.
