CITY OF JOY

Park Street is the Happening Place of Calcutta. Located here is a five-star Hotel-Park Hotel. Trincas, the famous up-market Restaurant, is a part of this hotel.

It was Sunday, late morning. I was about to step into Trincas. When I heard a voice, “Guru, what are you doing here?” I Just turned back and blurted out, “Hemu? How come you are here?”

Bumping into each other, both had surprised ourselves.  Residents of Bombay, (now Mumbai), we had studied in same school, same standard and lived practically a street away. But, somehow, we had not met after having passed out.

Hemu, real name Hemant Sampat, had moved to Calcutta. He got into family business. I had joined a Birla Group company in Mumbai. Calcutta was its head-quarter and I was sent there for a few months. I had been in here for barely two weeks when we met.  

A pucca Bombay boy, I was trying to find my bearings here. Cal was a far cry from Bombay in every respect. But it had a kind of mystic touch which I was keen to explore.

Hemant proved to be the vital link in my search. He had dug deep in this City of Joy and moved amongst the Hoi Polloi.

I was alone, I was homesick, I missed my friends. And he appeared on the scene to become an oasis in this friendless desert. We met and met frequently. We reminisced. We shared interests. He helped me breath the spirit of Cal.

Once again, he found me out on Facebook.

Long Live the Link!