Kolkata Meetups

thirdreel

Hope I can revive this! I've moved up my train ticket so now I'll arrive in Kolkata on the 11th. Think we can get a small group together on the 12th (Friday)? Any usual place for meetups, or any advice on where to meet? What time of day are meetups usually held?

I'd really like this to happen. :-)

somnath

Hi thirdreel,
This is Great news!!!!
I’ll be there in Calcutta so there is no problem except Saturday (13th). I am sorry I have some fixed appointment on that evening. What about Sunday, guys? Sunday 14th in front of Nike stall (ground floor of Oberoi Grand Hotel) at around 4pm. The place is known to almost all (last meetup point with BigZero) and easy to locate so thirdreel will face no problem to find it.

Thirdreel please visit this thread (http://www.indiamike.com/india/showthread.php?t=12809), the photographs were taken on that spot only. Anyone with some better idea regarding date / time? But unless it is too tough we will prefer to stick to the meetup point (the spot) for the convenience to the maximum IMers.

Please reply here.

- Somnath

babuchand

sunday will be better for most of KOL_IMers.....

__________________
Njoy

babu
visit : http://www.webmania.co.za/travelmania/babu/index.shtml

"The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget."

thirdreel

I'll be there! I'll just have to look up where it is.

somnath

Oberoi Grand is a prime location in Kolkata.

This may give an idea about the location:
http://www.mapsofindia.com/hotels-in...ta-hotels.html

Sree

Welcome to our city. It is really nice that another meet up is knocking.I will not be there but will wait for the report and pics of that exiting event.
Enjoy a happy evening

cliffhanger

sorry guys cant make it tomorrow .........but make sure u guys have a blast...

somnath

Hi all,
It is about another one in Kolkata but it is one of the smallest meetup of 2 IMers – Somnath and Thirdreel on 14th August 2005. As you can understand from this thread (http://www.indiamike.com/india/showthread.php?t=13771) that almost all the Kolkata IMers were out of town and unable to attend the meetup. I cant forget the disappointment on the face of Thirdreel when he came to know that no one else are coming to meet. Sorry mate, you can’t ignore the travel bug factor in an extended weekend.

Thirdreel informed me that he is running late by a few minutes and by 4:15 pm he was there. I found a foreigner is trying to say NO to someone and the other person was trying to convince him just at the meetup spot. Hey, he could be none other than Thirdreel !! That tout was unhappy with me and gave up. Poor Thirdreel, unable to find a decent taxi driver, all the drivers are asking 50 / 100 rs. instead of going by meter for a ride. Moreover he was not allowed to avail the metro rail (from Netaji Bhawan Station, Bhawanipur) because the police find him not so safe customer with a bag and a camera in it. Can you believe it? Due to special checking before the Independence Day, police played a hyperactive role and they didn’t take any chance. Sorry Thirdreel, I can understand it is not expected to the innocent travelers but really, there was nothing to be done.

The hotel was good (Thirdreel will post his feedback) and his first impression was not very bad. He was tired like anything so we took a cab and went to Victoria Memorial Hall and a salesman tried to sell picture post cards to Thirdreel. But according to him, it was not an effective sales technique so we moved forward. The weather was fantastic. We took a couple of photographs, shared our travel experience and discussed about our professional life, other members of IM etc. As I said he was damn tired so we spend a lot of time there and allowed his feet to take a rest.

Friends, he was unable to stop his laugh when he came to know why I asked him about his profile (you can remember that once I asked Thirdreel about the ‘Buddhist Minister’ and ddatta also was curious).

We enjoyed the nice evening walk through the parks and footpath of the busy road and came to Park Street area; finally, Thirdreel went to spend some time in the famous bookstore – Oxford before returning to his hotel.

Thirdreel told me that he will log on to IndiaMike to post the meetup report with the photograph but ………… probably he is walking with the hotel’s name and map in his pocket / enjoying Kalighat / visiting Belur / enjoying show at Birla Planetorium or simply searching for an honest cab driver . Come on Thirdreel, let us know about you before you leave for Varanasi.

IMers from Kolkata, if anyone wants to meet him (he will be leaving on 18th night) give me a call I’ll give you his tel no.
Thanks to IndiaMike.

- Somnath

Bigzero

great report, somnath! smallest IM meet, for sure ( of course you cannot have a meetup with one person.. ).

and thirdreel, let me assure you that the kolkata gang is NOT like this when it comes to meeting up with someone who lands in their city ( I can vouch for that since i have had a very pleasant meet-up experience with this warm and friendly group ) You just happened to be there during a long weekend when everyone had some trips planned already .

__________________
miles to go....

Bigzero's Photo Gallery

thirdreel

Hey! Yeah, that was fun. I think I learned the secret of Kolkata cabbies--you just have to say the word METER really loud and if they act like they don't understand, don't say anything else until they turn on the meter. I haven't had any problems since I figured that out.

The guy with the postcards at the memorial: he put the postcards in my hand and was showing them to me while Somnath was off buying the tickets, then postcard-guy said, "Oh, just a minute" and walked away, leaving me holding the postcards. Then Somnath came back with the tickets and I couldn't find the postcard guy (I hadn't really caught a good look at him). So after briefly looking around I started to walk off, and the postcard vendor ran to catch up and get them back.

One more day in Kolkata... I think I've done most of my sightseeing so I have time to relax a little bit.

somnath

Thank you Big’Zee. We couldn’t make it for Thirdreel.
And thirdreel, I think you got just another excuse to take a nap, right ? Where is your Belur experience and Hotel review? Come on, don’t be so lazy take your time and let us know about it else I'll send that man who was trying to bring you to his shop .

thirdreel

Yeah, Kolkata makes me want a nap and a shower. I love walking around and exploring, but especially with this weather I go out for a bit, then come back for nap and shower, then go back out again. I know the streets around the hotel really really well, which is kind of what I wanted out of my trip.

Belur Math was sublime. I can't quite put it into words, but it's a very sweet place, very welcoming, very well-tended.

I'll write a review of the hotel for the hotels section after I've checked out, but so far I definitely recommend it. It's the Hotel Victerrace, a great value for the mid-range price.

Surprisingly, few people have tried to get me to shops the last couple days. Have I learned to walk like a local, or were they just out in force for Independence Day Weekend?

Kolkata has been a massive learning experience for me. It's not what I expected, it's not like anywhere else in the world, and my lessons haven't all been sweet, but I'm so glad I came.

somnath

Hi Thirdreel,
I think you are in Gaya now . Plz let us know about it.

yousaybenares

Hi,

I made it and am getting oriented today...Dover Lane Fest is over..I was too tired to make it last night. Where/when to meet up? I will check email in a few hours.

__________________
The grace of God is a wind which is always blowing.

jyotirmoy

I will be in Kolkata from 26th to 29th. Busy on 29th. though.