Living in Calcutta

Thoughtcrimes

I am borrowing this from an IM blogger Jeanne H. I hope she doesn't mind the duplication, here is an example of a Kolkata outdoor food market (in part):

"There is a place in Kolkata called Beck Began, where you can purchase meat and fresh produce near Park Circus. Beck Began is located in a mostly Muslim area...We entered the maze of stalls making a left here and a right there, passing large piles of artfully arranged vegetables, some I've never seen before. Gorgeous, plump pomegranates, citrus fruits, tiny little green grapes, and bananas the size of your fingers were everywhere... This market had very fresh produce. Comparing it to the U.S., I much preferred the quality here. The grapes I purchased in the U.S. came from Chile had no flavor compared to the ones from Beck Bagan. The tiny limes gave out much more juice. The herbs were spotless and lasted much longer than the "fresh" ones I'd purchase from the supermarket back home. The basics, onions, potatoes, garlic and ginger, were plentiful and in great condition. That day, we discovered beautiful oyster mushrooms, milky mushrooms and button mushrooms that were practically perfect. I hadn't seen this level of freshness anywhere in the U.S. except for when Chanterelle season hit in Washington State...All in all, the entire trip to Beck Began cost around 20 U.S. dollars, including around a pound each of prawns, chicken and beef, plus a weeks worth of fruits and veggies. I was really pleasantly surprised because everyone kept sending me to food malls, where you find the prepackaged stuff and Pringles, Tang and Ragu. The food at Beck Began was far better quality at a tenth of the price.:

I left out the details of killing live chickens in front of you and the visit to the butcher for beef, but am sure you get the gist. Hope it helps

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"I hate know-it-alls. Nobody even knows ten percent of it all." - Thomas Sowell

singsub

^^^ that made for great reading. thanks for sharing.

Yannick

Well, judging from what has been said, No, I probably have not found such a prize. Could anyone tell me if it is or not. I understand that maybe there is a VERY GOOD reason why the following two places are 2000 and 2500 Rs respectively.





Price Rs. 2000.00 onwards

Address:

southern avenue
Kolkata West Bengal

Listing Features:


» Area 650 Sq. Ft.
» Date Of Availability 15/4/07


Key Features:


» Close To Public Transport
» Convenient Location


AND

Price Rs. 2500.00 onwards

Address:

Vivekananda road
Kolkata West Bengal

Listing Features:


» Area 900 Sq. Ft.
» Date Of Availability 9/5/07


Key Features:


» Close To Public Transport
» Convenient Location


They are both two bedrooms. But and this is the big question (and pls could anyone who lives in Kolkata set me straight) are the addresses of these two places A) well out of Kolkata and/or B) in an area that would be generously described as "in need of refurbishment.
Clearly the latter could apply to both the surrounding area and the apartment.
Judging from what others (who are obviously much more in the know than my mere self) have said about rental prices I am now beggining to think that maybe these flats do not have the full compliment of walls (i really would prefer four ) or that maybe the landlord is lying?? Let me know your thoughts.
Oh, as you might expect, there are no pictures of these places, is this perhaps unsurprising?

Finally - Machadinha - I understand that you may get frustrated with 'daydreamers' etc. and i comepletely agree that you should discourage people from moving when they are as unprepared as I am.
The point is that yes, I am unprepared, but more importantly - I am not moving to Kolkata tomorrow, or next week, or next month, and not even this year. Of course I am unprepared, I have only just started researching this India idea. you cannot possibly expect me to start my research already prepared, can you?
Everyone has to start somewhere and asking questions is, in my humble opinion, to best way to get answers.
I have been looking at other websites and getting some more information together. You have no idea what else i have been doing, so I think perhaps you should learn some facts before laying into me.

I would also like to ask - what's so wrong with dreamers? Can't people dream? Is it wrong for me to want to try somewhere else, even if I know very little about the place i am considering? What is so wrong with that, why does it annoy you so much that you have annoyed me?
I also do not plan to subsist entire on live chickens (to be honest, I think it must be fairly impossible to live on LIVE chickens, surely they have to die at some point, right?)
BTW - I have never seen Angel Heart so I did not 'get' the reference.

Thank you, to the rest, you have been most helpful. I would love to hear more about the wall-less wonders that i found on realestateonline.in
Thanks,

Yannick.

nayan

both southern avenue and vivekanda road is very much within city limits.
which leads me to think they may be utter dumps.
southern avenue is a very posh area. lots of good accomodation may be available but i am sure no 2 bedroom apt will be less than Rs10000.
vivekananda road is part of north kolkata. its an old area.... a bit shabby.... I dont think there are any new appartment kind of places there. Mostly old 3-4 story buildings.

Yannick

Thanks nayan, both no goes by the sound of it. Probably why the vendor doesn't put any pictures on.

tasuray

Southern Avenue is in the south and very well in the city.Vivekananda Road is the birth place of Swami Vivekananda (Simla)and in the north. Both are in the heart of the city and rent is very high.You should mark the word 'onwards'that may be the trick.Or something fishy is there like, may ask for huge amount of 'selami'(one time non-refundable money).

wonderwomanusa

I'm not sure what it's like where OP lives, but here it is very common for an agency to advertise a rental in the newspaper at a very low price, and then when a potential tenant gets there, she is told "oh, that one is gone; we have these." And "these", of course, are at a substantially higher price.

Yannick, anything that sounds "too good to be true" usually is.

singsub

Assuming Yannick is a westerner, i fail to see why he should be so keen to rent houses with unbelievably low prices.

machadinha

Maybe because our geographical whereabouts has no bearing on the state of our income, contrary to popular belief in some quarters.

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Reading tips, all picked up at IndiaMike : INDAX's A Comprehensive Guide To India / Dinoj Surendran's Desi Humor / ITHVC on Culture Shock & Travel Health / JetLag Travel Guides For the Undiscerning Traveller / India Travel Links

atala

How true, machadina

Dilliwala

Good one
IM wudn't even exist if people were prepared before preparing. Except as a story-exchange.

Nothing. And no, it's not wrong - without dreams there wud be no human achievement. Hang in there. Sounds like u have your head screwed on right, u'll be alright.

......
Altho there is this tribe that bites off chickens' heads for sacrifice..........oh, different country, never mind....

But seriously, don't bother doing it yourself, the price will be the same. And landlords in general won't want a lot of blood and feathers flying about, not to mention the squawking!

Khak

All said, probably Kolkata is the only metro in India where you can expect a decent 2 BHK within city limits under 5000 INR/month.

__________________
~Khak~

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover