Calcutta

is the most wicked place in the universe.

The most wicked place in the universe, [of Calcutta] CLIVE, Robert (1725-1774)

is a city in which the evening pall of smoke with its putrefying and fruity odours, a little bougainvillaea and a lot of burning cow dung, can stir a feeling that passes for contentment.

Like no other city, Calcutta smothers the senses; overexposed and darkened, they cease to register. This happens even after Calcutta has exacted a measure of acceptance and fond sentiment. The evening pall of smoke with its putrefying and fruity odours, a little bougainvillaea and a lot of burning cow dung, can stir a feeling that passes for contentment. The endless jumble of undernourished bodies, some supine, others·twisted into knots of stringy muscle, may register itself finally as something other than a scream; something like a dirge, with its own kind of dignity. But then, when the alarming sights, smells and sounds have receded into a recognisable, neady comfortable reality, some commonplace incident shows how strange your commonplace has become, and throws you into a state of super - saturation. Calcutta

is a city that smothers the senses; overexposed and darkened, the senses cease to register.

is a city where the endless jumble of undernourished bodies, some supine, others twisted into knots of stringy muscle, may register itself finally as something other than a scream; something like a dirge, with its own kind of dignity.

calcutta, n.All

calcutta