We the Kolkattans are fortunate to live in a city by which flows the mighty Hooghly. My choice of the word ‘mighty’ is not to mean that the Hooghly is one to be afraid of like the Brahmaputra at Dibrugarh in upper Assam.
The mighty Hooghly river to me is like a motherly entity, an embodiment with a large heart. I suspect the only time the Kolkattans remember the Hooghly is when after the Durga Puja the idols are taken there for immersion. Its splendor notwithstanding, very few poets and artists in the city have immortalized the river through their creations.
The 2 banks of the river are barricaded with ugly-looking buildings at vantage points on either side and they’ve blocked its view so totally that we rarely recall the river as the city’s most important attraction.
Luckily the British had built an architectural wonder, the Howrah Bridge aka Rabindra Setu across the river. This has meant that the future planners have had little choice than to design bridges that match the splendor of Howrah Bridge.
In recent years, sorry decades, 2 new bridges have come up connecting the city with the other side. One is the recently built Nivedita Setu at Dakshineswar, and the other of course is the redoubtable Vidyasagar Setu or the Second Hooghly Bridge.
I don’t suggest the bridges enhance the beauty of the river. I dare not. If however I’m to think of one reason why Kolkata ought to be grateful to the Hooghly river forever, it must be the majesty of the bridges across it.
For had the river been not there, there would never be the occasion of savoring the beauty of Sun kissing the Vidyasagar Setu goodbye before calling off for the day.
Here are a couple of pictures given to me by my friend Sudeep Chakraborty.
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