I am doing a little bit of Park Street sprinkled with a bit of here and there. And hence the vignettes and anecdotes.

• The Barista(s) have taken the festive season to increase prices of stuff by Rs 10 and sometimes more. Inflation strikes.
• The Barista at Park Street should win some sort of award for pretentious baristas who don't 'listen' at all.
• School children who behave boorishly at coffee shops while wearing their uniforms should have their photographs published in some hall of shame kind of board. It is ridiculous that they behave this way and more so because they are indulged by their parents or, guardians accompanying them
• The Barista on Hindustan Road is quiet and nice. However, the staff bitch a bit too openly about the management of the outlet :)
• The queue of hopefuls outside Flury's today all waiting for a table was worth a photograph. I didn't want to appear the Grinch while doing so. Hence no photographs
• The floor staff at Music World called me 'uncle'. All perhaps originating from the fact that I was checking out the turntables (expensive hardware these are though). I've been called an uncle often, but this is probably the first time at a retail store at Kolkata. Very noteworthy.
• Oxford Bookstore proves yet again that while the in-store face-lift has worked wonders, the attention to the inventory is getting shoddier by the day.
• Folks do not heed the traffic warden near Music World on Park Street and cross nonchalantly into onrushing traffic. A pair of young boys and girls (ie. a pair of couples) did that today and nearly caused a concertina crash. They blithely ignored the stopped cars and crossed over.
• The digital meters in the cabs need to be callibrated to show the actual fare. The cab drivers pull out all sorts of awkward charts and tables and only relent when they realize that the passenger is a local.
• Which brings me to the funny part that at Kolkata I get responses in English and Hindi and rarely Bengali. I guess I must grow that ponytail :)
• Re-tying the hair while waiting to board an auto gets jaw-dropping reactions from middle aged Bengali ladies and, fairly amusing whispered conversations. Amusing because it is hard to stifle a laugh at rampant imagination.
• Having a camera is handy. Especially when one takes it out now and then and takes a picture. Shopkeepers seem interested for no good reason.
• The buildings I always knew between Rashbehari Avenue Crossing (Kalighat Metro Station) and Basanti Devi College have changed or, are in dire need of facelift.
• The street side vendors haven't changed in ages.
• The Post Office opposite Priya is as crowded as ever.
• Tirthapati Institution seems to have changed the font on the Bengali typeface. It now looks a bit nicer than before.
• Starmarks is an awfully confused store. Especially the one at South City. And especially when filled with Bengali ladies who speak with some god-awful accented Bengali. Reminds me of the newsreaders of Star Ananda, whose accents are so different from that on DD that it is sometimes jarring.
• Gur/jaggery is available in ingot sized pieces. Amazing scent.
• The weather is nice and bearable if one can somehow beat the dust that is stirred up by the sudden gusts.