The Calcutta Photo Tours Blog

A visit to the blog after ages and what better day to re-vist it, than Earth Day. OK, Earth Day just happened to happen today. What really prompted the visit and the desire to write here again on a regular basis (fingers crossed, it is such a discipline that I am clearly not disciplined enough for that, nor prolific a writer to able to churn out so much content) was this absolutely wonderful discussion I had this morning with a guest from Italy - who was excited enough to start soaking in the city, that she and her husband chose to start their Calcutta experience from the airport itself. Well, in all honesty it was a special conversation because English wasn’t her strength and my Italian was limited to Google translate and an occasional “si”, “bellissimo” “bella” but there was so much to be discussed, so much to share, such cultural exchanges to be made. What prompted this particular discussion was this sight - and me uttering the words “urban decay” as we photographers usually ...

In Calcutta, one never ceases to be surprised. What this city, time and again, makes me realize, is that I should never take it for granted.  On one of my photo tours in Kumartuli – the artisans’ colony, where many a beautiful clay idols are created day in and out – I was marveling at the beauty all around. Idols in their various stages of completion - all vying for the attention of the cameras that were making their way through the lanes - were bringing a smile on the faces of my guests and admiration for the artists. One is expecting this – the symphony of straw being tied, of it nearly taking the shape of the sinew of a ferocious lion biting onto Mahishasur’s arm, the dull, damp sound of clay being kneaded just to the right consistency and texture for that perfect finish on Ma Durga’s face. A splash of paint here, an eye being painted there – everything in that place connects me to my soul. Peaceful! And it appeals also to the guests who are walking with me. They are fascina...

Armed with a camera, Calcuttans are all set to walk through the corridors of culture in the city this December along with celebrated photographer Samir Hussein . Calcutta Photo Tours, a travel company that has been formed with the spirit of celebrating the variegated flavours of good old Calcutta, is organising an exclusive photo tour in aid of Hope Kolkata Foundation on Friday, December 13, 2013. The tour will provide a glimpse of the cultural kaleidoscope of the City of Joy. A tour conceived by Calcutta Photo Tours it aims to introduce the participants to various communities like the Chinese who made the city their home and gave it its amazing Chinese food to the oldest surviving Christian tomb, the tour promises to be a photographer’s delight. The cultural potpourri will also provide a chance to know amazing facts about various other communities who made Calcutta home and who now form an integral part of Calcutta and taste the local food. The proceeds of the ...

The Godrej coffer at the Armenian Church in Calcutta On our Culture Kaleidoscope Tour (http://www.calcuttaphototours.com/tour3.php) that takes one through the various communities that made Calcutta home one of the stops in the Armenian Church on Armenian Street in Calcutta. There, stuck into the wall just at the entrance to the church one sees this "Collection Box For The Poor". The inscription on it tells that it is from 1929 and was presented to The Armenian Holy Church of Nazareth by Cecil Gregory Apcar in the loving memory of his mother Hossanah Aram Apcar who departed this life in Calcutta on the 25th March 1929. It was truly amazing when this picture which was uploaded to Facebook prompted a friend of mine Chirodeep Chaudhuri an established photographer who has recently launched a splendid book titled "A Village in Bengal" to share this picture with Vrunda Pathare who works at Godrej and is in charge of a wonderful initiative at Godrej - Godrej ...