Calcutta
An amazing place
December, 2003
Sarisafari starts this year in Kolkatta. The great cultural city at the mouth of India's holy river the Ganges, lovingly called the Hughly here.
This city's bustling textile markets have lured us here again and we are currently amassing a new inventory of 500 sarees for the spring inventory! They will be shipped shortly and will arrive in Portland sometime in late February.
Below are pictures of the street scenes in the city. Microeconommics flourishes here in small one man shops. Every street is bursting with small grocery merchants, vegetable and fruit sellers and purveyors of all the daily needs of life. You don't have to go far from your doorstep to get just about everything you need.
Read about Bengali Handlooms

This man sits in a 3 foot square area, rolling out puries and constantly refilling a big wok full of bubbling oil all day, and at 5pm still manages to have a smile on his face for his customers!
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This is one stop shopping in a six square foot store. What is it you want?
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Fruit sellers abound in the New Market with their neat pyramids of fruit. This chap is conveniently located next to the liquor store, which seems to be busier than his stand
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I will have to show this picture to my own pampered backyard chickens, so that they can know how good they have it. These birds are just minutes away from the stock pot.
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Tasty looking pastries from friendly pakwan wallahs near Sutter street. They look good but if you see the bowl they are mixed in, you might hesitate to taste them!
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Open air rice vendor in the New Market. How many kilos madam?
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Patient rickshaw wallahs wait for their next fare. These vehicles are not allowed on the main roads because they block traffic. Many of the pullers are barefoot and when they get a bit of open road, they run. Open road is hard to come by on the crowded back streets so it's slow going. But it's a great view from up there!
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After a hard day at work he's still got a sweet smile on his face. Must be the paan masala he's just now digging into. Paan is a mild intoxicant, sort of like tobacco.
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More pictures of Kolkatta from 2005
More pictures of Kolkatta from 2006
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