howrah in a mess of light and diesel
just stepped off the train at howrah station, the air is thick with diesel and monsoon humidity, i just checked and it's about 20.9°C out right now, hope you like that kind of thing. the streets are already buzzing, vendors shouting, the howrah bridge looming like a steel giant over the hoogly. i snapped a few shots of the morning light spilling over the river, the way it catches the rust on the old railings. TripAdvisor - Howrah Bridge and West Bengal Tourism both say the sunrise view is worth the crowds. if you need a change of scenery, kolkata is a short drive away, and i swear the traffic there feels like a different planet. someone told me that the best street snacks are tucked behind the fish market near the railway, so i headed that way, camera in hand, chasing shadows. the bengali sweets stall on the corner was a mess of sugar and colour, i tried a rasgulla that melted on my tongue, and i heard that the place used to be a secret spot for musicians in the 70s. i popped into belur math for some quiet shots, the lotus ponds reflecting the early sun, and then i wandered over to the indian botanic garden where the great banyan tree spreads its aerial roots like a living cathedral. i stopped at santragachi jheel to catch some migratory birds, the water glistening with a thin film of oil from the nearby factories, but the birds were still there, flapping lazily. my photographer's eye is constantly hunting for that perfect angle, the one where the light hits just right on the brick walls of the old factories, the one that makes the industrial grit look almost poetic. i streamed a quick live on my phone, letting followers know that the humidity is making my lenses fog, but the vibe is raw and real. check out the reviews on tripadvisor for the bridge area, they say the sunset view is worth the crowds, and i booked a ferry from fairlie ghat just to see the city from the water, the ferryman laughed and said the river is his runway.
hope you enjoyed this messy wander through howrah, it’s not pretty, but it’s honest.
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