Christmas is when Kolkatans abroad return home — to sweets, savouries and the ambience

Kolkatans living outside the city usually come home twice a year, during Durga Puja and during Christmas, with those located abroad particularly visiting in December. And while the Puja visit is more of a return to respective neighbourhoods and to tradition, it is the Christmas holiday that is about being back to the city, with the weather being at its best, no October-like crowds to restrict movement, and seasonal delicacies on offer, including the moa (popped rice sweet) and nalen gur (date palm jaggery).

“There’s no better place to be during a holiday season other than your own hometown, especially when you live 10,000 miles away and can afford to visit only once a year,” Debarshi Chakraborty, a research assistant at the Department of Statistics in Iowa State University, said about December, which is usually event-packed in the city, complete with concerts, fairs and, of late, even small neighbourhood book fairs.

“I am an alumnus of St. Xavier’s College, so going back to Park Street with college buddies and strolling around and having street food — ah, that feeling has no match. Kolkata in winter has a different charm altogether. Hot tea and kochuri (deep fried and stuffed savoury) at College Street in the morning, playing cricket at Maidan in the afternoon, watching the illumination till late in the night — the city touches the soul around this time,” Mr. Chakraborty said.

‘Charm’ is an expression also used by Sayak Banerjee, who is doing a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the same institution, Iowa State University, and is visiting home after four years, the previous visit having taken place during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“⁠The season is the charm. It kind of makes me feel light, as if asking me to shrug off all the thoughts that keep me occupied over the year. And since I am an amateur photographer, Kolkata is a good subject — foggy mornings at the Maidan, early-morning smoke coming out of coal-lit stoves by the streets, ghats by the Hooghly, ferry rides and Kumartuli. And yes, I have already attended four music concerts this year,” Mr. Banerjee said.

Physics is the subject of Ria Sain, who is doing post-doctoral research at Central China Normal University. She was born and raised in north Kolkata and she left the city after graduation, living in various cities in India before joining the institution in China. “I come back for the ambience in December. You can’t miss the lighting in Park Street during the later part of December. This is also the time for school reunion for us. Cake from Nahoum’s is a must this time. Also, the sweets made from nalen gur — this is one thing that I feel cannot be replicated in any other city,” Dr. Sain said.

Then there are some who, apart from soaking in nostalgia, also observe how their city has been changing from the time they lived there. Like Rajarshi Banerjee, who is visiting from Minnesota with wife Emily and their two children.

“The city has changed a lot! The conveniences are now available — lots of restaurants and eateries, transportation, etc., if one can afford. But it has become a lot more polluted and dirty. The last remnants of footpaths are gone, lots of illegal structures in every neighbourhood. The quintessential Bengali middle class bhadralok seem to be depleting fast from the paara (neighbourhood). The spoken language for the younger generation seems to be English or Hindi or a strange mixture of both with occasional Bengali words thrown in,” Mr. Rajarshi Banerjee, who hails from Kasba in the city, said.