In Kolkata, a 2026 calendar that promotes not a business but a struggle for survival

Calendars usually promote an institution or a product, but in Kolkata, a 2026 calendar has come out to represent a struggle: to save the almost-extinct iconic tram, that too at a time when AQI levels in the city are reaching unacceptable levels.

The calendar — wall as well as desk — has been printed by Tramjatra, a moving tram carnival that was started in 1996 by tram enthusiasts from Melbourne and Kolkata, one of its anchors being Roberto D’Andrea, a former tram driver-conductor from the Australian city.

“The main goal is to highlight the Kolkata tram’s battle to survive. At the moment, the city stands at a painful crossroads, ready to erase its own 152-year-old living legacy. But we are discreetly critiquing, without resorting to overt criticism. The design is clearly pro-tram ‘calendar art’, our idea being to create a love for trams,” said filmmaker Mahadeb Shi, a co-founder of Tramjatra.

Last year too, a calendar had been created, for the first time, with the help of colour pictures of trams taken in the 1960s by an unknown Australian enthusiast who had passed them on to Mr. D’Andrea. The 2026 calendar contains pictures taken over the years by Mr. D’Andrea himself, along with quotations from literary giants including Rabindranath Tagore, Tennessee Williams, Sunil Gangopadhyay, Narayan Gangopadhyay, Shibram Chakraborty, and Bibhuti Bhusan Bandyopadhyay.

“The theme is, ‘The Tram Conductor’s Camera: A tribute to Nonapukur Workshops and the Trams They Have Designed and Built, 1996-2016.’ Nonapukur is rapidly deteriorating with just 270 staff left from the more than a 1,000 about 10-15 years back. We plan to release it before the New Year, with all proceeds going to fund tram-related activities,” said financial analyst Anurag Mitra, who designed the calendar, which includes a note by Mr. D’Andrea.

Once a prominent mode of transport, the Kolkata tram has shown a rapid decline in the recent years, with barely two routes still remaining functional and the West Bengal Government showing no effort for its revival — the transport minister, on the contrary, has advocated its discontinuation. It’s only organisations like the Calcutta Tram Users’ Association (CTUA) and Tramjatra that still take to the streets, either through protests or rides, to demand steps to save the tram from dying.

“The idea is to create an awareness about the tram, to encourage people to use it. Pollution level is at its worst, with the AQI crossing 300. The faster we get rid of diesel vehicles the better for us. We need a system that runs on electricity — not the EV that you have these days which will only add to the pollution by producing battery scrap, but something like the tram which draws power directly from an overhead line,” said Indranil Banerjee, an electrical engineer with the Indian Railways who is also a member of CTUA.