Mango Smiles Vol 1 Culture Share

Recently we exchanged letters and drawings with school children in the Room 207 Thinkers class in Chicago, Illinois (USA). We immediately put them on our list of people to send a copy of Mango Smiles to, as well as other kids around the world who might be interested. This is the corner of the Newsletter where we introduce something about India to share our culture with others. Why don't you write or draw something about the culture, food, festivals, daily habits, etc. of people in Calcutta or anywhere in India? Put it in Mango Smiles box at the Library when you do. We start here with a basic introduction to our city.

CALCUTTA

Calcutta is a city and port in eastern India and the capital of West Bengal. It is the third largest city in India and one of the largest cities in the world. Calcutta is located opposite to the city of Howrah on the Hoogly river about 128 Km (80 miles) nort of the Bay of Bengal. The city proper has a population of 4,388,261 (1991) and is the largest of the approximately 75 local governing bodies that make up the Calcutta Meteropolital District (CMD). This district which was formed in 1961 to expediate planning extends along both banks of the Hoogly River for about 80 Km (50 miles), The CMD has a population of 10,916,272 (1991) and is the second largest urban agglomeration in India after Mumbai.

CONTEMPORARY CITY

Our city is one of the most crowded in the world with a population density of about 33,000 persons per square Km. The search for employment attracts a disproportionate number of male migrants and as a result about 63% of the population is male. The housing shortage and crowding are openly apparent in many parts o the city, especially in the north. An estimated 200,000 people live in the streets or temporary sheds. Calcutta is a multilingual city: 66% of the people speak Bengali, the native language of the area; 20% speak Hindi; 9% speak Urdu; and 5% speak a variety of other languages. Most educated people speak English. About 2/3 of the city's inhabitants are Hindu and 14% are Muslim.

HISTORY

Calcutta was founded by the British East India Company which purchased the villages of Sutanuti, Kalikata, and Govindapur in 1698. The name Calcutta is possibly derived from Kalikata which was the mythological landing place for the goddess Kali. In 1756, the Nawab of Bengal captured Calcutta and killed most of the British defenders by shutting them up in a tiny airless room. In 1757, Robert Clive retook the city. Calcutta served as the capital of India before it was moved to Delhi. The city's docks were damaged by Japanese bombing raids during World War II. In 1942 and 1945-47, the independence movement sparked bloody riots in Calcutta. After independence millions of impoverished peasants and Hindu refugees flocked the city, and the rapid groth that resulted caused much social unrest. the revolutionary Naxalite movements were crushed in the early 1970s but Calcutta and the state of West Bengal remain leftist strongholds.