Calcutta – Page 2

Kolkata Noir – Review

July 24, 2021August 4, 2021tom

One thing that I want to add is that the way the author illustrated Indian Culture(Bengali Culture) is speechless. I have never thought that a foreign author can write about Indian culture this well. The way the author explains the Rath Yatra(Indian festival) is wonderful. Read the full review of Kolkata Noir at The Books […]

The Best Reads on Calcutta/Kolkata

July 19, 2021August 4, 2021tom

With the publication of my novella collection Kolkata Noir, I was trying to think of my favorite reads about Calcutta/Kolkata and I came up with a short list of titles. Check out my top 5 favorite books on Calcutta. Check out my story collection, Kolkata Noir.

Kolkata Noir – Out now!

July 8, 2021August 4, 2021tom

My novella collection Kolkata Noir is finally out with Next Chapter. During the Raj, Calcutta was the world’s second most economically powerful metropolis. In 2019, Kolkata, eastern India’s largest city, stands at a crossroads. Unlike Delhi and Mumbai, the West Bengal Capital is anything but an economic powerhouse. Its remote eastern location and decades of […]

Kolkata Noir – Coming Soon!

June 11, 2021June 13, 2021tom

Interviewed about Kolkata on Talk Travel Asia

June 15, 2020June 15, 2020tomLeave a Comment

I am talking about Kolkata, a city close to my heart, to Talk Travel Asia this week. I was in Kolkata as a participant of the Indo European Artist Residency last year. The Goethe Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan invited me to write crime fiction set in the West Bengal capital. The result, a series of novellas […]

Dominique LaPierre’s Calcutta

November 14, 2019November 14, 2019tomLeave a Comment

Far too many of you have read the ‘City of Joy’ by Dominique LaPierre. The book has sold more than eight million copies, put Calcutta on the map as both the world’s saddest and happiest place and got rave reviews by the pope. Yes, that dead POPE. Dominique LaPierre continues to come to Calcutta regularly. […]

Little Europe – The proto-colonies of West Bengal in The Nikkei Asian Review

January 7, 2018January 7, 2018tomLeave a Comment

Last story of 2017, first story of 2018, with Laure Siegel. The show stays on the road and the road takes me wherever. Home is anywhere I lay my head. In this instance, north of Kolkata, the world’s most beautiful city, along the banks for the river Hooghly. Really enjoyed researching this one and am […]

India’s City of Joy: 3 days in historic Kolkata at CNN

December 9, 2017December 9, 2017tomLeave a Comment

My latest travel feature with Laure Siegel on one of my favorite cities – Kolkata – for CNN Travel Mother Teresa did the same for this spendid city as Spielberg did for sharks. She ruined the West Bengal capital’s reputation for generations. But Teresa is dead, the city is on a bumpy rebound and its […]

A Baul’s Railway Song – India’s Hobo Musicians

June 12, 2004October 31, 2019tomLeave a Comment

The plains of West Bengal stretch into a milky horizon. In May, much of the rice has just planted and the midday sun’s glare is reflected in the shallow paddies. Here and there, small clusters of mud and straw huts form tiny hamlets in an ocean of green. The Kanrup Express takes more than 30 […]

Welcome to Sonagachi – Calcutta’s largest brothel area is thriving

May 12, 2004October 31, 2019tom218 Comments

“I have been in Sonagachi for 25 years. I rent this room for 114 Rupees a month. This is my home.” Champa Das has invited me into her home. Champa Das has been a sex worker all her adult life. Sonagachi is one of Calcutta’s largest red light districts – narrow alleys, lined with small ‘apartments’ […]