Kali Mandir

I grew up in Calcutta's Kalighat which is famous for its Kali temple. There was a time when I used to visit the temple once a week at least. These days the temple complex has changed a lot. But most of the sounds inside or in the surrounding vicinity remain the same. Here is an effort to record it. There is a flower seller selling red hibiscus for Rs 5, a woman is selling a combo pack of sindur and a lot of other puja stuff for Rs 10. There is the shoe keeper who is demanding Rs 15 per pair (you leave your shoes with someone to visit the temple. Earlier we used to tip the person ten paisa). Then there is a children's rattle seller. The total cacophony. There even is a priest chanting the mantra.
There is some bit of editing done here, deleting large portions of the track where nothing really is happening. To listen to the Mandir soundscape click here

Kalighat Market Soundscape

The other day I went to Kalighat to do some field recording with my Edirol R09HR. It was a Sunday morning and I walked from Apurba Mitra Road to the temple and then through Nakuleshwartala to Kalighat Road and then back down the Kali Temple Road.

This is where I grew up and spent the first 35 years of my life and the area takes up a part of my heart. As a child I used to go to this market with my father. The sounds now are of course totally different. I was recording the sound on the Kalighat Road where the friendly neighbourhood red light district is located and suddenly this band party arrived on the scene adding colour to the soundscape. Surprisingly the car and scooter horns don't sound so loud here.

You can listen to the soundscape here. I shall upload a photograph of the place later.

College Street on a Saturday

I had promised Mampu to get newsprint for her drawing practice from Baithakkhana Bazaar near Sealdah. We went out together. Perforce we had to park the car near the Hindu Hostel - a good distance from the paper mart.

I recorded some street sounds near the College Street area - this particular one is from the crossing of College Street to Coffee House with book sellers constantly asking: do you want any books? A flute seller's melancholic playing of the flute adds colour and character to the recording.