Like every city, Kolkata too has some sounds that are a little strange and alien at the beginning but something one can get used to very easily whether you understand it or not! Now I am not talking about the sound from traffic or construction, music or the wind, buts the daily sounds of the vendors who walk around buying or selling their products and services from street to street.
Its really quite different and unlike anything I have experienced in Zambia or the US. In Z. we get people ringing your door bell to sell you things and in the US, I haven't really experienced much of that. In Calcutta, you not only have the people coming to your door, but there are these specific vendors making odd sounds walking around at the same time day after day. The first few times I had no clue what was going on and then I was eventually informed.
I know they are saying something but I have no clue what and judging from my conversations with others, I don't think they know either. But its all the same, like an alarm clock they will pass by at exact times each day yelling some sort of a rhyme that you cant really make out. Sometimes its high pitched and sometimes it low and other times the noise is just bizzar almost like a dying animal. Its really hard to explain. So what are they selling anyway? All sorts of covers from computer to washing machine and then those who come around buying your recyclables like paper and plastic. Its amazing how they go about yelling each day regardless of the heat or the fact the no one in this area pays any attention to them.
I actually like the idea of the recycling thing but if you are like me, good luck figuring out what they are yelling in Bengali especially since it sounds nothing like Bengali. When they pass by it sounds annoying yet, on the weekends I miss the sound. I think its one of the first sounds I associate with Kolkata after living here for 4 months now.
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