Our first stop in India was Kolkata, formerly called Calcutta (British name). The first paragraph below is a description that I cut and pasted from Wikipedia (with a few modifications).

Kolkata is the capital of West Bengal (an Indian state) and the second largest city in India (after Mumbai). If Bangalore is the Seattle of India, than Kolkata is the sub-continent’s New York. It is an 'in your face' city that shocks and charms the unsuspecting visitor. Abject poverty mix inexplicably with crumbling British Raj-era gems, sprawling gardens and historical colleges. Long known as the cultural capital of India, Kolkata continues to spawn generations of poets, writers, film producers and Nobel Prize winners. If your trip only allows for a visit of one or two of India's metropolitan cities, than definitely consider placing Kolkata on your itinerary. Love it or hate it, you definitely won't forget the city on the River Hooghly.

Kolkata is located on the eastern edge of India near the Bay of Bengal. Our guide said that the greater Kolkata area has around 15 million people but that some 4 million more people come into the area each day for work bringing the total to 19 million people. Kolkata was the capital of India during the British Raj until 1911. Kolkata was once the center of industry, education, science, culture, and politics in India. It has since had intense political violence and clashes and has stagnated to a large degree since 1954. The poverty, congestion, and pollution were more than a little hard to handle.

Our main Indian guide that we met in New Delhi said that “after we had seen Kolkata, the rest of India would not surprise us”. He was right.

The first photo is the Victoria Memorial and museum, named in honor of Queen Victoria of England. It was constructed over a 20 year period and completed in 1921. It’s a massive marble structure made with marble from the same quarry as the Taj Mahal. It’s surrounded by extensive gardens and pools. Many groups and families were having picnics and gatherings in the gardens.

The second photo was along the River Hooghly. Our guide said that this river is a tributary river to the River Ganges. We saw people bathing, as in soap and lather, in the river, but also just immersing themselves in the river as part of a spiritual cleansing and healing and getting blessings from the river. I feel confident in suggesting that the river is very polluted.

In the third photo, you can see one of Kolkata’s famous hand-pulled rickshaws. Our guide said that Kolkata is the only city in the world that still has hand-pulled rickshaws. They have been outlawed or converted to bicycle rickshaws everywhere else due to the real or perceived hardship or inhumanity to the drivers. The odd thing is that it appears extremely hard to pull a rickshaw by hand based on its construction, out-of-round wheels, heavy weight, uneven ground, hills, traffic, etc. But almost every rickshaw puller we saw had a very slight build, looking something like Gandhi.