One of the busiest market places of Asia, Calcutta caters to the markets of the neighboring countries like Nepal, Bhutan, Bangla Desh, Thailand etc., to name a few. The photograph posted below shows the market at Brabourne Road, Kolkata.
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| Busy Streets of Kolkata |
The rickshaw pullers of Kolkata (Calcutta) have no qualms about the work they do. If you happen to come to Kolkata, I visited yesterday itself, you will be astonished to see, even the people living on the streets are busy with their work with a cheerful mood. The street vendor to rickshaw pullers, all are busy with their jobs and know their jobs through and through. Posting a photograph of the busy streets of Kolkata, you can see a hand pulled rickshaw waiting at a crossing, looking at the signal with a keen eye .... on the blocks ready to go--- not wanting to waste even a second!
The hand-carts are believed to have originated from Japan in 1860. These human powered vehicle were popular in the Asian Countries e.g. Japan, China etc. and also some other regions of the world. In India, Calcutta in particular, these rickshaws made their first appearance for public use in 1914. The hand-cart or the Tana-Rickshaw (in Bengali Language) of Kolkata are on the verge of extinction. The Govt. of West Bengal had decided to ban these rickshaws on humanitarian grounds in the year 2006, but following a lot of protest from rickshaw pullers, total ban wasn't imposed. Thereafter, there has been a decline in the number of rickshaws inrecent times.These hand-carts have large wheels which come good when the streets of Kolkata (Calcutta) are flooded with rain water. The job of pulling these rickshaws may appear to be a very distressing to an onlooker but the rickshaw pullers have no complaints in doing the job, they do it almost effortlessly. As you can see in the photograph the rickshaw puller is relaxed and talking to the passanger while pulling a rickshaw.
