India seems to have many fewer international travelers this season. Being in Rajasthan, I was thinking "they will probably come in December, on Christmas and New Year's Eve", but not really - Rajasthan looked completely empty and now I am in Kolkata - really few European-/Asian-looking travelers on the streets. For example, in Bikaner I lived in a mansion-like guesthouse mostly alone, with the staff dwelling on the first floor, and me occupying my room and the whole common area of the second floor. The same thing happened in Pushkar - I had the second floor for myself (and occasional monkey visitors from the rooftop). I met a good Australian person to chat with there, and a French guy then, but not many people were on my way in general.
That's why I was especially glad to meet an old friend, Toni, in Kolkata where I arrived after a visarun to Nepal.
That's how we know each other: I met Toni at a hostel in Istanbul in 2011. We chatted and meandered along the streets together, at the shores of the Golden Horn, and stayed in touch online since then, and met irl in St. Petersburg, Russia, and Kampot, Cambodia in the 2010s. And, finally, we are in Kolkata... Toni loves street photography too so we are on the same wave while wandering lanes and avenues of the West Bengal's capital... Sharing some of the shots...
Indian gangta style. Random guys approached us to ask to be photographed.
Exploring lanes around Hazra Road. Some people live poorly, but decorate their humble houses with bright colors. That's one of the reasons I love India - those colors:
Walking from Hazra Road along Dover Terrace,
observing local lifestyles, watching colorful personalities.
Toni speaks some Hindi - that adds a lot to the communication with locals.
Here, a kid gave Toni a duckling. A charming creature that can poo on you at any moment, lol.
A passerby, a woman who wanted to get photographed in profile...
Kolkata is great for street photography as people mostly don't mind being models and at the same time don't normally ask you to photograph them. These kids were an exception.
But when these photo requests from passersby happen rarely, these interactions bring only joy.
Hand-pulled rickshaws are a signature of Kolkata. Being barefoot seems to be part of the job.
If you pity this guy, you should know: the government wanted to ban this work once, but pullers rallied to defend their craft.
Another scene: locals playing cards, and badminton.
"All Bengal for hire", "India is great" - a scene on a large avenue at Gariahat Market area.
The motherland of chess - a chess center below a highway bridge.
Yellow cabs are another charming symbol of Kolkata.
Shrines are especially numerous in Kolkata, and many of them are decorated with great taste.
Colonial architecture is another attraction:
Kolkata was the capital of British India until 1911, so there are many British buildings there. The poshest ones are owned and well-maintained by the state, but many are in a state of dereliction. I'll show you many in the next posts.
At last, the portrait of my friend Toni, in the sunset:
Gorgeous personality, happy to have time with her again!
The photos were taken with a Nikkor 24mm f/2.4D on a full-frame DSLR Nikon D750 on December 28 and 31, 2025, in Kolkata, India.