The coffee lounge at Calcutta’s Grand Hotel on Chowringee was closed for cleaning. So, we were advised that we could get coffee at the nearby ‘P.L.S’ café.
We walked in the direction of P.L.S but could not find it. We asked someone, who pointed at a large hotel called ‘Peerless Inn’. This, the locals pronounce ‘P.L.S’!
I associate the word ‘pilot’ mainly with aeroplanes. Also, I think of small boats that help larger ones enter and leave ports. There is also, I believe, a creature called a ‘pilot fish’.
On arrival in Calcutta (now ‘Kolkata’) in West Bengal (India), I noticed that the local city buses have the word ‘pilot’ written on the doors that the bus drivers (i.e. pilots) use to enter their buses.
I am certain that I have never seen the word pilot used to describe a bus driver anywhere else I have visited.
I do not know how many millions of people live in Calcutta, but I know it is well in excess of 14 million.
One day, a friend, M, met us in London. He told us that a mutual friend, D, was married to a woman born in Calcutta. As my wife went to school in that city, M said to her: ” You might know D’s wife.”
My wife replied: “Do you realise how many people live in Calcutta, M?”
Then after a moment, she asked; “What is her name?”
M mentioned a name. Hearing this, my wife answered: “She was a year junior to me at school.”
I thought it was amazing how small the world can seem even when a city as huge as Calcutta is being discussed.
yamey 