Calcutta is rightly called a city of processions. Not a single: day passes when processions do not appear on city streets. There are political processions, trade union processions, victory processions, marriage processions, religious processions and processions of what not!
While some of the processions are enjoyable and add colour and gaity to the surroundings, most of them are looked upon by the Calcuttans with a feeling of awe and discomfiture. Independence Day and Republic Day processions are presented with sober pomp and splendour with display of large and small tricolours in almost all major city thoroughfares. But political and trade union processions outnumber the other categories and create maximum problem. The air becomes heavy with shouting of angry slogans and raising of closed fists. The marchers move along the entire width of the roads blocking all sorts of vehicular movements. Padestrians wait anxiously to cross the roads: the marchers have little or no sympathy for them. Traffic movement is paralysed and often people are forced to walk back home after tiring office hours.
All these lead to a harrowing and nightmarish experience for the people. It is high time that the organisers and the marchers started feeling that others also have equal right to use city roads. They should march on a single file and thus make room for vehicular and other traffic to move faster. (224)
