A wall of heat hits you as you walk through the exit doors of Kolkata’s international airport, and in the early hours of the morning, your olfactory senses are sent into overdrive by a myriad of strange smells that your brain is desperately trying to place: you’re back in India. The big yellow Ambassador taxi is weaving the wrong way down a one-way street from the airport, so you close your eyes and pray that you’ll make it to your hotel in one piece. The small statue of Ganesha glued to the dashboard is a poor substitute for airbags and seatbelts, but the otherworldliness of your surroundings distracts you from any potential driving hazards. Arriving in Kolkata is more than just arriving in another country somewhere in the world, it is more like landing on a completely different planet!

Known as the tea port of India, and the place from which our fantastic Darjeeling teas are auctioned and exported, Calcutta – as it was then called – was founded by the East India Company in the late 1700s. As the city grew, it served as the capital of the British Empire in India until 1911. After Indian independence in 1947, the city suffered decades of political violence and economic stagnation, and what had once been the jewel in the crown of the British Raj fell into decline. Kolkata’s grand promenades and esplanades bear witness to its once illustrious history, but the crumbling decadence of its once opulent facades shows just how far it has fallen. The mansion flats that once housed army officers and high-ranking officials of the East India Company are now home to hundreds of poor Indian families living in dire conditions. They cook and sleep on the broken floorboards of ballrooms where men in uniform and ladies in ball gowns once danced under glittering chandeliers in the sweltering evening heat. Kolkata’s colonial history is still everywhere; the present hasn’t eradicated the past, it’s just moved in and lives side by side with it.

In Kolkata, people live their lives on the streets, offering visitors a wealth of fascinating insights into Indian culture. Everything from washing at a public tap to getting a shave is on display in Kolkata’s daily life. As I walk through the winding streets of the city, I am constantly captivated by the intriguing sights around me, such as two striking ladies dressed in beautiful saris, loaded with parcels, riding on a rickshaw pulled by a scrawny man.

Home to 14 million people, Kolkata is considered India’s poorest city, but don’t let that put you off.I can spend hours wandering the streets of Kolkata, soaking up its unique atmosphere, exploring the shops and dark alleys, trying the incredible street food or browsing the city’s many markets before escaping to the contrasting tranquillity of one of the city’s historic landmarks, the Oberoi Grand Hotel.