About

Calcutta Canvas, a new initiative for the City of Joy!

Hello, and welcome to Calcutta Canvas, a brand new effort to organize useful and practical information on the City of Joy, our beloved Kolkata. It is, as far as I know, quite possibly the first effort of its kind for and by the residents of this 300-year-old city, on the Internet anyway. And I do have big plans for the project. 

So, what's Calcutta Canvas? Well, it's basically intended to be a group blog, where any user can add anything about the city of Kolkata, as long as it's relevant to the city and its population in some way. But wait, Calcutta Canvas is going to be much larger than that! 

How it all started 

First, let me introduce myself. I am Anirban Chatterjee, a resident of Dum Dum, Kolkata. And after having spent a few years in the city, I discovered time and again, that not sufficient information about it is available on the web. Of course there's Wikipedia, and a number of isolated blogs maintained by Calcuttans, but the Cultural Capital of India needs more than that! And this is why, I launched this initiative for the singular purpose of serving the city and its population. 

Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, during his recent meeting with the Prime Minister of India, complained that not much regional content is available on the web, concerning India. Indeed, when you cram more than 1.2 billion people together, things are supposed to be better than this. And Kolkata alone has around 15 million residents (including the greater metropolis region). Yet, not enough information is generated! 

Then again, who is to generate this information? We, the people, of course! After having blogged my way successfully (and non-commercially) for more than 2 years on http://techtravelandtalks.blogspot.in/ and http://stuffthatmattersonline.blogspot.in/ (the latter being an archive of my posts as a page on Google+), I saw that I can easily start this initiative, and bring more joy into the City of Joy. 

What is Calcutta Canvas? 

Well, it's a group-blog, and some other communities and services revolving around it. This blog is to be the central hub, the sun of the solar system of this initiative if you please, for now. If you're from Kolkata, have been to the city or are just interested about it, you're warmly welcome to contribute anything to the initiative. 

Of course, this project is to be non-commercial, and there will be no ads. As such, no revenue will be generated from it. However, by building a growing knowledgebase on the city, we too (as citizens) can benefit from it. After all, by crowdsourcing the task of writing content, we're essentially creating a publicly available, free resource for the city and its citizens. 

What things should I write? 

The top bar above displays the primary selection of types of articles and content to be published here. Here's a roundup: 

1. CalVoice: Articles describing your opinion on latest news, or any complaints or congratulations you may have, for the city. Do you have a broken road nearby, that needs fixing? Lack connectivity at your place? Increasing crime rates nearby? Feel free to make yourself heard on CalVoice. Basically, this is the typical combination of News and Opinions  section, generally on public services. 

2. Reviews: Got something to say about any shop, restaurant or private service in your area? This is the place to post about it. 

3. Travel: Anything and everything about travel, both local (in and around Kolkata) and global (from a Calcuttan perspective). Interesting but less well-known places inside or near Kolkata are especially welcome, be it the ol' Princep Ghat or the flashy Science City. 

4. Culture: Kolkata is called the Cultural Capital of India, and that's for a reason. Here is the city that led India to independence, that saw the birth of Indian Renaissance, that served as home to Rabindranath, Bankim and Raja Rammohan! Anything and everything about books, movies, literature etc are welcome here. 

5. Events: This section is intended to promote Citizen Journalism, where you can detail any interesting event that happens or happened in the city. Been to a local football match in your pada, or some book signing event nearby? Write about it! You're free to promote your own club's events as well. As long as the info is correct, it's welcome. 

6. My Story: Anything and everything about your life in the City of Joy! It can cover your personal experience as a newcomer, or your daily experience in the local fish market! 

Other items in the project 

Google+ page: Calcutta Canvas (Follow the project on G+ to receive interesting stories and articles relevant to the city) 

Facebook page: (upcoming) 

Twitter handle: (upcoming) 

IRC Channel (chatroom): (upcoming) 

Android app: (upcoming) 

Google+ community: (upcoming)

Facebook group: (upcoming) 

Flickr gallery: (upcoming)

How to join the project 

Just send me an email (anirban16chatterjee@gmail.com), and I'll be happy to add you to the cause. This is entirely voluntary, so no one will be earning anything (including me) from it. But you're free to add posts as a guest blogger, and post links to your own blog, etc. 

It'd be best if you post your content yourself (after I add you as an author), but if you want, I can post it for you (obviously with due credits). 

Thanking everyone, 

Anirban