Word: calcutta
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...Birlas and the Mittals, as well as countless other Marwari clans, share a common history. From the 19th century onwards, when the ancient Silk Road that crisscrossed Mandawa began to be eclipsed by the steamship and the railway, the Marwaris fled the desert for the flourishing tropical port of Calcutta. There, many amassed fortunes, initially as speculators in opium, sugar and jute in the choked northern bazaars of the city. After World War I, some began to invest in heavy industry. The late patriarch G.D. Birla built some of India's biggest jute, sugar, cement, automobile and polyester factories...
...Even Kesri Singh appears to realize that the key to prosperity lies outside his parched kingdom, making more frequent trips to Calcutta (now renamed Kolkata) to raise capital for his expanding operations. "He never used to go before," observes Arvind Sharma, one of Singh's former employees, now a rival hotelier in Mandawa. But how will the wealthy Marwaris of Kolkata treat the scion of their erstwhile liege? Will they remember the bad old days when their families clung to the walls of his castle, treated with scorn as grubby moneylenders? "No, no, we treat all maharajahs with great respect...
...brings to bear much of what he knows about politics. "Here's something you need to know about for defensive purposes," he says, explaining the science behind a terrifying series of slides illustrating how a 20-ft. rise in sea level would swamp Florida, San Francisco, the Netherlands, Calcutta and lower Manhattan. The trainees are scribbling hard, arming themselves. Gore smiles. He was always better at political combat than people give him credit for. Later, a woman stands up in the back of the big room and asks the Question. "Not to put any pressure on you," she says...
Likewise, Pandey is no mere invention. "In the 1990s, I read a newspaper article about a tailor in Calcutta who stood for every election," Saraf recalls. "He always lost but considered it his duty to run. I wondered, What if he won? There are a number of films, like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, in which a golden-hearted fool has an awkward brush with the levers of government. Those films usually end with a warm and fuzzy feeling. Obviously, I do not hold Indian democracy to such high standards...
Whatever might be the differences between the U.S. and Iran, it is the geopolitical position of Iran that is responsible for bringing the two nations closer, whether covertly or overtly. The hostage issue is just the catalyst for the process. Angsu Narayan Bhattacharya Calcutta...