Sign up to The Irish Times Archive (1859 - 2008)My Account »

Tue 05 May 2007Humanity in the 'city of joy'An Irish nun recently received one of India's highest honours in recognition of her 50-year devotion to 450,000 of India's poorest children. Brian O'Connellspends a day in her Calcutta schoolIt's getting near dark in downtown Calcutta. In the distance, a new city is under construction, with some 2,000 buildings being erected to provide for a burgeoning middle class. "Exclusive waterfront apartments," coax the billboards, with sushi bars replacing slums, as the metropolis attempts to re-imagine itself for the nouveau riche. Long queues form at the city's first McDonald's, opened here two months ago, while billboards outside five-star hotels welcome Fifa president Sepp Blatter to town. Flashing neon is springing up like ivy all over Calcutta, from Siemens to Nokia, Mountain Dew to Mission Impossible. Even the city is being rebranded - since 2001, the government has insisted that Calcutta be referred to as Kolkata, rather than the anglicised British version.