Wed Dec 24 13:05:33 UTC 2025: ## Kolkata Beckons Expats Home for Christmas, But City’s Changing Face Divides Opinions

Kolkata, India – December 24, 2025 – As the winter chill settles over Kolkata, a familiar pattern emerges: the annual homecoming of Kolkatans living abroad. While Durga Puja draws residents back to their ancestral neighbourhoods and traditions, the Christmas season offers a unique allure – pleasant weather, festive delicacies like moa and nalen gur, and a chance to reconnect with the city’s vibrant cultural scene.

“There’s no better place to be during a holiday season other than your own hometown,” says Debarshi Chakraborty, a research assistant at Iowa State University, echoing the sentiment of many who make the yearly pilgrimage. Chakraborty, an alumnus of St. Xavier’s College, finds joy in revisiting Park Street with friends, indulging in street food, and soaking in the city’s winter charm.

The season’s allure extends to amateur photographers like Sayak Banerjee, also from Iowa State University, who finds inspiration in Kolkata’s “foggy mornings at the Maidan” and the “early-morning smoke coming out of coal-lit stoves.” Music concerts add another layer to the festive atmosphere, providing a feast for the senses.

Dr. Ria Sain, a post-doctoral researcher at Central China Normal University, returns for the “ambience” and the iconic “lighting in Park Street.” She emphasized the importance of festive delicacies that can’t be found elsewhere, such as “sweets made from nalen gur,” and finds the season a perfect time for school reunions.

However, nostalgia is tempered with observations of Kolkata’s evolving landscape. Rajarshi Banerjee, visiting from Minnesota, notes the city’s increased conveniences and restaurant options but also laments the rising pollution, loss of footpaths, and the decline of the “quintessential Bengali middle class bhadralok” in neighbourhoods. The language used by the younger generation, he observed, seems to be drifting away from pure Bengali.

Despite the concerns about change, the pull of Kolkata in December remains strong, drawing expatriates back to their roots for a taste of home, a dose of nostalgia, and a chance to witness the city’s ongoing transformation.

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