About 70 years ago, Jadavpur used to be one of the outskirts of Kolkata. Many small industries developed here before and after Independence, in 1947; now they have all shut down. After Partition of the country and the creation of Pakistan, which happened also in 47, this was one of the places to which thousands of refugees flocked from then East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. Here they set up their new homes. It is a completely residential area now, although there is also Jadavpur University not far from our house. 

Over the past two decades, the character of the locality as a refugees' colony has been  rapidly changing.

The small, old houses are being demolished regularly. The trees in the courtyards are vanishing. The birds you see most of all are the crows and the sparrows. Some pigeons too. In springtime you can hear the cuckoos. And sometimes during a droopy summer mid-day, when everything is quiet and still, you will hear the distant eagle. Interestingly, with high speed fans and air-conditioning, I feel that the summer mid-days are quieter outside the house than inside! The market and the main road are not far. Since my house is located at the end of a small closed road, we hear mostly cycle-rickshaw horns, motorbikes and car horns passing through other surrounding lanes. The peddlers still come, to sell and buy new and old things. And, and each has his or her own call. People watch a lot of television. At night the watchman beats the ground with his stick and blows his whistle. And yes, some kind of construction noise comes from somewhere everyday.