Charaiveti: An academic's journey-5

In the neighbourhood many young men start body-building (in gyms, called akhras, or outside). Soon these musclemen go for the job entry tests for the lower ranks of police

The gully cricket I played in my neighbourhood also had a tournament, where different neighbourhoods of north Kolkata competed. I once played in such a tournament which was being held in the far north of the city, some distance from my own neighbourhood. I don’t now remember the game, but I met there a savvy boy, somewhat older than me, who opened my eyes about Kolkata politics. When he asked me which locality I was from, he stopped me when I started answering with a geographic description. He was really interested in knowing which particular mafia leader my neighbourhood fell