Kolkata :
Outgoing French Consul-General in Kolkata Fabrice Etienne, whose second innings in the city comes to an end this month, celebrates the cultural bond that links the city with Paris, but bemoans the fading French connection with Chandernagore.
Q. Your first posting was in this very city 20 monsoons ago. What was your first impression back then?
A. I was first impressed by the excessive sides of Calcutta — too many people, too many cars, too much noise, too much heat, too much rain. The old, and often decayed, colonial buildings of central Calcutta and what remained of the palaces of north Calcutta left its mark. I had the feeling I had been transported to a place rich with a thousand stories.
Q. Cut to 2015, how much has the city changed in your eyes?
When I first returned to Kolkata in 2004, I was pleasantly surprised — the streets were cleaner, some shopping malls had come up, some flyovers were built, some old buildings renovated and repainted that gave the city a more modern look. In 2012, this impression was confirmed and yet at the same time, I felt the very soul of Kolkata was still very much there, and the soul of Kolkata, is its people and the great culture they carry within them.
Q. Do you have any bitter memories during your stay here?
A. Road accidents that have struck my Bengali friends. Nothing really has been done to improve the road conditions in India—it is not only a Kolkata issue—and reduce the number of fatalities. This bothers me to no end, especially because the social and economic gains are directly related to a fluid traffic flow. It is true for environment protection. And of course, I do feel a little bitter about the lack of any concrete fruition of the projects earmarked in my tenure between France and Bengal.
Q. What has been your impression on the former French colonies of Chandernagare. Do you think the preservation work is satisfactory? If not, what are your suggestions?
A. As a Frenchman, I am of course much attached to the remnants of our past in this former trading outpost. The banks of the Hooghly are very nice and I feel something from the French “art de vivre” (art of living) each time I go there. I sadly do not see any serious preservation work done there, and it is even sadder when you think about the huge tourism potential of this area. Every 10 years or so, the government shows an intention to develop cultural tourism here by improving connectivity, renovating heritage building, promoting this unique destination. Nothing takes place afterwards. A few years ago, the French embassy commissioned an inventory of the French heritage building in Chandernagore to Indian architect Aishwarya Tipnis. Of the 100 building she listed, many have been destroyed. Tipnis, with the support of French NGO Vieilles Maisons Francaises is digitalizing the database.
Q. During a meeting with the CM, you expressed France’s interest in investing in Bengal. What’s the progress?
A. I cannot speak on behalf of the many French companies in India. It is true certain companies did not consider Bengal as the best possible place to invest in their fields. The ABG-LDA case in Haldia did not contribute towards sending the right signals back home. Fortunately, there are some success stories: The Accor group opened its first hotel, Novotel, a few months ago and plans to open other hotels in near future; Decathlon (sport equipment) will open stores here in the next few months.
Q. What in your opinion has been your greatest achievement as Consul-General?
As Consul General, that France is back in Kolkata and now active in a wide range of subjects of bilateral interests — culture thanks to Alliance Francaise du Bengale, students exchanges thanks to Campus France, tourism thanks to a very effective visa section that processes all applications for Indian tourists within 48 hours, science — and many others areas of mutual interests and cooperation building blocks laid down in the past few years.
Nothing really has been done to improve the road conditions in India… The same is true for environment protection. I do feel a little bitter about the lack of any concrete fruition of the projects earmarked during my tenure between France and Bengal
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Kolkata / by Showmak Ghosal, TNN / August 20th, 2015