UNI SPECIALJayanta Roy ChowdhuryKolkata, April 12 -- It's early morning in Kolkata. Cars are jostling for space with autorickshaws, buses and pedestrians along the busy Rashbehari Avenue, named after a famous freedom fighter, while kettles at roadside tea stalls whistle as people huddle together exchanging local news, gossip and the latest from the Gulf War over their steaming cups of 'chai'.
All seems normal. However, when one looks closely, a strange unstated fact cuts across the crowd of tea-lovers - most of those who throng the 'addas' or free-wheeling conversations, at tea-shops are middle-aged or old. The young seem to have deserted Kolkata, India's former industrial capital.
"The city has become one big retirement home. The young h...