It was Jyoti babu’s greatest rally

KOLKATA: It was grand. It was humbling. It gave a measure of the man. And that of the people whose destinies he had controlled for 23 years — and beyond. The send-off that Kolkata gave Jyoti Babu revived memories of the lion in summer, the zenith of Marxist rule, and, most of all, the mega-human emotions that only this city can summon.

From stations, bus depots and swanky garages, all roads led to the Assembly hall from Tuesday’s dawn. Whether they made it inside is another matter. For, shortly after noon, the heritage square flanked by the Eden Gardens, High Court, Assembly and Treasury building was a mass of vehicles and snaking lines converging on the various gates of the building where Jyoti Basu’s frail body lay.

The VVIPs came and went in a whiz of motorcades. But the day belonged to the masses, and rightly so.