It begins, as so many of Kolkata's best stories do, with a newspaper and a cup of tea. On the morning of April 4, 2025, a small article in the newspaper caught my eye. The headline was deceptively simple: “Kolkata by Night: Go on the drive to enjoy the glow.” I set my cup down and read it twice. By the time I finished, something had shifted — the city I thought I knew entirely had apparently been quietly learning to shine.
That article led me to Mudar Patherya. And Mudar Patherya, as it turns out, has spent the better part of the last three years doing something extraordinary: systematically, painstakingly, and entirely out of personal conviction, illuminating the architectural soul of this city.