Uncertainty looms over Kolkata’s horse-drawn carriages
Early one October morning, amid the vibrant sounds of Durga Puja dhaks (drums) resonating throughout Kolkata, 17-year-old Rahul Das embarks on his daily routine — harnessing his two horses to his carriage and driving from the stables in Kidderpore in the city’s south-west to the centrally located Queens Way — around 6.30 a.m. Upon arriving outside the iconic Victoria Memorial, he parks his vehicle in a long queue of around 20 horse-drawn carriages and then provides his horses with breakfast before starting another day of ferrying tourists through the city’s streets.Clad in a black shirt and pants, Rahul explains the care he devotes to his horses’ nutrition, detailing their meal consisting of chana (chickpeas), ghash (grass), and bhushi (husk). “I feed them four times a day — in the morning...