Adieu to a city motif — Kolkatans pen an ode to the yellow taxi

After the heritage tram, another iconic city transport will soon bid adieu to Kolkata streets. The city’s yellow Hindustan Ambassador taxis will be a rare sight, if at all, come March 2025 as some vehicles more than 15 years old are set to be phased out.

The news has been bagging mixed reactions from the residents of Kolkata. While the perpetual “refusal” of the yellow taxis is infamous and the rise of app-based cabs have reduced the number of commuters opting for them, there is still nostalgia and memories attached with the yellow taxi. Dating back to the 2000s, and the 1990s, these were the only cabs available to Kolkatans.

Raising a toast to the yellow taxis, My Kolkata spoke to people of diverse age groups and professional backgrounds, who took a trip to memory-town for an ode to the sunshine-coloured time capsules.

A small step towards growing up

When I was a child, the taxis were not yellow, but black and yellow, and they always represented time and freedom. They represented good times and indulgence and I always associated the taxi — black-and-yellow and then subsequently yellow — with fun. There are many instances that I can think of, but the one that I shall always cherish is the first time I took a taxi on my own, which was pretty late in my life.

This was in 1991, and the results for the National Eligibility Test (NET) exam had just come out and were put up at Calcutta University. I went to check the results, looked at the list, and found my roll number among the ones who had passed. I was very happy, and could barely walk out of relief! So, I couldn’t bear to take the tram or the bus, and that was the first time I took a taxi! It was pretty expensive, but when I hailed the cab, I felt I owed myself the indulgence and the little treat. I returned home alone in a taxi for the first time and paid for the fare out of my own pocket. In a way, that trip represented growing up for me.

— Niladri R. Chatterjee, academic and author

 A host of childhood memories 

Yellow taxis have been an integral part of childhood for many of us. I remember many trips where friends or family members crammed in to fit into a taxi and what fun we had! The Ambassador itself evokes so much nostalgia. To imagine our cityscape without yellow taxis is difficult — it still is and always will be a quintessential motif of Calcutta.

The rarer they’ve become, the fonder I have become of them. I even stopped by one last Pujo and clicked a photo with it!

— Piya Chakraborty, social rights activist

Tales of music and humanity

An incident involving the yellow taxi that I will never forget happened a few days ago. On my return to Kolkata, I boarded a yellow taxi from the airport. As the taxi started to move, I started to hum Lata Mangeshkar’s song Sari Sari Raat Teri Yaad Sataye. The cab driver was driving silently, there was no communication between us. When I reached my destination and asked him the fare, he said,“Meter jai hok, apnar kach theke ami aaj paisa nebo na. Bohudin baade ei gaanta shunlam, apni eto sundor kore gaichilen, amar monta bhore gelo.” (Whatever the fare, I won’t take any money from you. I heard this song after many years, and you sang it so beautifully that my heart was filled with joy). He wished me the best and prayed for me, and said, a content heart is all that matters.

There is another incident that has made a place in my heart. A few people I know were returning home from New Market after their Durga Puja shopping, and they took a yellow taxi. When they reached the road that passed through my home, they were discussing about me, and even asked the driver if they knew me, and it turns out he did. In a turn of events, one of my acquaintances left her wallet — which had approximately Rs 30,000 in it — in the cab. They soon called me asking if I could help out since I knew many taxi drivers near my home. Before I could help. Early in the morning the next day, the taxi driver himself went back to the address and returned the wallet. He refused any honorarium and said, “You said you are Kumarda’s sister. He is our brother. That makes you our sister. Why should I take bakshish (honorarium) from you?”

— Kumar Bose, tabla maestro

An indestructible ride

For me, yellow taxis are equivalent to Kolkata. It is special and unique, and is a statement that goes with the name Kolkata. If I am not driving, I always prefer the yellow taxi. When I was younger and my friends and I used to take yellow taxis, I used to say, “See, nothing in the world is more secure than the taxi. If Godzilla attacks the city, nothing will happen to me because I am sitting inside the yellow taxi — it is that hardy!” This is a funny story from my younger days, but is a very fond one for me. Even if the taxi phases out, it will remain as relevant and special to Kolkata. It is a part of the identity of the city.

— Abhisek Roy, fashion designer

Core memories 

As a kid growing up in Kolkata, it was mandatory to visit the zoo for a family picnic in winters. The best part about it was the ride back home in a yellow taxi, watching the sunset through the windows, while your aching feet reminded you of the day. I remember this one time when one of the taxi drivers asked me about all the animals I had seen. He gave me little anecdotes about the birds and their eating habits back in his hometown. I shared the pack of peanuts that I had bought on my way back and we chatted all the way back while my parents chimed in from time to time with their respective childhood memories. I keep going back to this moment especially on days when I’m away from the city because it reminds me of the warmth and love that is housed in the City of Joy. It’s a place where even the most simple conversations become a core memory, all in one yellow taxi journey back home

— Ashmita Banerjee, private sector employee

A bridge between two worlds

Being in your thirties often hits you pretty hard. For us — the ’90s generation, as we fondly call ourselves — life seems to have travelled over a very broad spectrum. From the days of Doordarshan and telephone booths to OTTs and video calls, our generation has seen time evolving. So, when the news of the yellow taxis being phased out first reached me, I could not help walking down the memory lane either. Being a muffasal girl with many relatives staying in Kolkata, visiting family meant travelling by train. But on every such occasion, I remember trying to cajole my father to allow us a ride back home in a taxi. There were no app cabs back then, of course, and these requests weren’t granted most of the time, either — for a middle-class family, a taxi ride was luxury! However, the times when it did happen, the feeling would be quite indescribable. Today, I wonder whether the Gen-next, for whom booking a cab is as common as honking on roads, will ever know what these little joys were like!

— Sudataa Ray, educator

A toast to the magical memories

For me, the yellow taxi is a symbol, a memory, and a piece of Kolkata’s soul. As a child, the yellow taxi was my gateway to the world. Back then, owning a private car was a distant dream for my family, and the sight of a yellow taxi pulling up to our doorstep was a luxury. It wasn’t just a ride; it was an experience. Whether it was the morning rush to school, a visit to my grandparents, or a long-awaited family picnic, the taxi was always there, a steady companion to life’s little adventures.

I still remember how the backseat of the taxi felt on chilly winter mornings. My father would hail one hurriedly, my schoolbag perched on my lap as we rode through the misty streets. Peering out of the window, I’d watch Kolkata wake up — the chai stalls buzzing, children running to school, and buses honking their way through traffic.

Family outings were even more magical. My mother, armed with picnic baskets, my father navigating directions with the driver, and I, squabbling over the window seat — it was chaos, but it was our chaos. Those rides were filled with songs, laughter, and an innocent joy that money can’t buy.

The yellow taxi is woven into the very fabric of Kolkata’s identity. Its bright hue is synonymous with the city’s bustling streets, just as the Howrah Bridge or the aroma of street-side phuchkas is. It stands as a symbol of the city’s old-world charm, a reminder of a Kolkata that was unhurried, soulful, and full of character.

In a world where cities are starting to look alike, Kolkata has always stood out. But the loss of the yellow taxi feels like a step toward homogenisation, and a loss of the quirks that make the city unique. Without it, the streets will feel emptier, less alive, and less ‘Kolkata’. But even as the taxis vanish from the streets, they will live on in my memories, and in the soul of a city that refuses to let its history fade away entirely.

— Tannistha Roy, private sector employee