kolkata and you thought this 100yearold ghetto did not want to integrate let alone press the vbutton the countrys only chinatown now better known as the land of the fat mama is increasingly being swept by a tsunami called didiprodded by the election commissions rigorous voterlist updates more and more of the citys chinese residents are now empowered with photo id cards ready like never before even if we still prefer to remain cocooned we are not indifferent to our citizenship rights say monica liu owner of the beijing chain of restaurants a kolkatan for the past 40 years liu keenly watches the breaking news flash on the small screen in the runup to bengals historic elections even as she swears of being strictly apoliticaldominique lee who runs a foodprocessing unit was more forthright people are riding high on the mamata hurricanereferring to the excitement clemen tseng a supplier at the other chinatown territi bazar say people voted en block for the trinamool in last years kmc elections heres the conclusive roundmeanwhile its difficult to discern what matters more change or citizenship the latter is a touchy subject for the apolitical and apathetic 1000odd population in the melting wok chinatown spread over kmc wards 58 and 66 starting from chingrighata in the north to e m bypass in the south and hatgachhia in the east to christopher road in the west does not factor in the poll fray but for those living here each vote counts one vote translates to avowing an individuals democratic rights say leather businessman liang chen 68 who was recently included in the voters listsall those who have acquired the hallowed status indian citizenship sound as keen i got my indian citizenship only in 1999 some of my family members still dont avers paul chung 70 former president of the indian chinese association for culture welfare and developmenthis communitys pangs were captured in the chopsticks one was reminded of the legend of the fat mama the popular rafeeq ellias film on the bittersweet story of the kolkata chinese community and its migration to toronto and elsewhere in the aftermath of the 1962 indochina war the chinese have been barred from getting indian passports ever sinceisheng chen 56 a leather unit owner possess indian passport but has been left out of the voter lists the passport allows me to travel to canada where my wife liong chen lives but i need voter card he says the political dadas who have been enthusiastically booking walls for graffiti did not heed chens repeated requestscommunity leader trader francis chia 60 sounds disillusioned well vote but its no use the twosquarekm walled township is overrun with filth drinking water is also missing in tangra frequented by kolkatans for lipsmacking chinese food the stench from the open drains juxtapose the illuminated eateries most tanners have refused to shift to the bantala leather complex despite the supreme court order the trinamool is into a whispering campaign saying it would let the tanneries stay