the author of aranyer din ratri which satyajit ray made into the acclaimed film of the same name earlier when foreign cultural troupes toured india kolkata would be a permanent fixture on their itinerary but now due to the policies of the central government kolkatas eminence in the countrys cultural map has declined but if you consider indigenous culture i think kolkata is much more rich and vibrant than delhi there is a lot of good theatre art exhibitions and poetry reading in kolkata gangopadhyay points out eminent historian barun de contests the very notion of anointing any one city the national cultural capital he says one must look at cultural activities of entire nation and also include the contribution of folk art there is a lot of activity in bangalore we tend to ignore the south completely he adds that funding matters a lot when it comes to promoting a citys cultural activity delhi gets a lot of government funding for cultural activities and mumbai gets private funding kolkata i think has a glorious past it is for the young to decide whether they will retain the legacy and carry it over de addsnationallyacclaimed composer debojyoti mishra who has scored music for films such as hazaar chaurasi ki maa raincoat chokher bali and ramchand pakistani believes the phrase dilli bahut door hai reflects delhis control and power especially he says with respect to the national capitals control of culture an event such as the national award is delhibased because funding and power is concentrated in the capital he says mishra believes that kerala and bengal have more to offer than delhi kolkata is still rich in poetry music and art he saysbut west bengals minister of state for information and cultural affairs soumendranath bera is more peaceable each city has its own culture that is representative of the city the state and the entire nation i wouldnt like to compare delhi and kolkata in terms of culture nor view one as the cultural capital and others fringe players delhi has a rich culture and history so does kolkataviolent yet vibrant r vasundarachennaiaggressive competitive energetic and violent yet vibrant thats how chennai views the national capital the two cities are poles apart almost everything culture food language and the general atmosphereis different while chennai has its laidback charm delhi is seen as a big bustling city full of movers and shakers delhi reeks of power it seems to me that all delhi people are parttime politicians says contemporary dancer anita ratnam i have spent a lot of time in delhi and what i like about the city is that it has so many diverse worlds within one big city whether it is the political world business art or even the ngo sectorconcurring with her dmk district secretary j anbazhagan says the citys mood varies in each locality on the one hand you have the heavily political atmosphere of parliament and the areas in new delhi where the ministers and politicians