Meet verified people in Gariahat, Kolkata

Gariahat is one of south Kolkata’s great market neighbourhoods, centred on a busy crossing surrounded by sari shops, street stalls and old cinemas. Just next door is Golpark, home to the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, with its library and cultural programmes. For Myra members, Gariahat is lively, central and full of ways to spend an afternoon. Introductions here often come from Ballygunge, Dhakuria, Jodhpur Park, Selimpur and Jadavpur. Many members here enjoy food walks, exploring the street stalls for phuchka and rolls before settling into a café to talk. The area is busiest in the evening and before festivals, when the pavements fill with shoppers. If you prefer a calmer first meeting, a weekday afternoon or a weekend morning is a better time to visit, and the quieter streets of Jodhpur Park are only a few minutes away. Book lovers will also find small second-hand shops tucked between the stalls, which can be a fun place to start talking. The crossing is famous for its winter garment stalls and for Ganguram and other sweet shops whose mishti doi draws queues every evening. Golpark’s roundabout itself was named after the round park at its centre, and the nearby Triangular Park hosts one of the most talked-about Durga Puja pandals every autumn.