A city of 15 million
deserves one honest editor.
Our Kolkata is a reader-funded, locally-staffed newsroom and city guide. We cover the news that matters to Shyambazar, Salt Lake, Behala and everywhere in between — the stories your WhatsApp aunties already know, written up properly.
By the numbers
One year in. A city on the record.
"Kolkata already has a culture of talking about itself at every para teashop. We just built a place for those conversations to live, be searched, and be trusted."
What we do
Five things, done properly.
City-first news
Para-level reporting from New Market to New Town.
Verified business directory
Shopfronts, workshops and clinics, vouched for by locals.
Live events feed
Pujas, concerts, pop-ups, workshops — all in one calendar.
Local jobs board
Hiring from Burrabazar warehouses to Sector V towers.
Honest real estate
Listings with price per sq.ft, no inflated hype.
Our story
From a WhatsApp group to a city newsroom.
- 2023A WhatsApp group becomes an idea
Three friends in Jadavpur start forwarding neighbourhood news to a 40-person broadcast list. The list grows past 2,000 in six weeks.
- 2024Our Kolkata, as a website
The directory launches with 400 Bowbazar shopfronts. The first paying advertiser is a Behala sweet shop. Not Zomato. Not Uber. A sweet shop.
- 2025Jobs, Events, Real Estate
A newsroom of 11 full-time reporters. Live events, verified job listings and owner-first real estate — all without paid rankings.
- 2026The city, written by the city
Reader-submitted stories now outnumber desk stories. Our WhatsApp tipline hits 50 messages a day. The team grows to 28.
What we stand for
A short list we check ourselves against.
No paid rankings.
Nobody buys their way to the top of a search result. Position is editorial.
Transparency over clicks.
If we're wrong, the correction sits at the top of the article. Signed.
Written by Kolkatans.
Every full-time editor lives here. Every tipster is a reader. No remote desks.
Locally funded.
Our ads come from the sweet shop, the clinic, the real-estate agent — not a hedge fund.
Where we are
Across the four Kolkatas.
The people behind it
A small team, every one of them a Kolkatan.
"I wanted my daughter to grow up reading about her city, honestly."
"A rumour from a rickshaw stand is a story, not a tweet."
"Every listing has a human we've met. That's the whole promise."
"If the page is slow, the story loses. Simple as that."
Voices from the city
What readers tell us at the chai stall.
I found a tailor through Our Kolkata who my grandmother used to visit. He's still there. That felt like coming home.
Reema G., New MarketReader since 2024
I posted a job for a Tally operator and had 11 serious applicants in two days. Not one spam call.
Vikram A., Dum DumHiring manager
The events calendar actually tells me what's on this weekend without 30 pop-ups. Rare these days.
Soumen D., Salt LakeReader & attendee
What's next
On the roadmap, in no particular order.
Bangla edition
A full Bengali-language reading experience, launching early 2027.
Reader-submitted alerts
Report a pothole, a water-logged street, a para event — straight into the feed.
Hyperlocal classifieds
Pre-loved furniture, tutors, carpool rides — para-first and ad-free.
Know a Kolkata story we should tell?
A new para shop, a street musician, a protest, a photo you took on your morning walk — our tipline is just a message away. We read every one.