Synopsis The author's professional involvement with Calcutta began with his census taking of the primate city in 1951 and continued through his work in the Development and Commerce and Industries Departments of West Bengal up to 1958. Thereafter, the Census of India in 1961, followed by two long spells in the planning Commission and another nine years of teaching and research in Jawaharlal Nehru University during 1973-83 enabled him to widen and deepen his perceptions. The ten essays together with the Preface selected from among two dozen papers presented on various occasions between 1959 and 1989 bring out the eve of her tercentenary in 1990. They, as the Preface spells out, have a unity of focus and concern on the role and future of the city in the context of West Bengal and the Eastern Region.