Rabindra Sarobar & Dhakuria

At South Kolkata’s geographical heart, the Rabindra Sarobar lake complex is the neighbourhood’s shared lung. Excavated in the 1920s from marshy jungle by the Calcutta Improvement Trust, it was known as Dhakuria Lake until renamed for Tagore in 1958.
Ornithologists have recorded close to 175 species here, including spot-billed pelican, painted stork and migrant ducks in winter.
Mornings at Sarobar draw a cross-section of the city broad enough to function as a sociological survey: elderly walkers doing slow circuits, brisk-walking housewives, serious runners, rowers from the Calcutta and Bengal Rowing Clubs, yoga circles and “laughing clubs” practising collective laughter as meditation. The circuit runs about 4 kilometres and lap counts are a matter of real pride among regulars. By evening the character shifts: benches and quiet corners fill with young couples, giving Sarobar its reputation as the city’s foremost outdoor romantic retreat. 
Adjacent are the Rabindra Sarobar Stadium and the open-air Mukta Manch theatre; the lake's mosque, Buddhist temple and concert auditorium.