Fast Facts

Airlines -- Jet Airways: tel. 033/2229-2227, or -2084. Kingfisher Airlines: tel. 1800-1800-101. Air Sahara: tel. 033/2282-6118 or 033/2511-9545. Indian Airlines: tel. 033/2511-9720.

Ambulance -- Bellevue Clinic, 9 Loudon St. (tel. 033/2247-2321 or -6925) has a 24-hour ambulance service.

American Express -- The office is located at 21 Old Court House St., near Raj Bhavan (tel. 033/2222-3001 or -3026). Open Monday to Friday 10am to 2pm and Saturday 10am to noon.

Area Code -- The area code for Kolkata is 033.

ATMs -- There are plenty of 24-hour ATMs: Citibank (Kanak Building, 41 J.L. Nehru [Chowringhee] Rd.; tel. 033/2283-2484), UTI Bank (7 Shakespeare Sarani; tel. 033/2282-2933), HDFC Bank (Stephen House, 4 B.B.D. Bagh E.; tel. 033/2281-3838), Standard Chartered Grindlays Bank (41 J.L. Nehru [Chowringhee] Rd.; tel. 033/2242-8888), and HSBC Bank (8 Netaji Subhash Rd., 31 B.B.D. Bagh; tel. 033/2243-8585).

Banks -- Most banks are open Monday to Friday 10am to 2 or 3pm, and Saturday 10am to noon.

Car Rentals -- Contact Car-Cab (2 Manook Lane, off Ezra St., Kolkata 1; tel. 033/2235-3535; vayuseva@cal.vsnl.net.in), Rs 1,500 ($37/£19) for 5 hours and maximum 50km (31 miles), Rs 19 (45¢/25p) per extra kilometer; rates include driver. Avis Rent-A-Car is at the Oberoi Grand (15 Jawaharlal Nehru Rd.; tel. 033/2249-2323, ext. 6325 or 6335).

Consulates -- United States: 5/1 Ho Chi Minh Sarani; tel. 033/2282-3611; Monday to Friday 8am to 1pm and 2 to 5pm. United Kingdom: 1A Ho Chi Minh Sarani; tel. 033/2288-5172; Monday to Friday 8:30am-1pm and 1:30-4pm. Canada: Duncan House, 31 N.S. Rd.; tel. 033/2230-8515; Monday to Friday 9:30am-1pm.

Currency Exchange -- Thomas Cook is at 19B Shakespeare Sarani, first floor (tel. 033/2283-0473 or -0475); hours are Monday to Saturday 9:30am to 6pm.

Drugstores -- Twenty-four-hour chemists include AMRI Apollo Hospital Pharmacy (P4 Gariahat Rd., Block A-29; tel. 033/2461-2626, ext. 606), Dhanwantary (48A/1 Diamond Harbour Rd.; tel. 033/2449-3204), Jeevan Deep (1-14B Hazra Rd.; tel. 033/2455-0926), and Life Care (1/2A Hazra Rd.; tel. 033/2475-4628).

Emergencies -- For fire brigade, dial tel. 101 or 033/2244-0101.

Hospitals -- Belle Vue Clinic (9 U.N. Brahmachari St.; tel. 033/2247-2321, -6921, -6925, or -7473) also has a blood bank. There are English-speaking doctors at the 24-hour B.M. Birla Heart Research Center (1/1A National Library Ave.; tel. 033/2456-7001 to -7009).

Newspapers & Magazines -- Peruse the pages of The Statesman, one of India's oldest English dailies, for information about special events. Kolkata's other very popular paper is The Telegraph, which has a metro section that lists local events.

Police -- Dial tel. 100 or 033/2250-5000 through -5004. Police headquarters are in Lal Bazaar (tel. 033/2214-3230 or -3024).

Post Office -- B.B.D. Bagh; Monday to Saturday 8am to 8:30pm and Sunday 8am to 3:30pm.

Sorry, Wrong Number . . .

Dial tel. 1952 for a recorded message (in English) if the number you're dialing has been changed.