KCC, in collaboration with the Alipore Zoo, had organized MKIK 2.0, which was an initiative to engage photographers to capture the less explored intersection between conventional productive activities and leisure-driven activities of the people of Kolkata. Often laziness is confused with leisure, which unlike the former, is charged with a stronger sense of purpose, joy, and fulfillment. Kolkata is home to people from different walks of life, and it is their distinct personalities and habits that contribute to the multi-faceted make-up of the city. While the character of the city is naturally dynamic owing to cultural and linguistic diversity, one cannot but acknowledge the role of a living history that has been adding layers to its character over centuries. Since the advent of the 19th century, Kolkata has witnessed its share of industrial progress and modernization at regular intervals. However, in each new wave of modernization, there exist the remnants of the previous waves. In the present-day Kolkata that bustles with racing Ola and Ubers, one not only spots the yellow Ambassadors but also catches glimpses of rattling trams. The slow trotting tram ride in the city is a testament to the city’s proclivity for expanding time. When Kolkatans ride a tram and refuse to partake in the rat race of life, they are often—even without being conscious— giving more time to leisure-driven productivities. Despite several hardships and deadlines that follow us every day, the people of Kolkata take time out to engage with their peers in matters of politics, sports, and gastronomy. Besides friendly meetings at local clubs and pubs, spontaneous adda sessions across the length and breadth of the city are part of Kolkata’s social life and culture. MKIK 2.0 hosted more than 50 professionals and enthusiasts who have experienced and were able to capture such fleeting experiences that told us more about the concept of leisure, and the way it informs and transforms the lives of the people. Going through these photographs one could truly understand the way people rest, revitalize and re- engage with life in Kolkata. Their rather conspicuous relationship with leisure—a love affair, really—was gently unravelled in these photographs. A case in point was Subhadip Saha’s A Lazy Morning¸ which showed a man nonchalantly combing his hair at a roadside barber shop totally ignoring the urgent writing on the wall that reads: ‘Hobe ki hobe naa?’ / ‘Is it going to happen or not?’. Or for that matter, in Soumen Chakraborty’s Leisure at Kolkata Maidan, the ‘maidan’ emerged as an inclusive space as the boundaries between a businessman and a beggar could possibly dissolve in their search for leisure. Many such images and stories were showcased in this exhibition. We hoped that the spectators would enjoy looking at them and experience through the photographs Kolkata’s quintessential love affair with leisure.