nThe workman daubs his brush in a can of paint and then applies it to the building?s fa?ade, slowly and carefully. Metropolitan Building ? once a moss-covered, derelict relic of the Raj presiding over Chowringhee ? is changing into a resplendent heritage edifice. In a way, the renovation of the nearly 100-year-old building symbolises the changes swamping Calcutta, long accused of living off its past glories.

Narrow roads are turning into wide avenues and flyovers are sprouting up. Swank malls, glitzy restaurants and trendy multiplexes have already given the city a ?contemporary? look. Now, towering condominiums ? housing schools to clubs ? are going to dominate the city?s skyscape.

?It?s hard to believe what?s happening in Calcutta,? gushes Pradeep Sureka, of the Sureka group that is building the 1,600-apartment South City off Jodhpur Park. The businessman feels the day is not very far off when Calcutta will be a major economic destination, with the city fast emerging as an information technology hub in the east.

True, change is in the air. The city clearly wants to preserve its old glories, but at the same time seems determined to move on. Take the Life Insurance Corporation of India, which owns Metropolitan Building. Prodded by the Bengal government, it has sunk in Rs 5 crore to renovate the building. But the corporation plans to ?recover? the cost by renting out the vacant area in the building, an LIC officer says. In today?s Calcutta, aesthetics is as important as the economics behind it.

To be sure, Old Calcutta remains with its cynical, hypercritical views of itself. But New Calcutta, up and about, is giving it a run for its money.