I can't believe it's nearly the end of June and I am 1/3 of the way through my 'tour of duty'. The last post was about the wedding, I have a PS to add: Kabita is now back at work and looking extremely happy, even invited me to see her new home. So it was perhaps all pre-wedding nerves and
tension. Married ladies wear red and gold bangles around each wrist studded with gems, also a wedding pendant which is similar to our wedding ring. Very glamorous!
I have been very lucky to be able to visit Kolkata last weekend with 2 other volunteers, Julie and Amanda - they did all the planning and booking so I just signed up for the tour! Last Thursday was the local 'Swing Festival'. This marks the beginning of the wet season when Mother Earth comes to life with the new rains. Those who have toiled hard all year now take a rest and 'swing' to symbolise the winds which will bring the rains - this is what I have been reliably informed it celebrates. If anyone has any other ideas please let me know? Anyway it gave us an ideal opportunity to travel with the time off.
I headed up to Bhubaneswar on Thursday afternoon to meet Julie and Amanda. Our train wasn't until 11.45pm so we had a relaxing evening until time to hale a rickshaw. Now, the train started in Puri (65kms away) and was running 45mins late, sound familiar?? We found our reserved sleeper bunks and settled down for the night in a not too crowded carriage. I think we all managed some sleep before arriving in Kolkata about an hour late. It was a hot and humid morning even by 7.30am.
There were plenty of taxis - yellow cabs giving it a look of NY - and we joined a queue to get an honest price at the taxi booth. When we finally got in the cab and drove off it soon became very apparent that the young driver really did not know where our Hotel was. He was stopping to ask at every junction and just wouldn't pay attention to Julie's map which had it marked as clear as day! While we were driving around it was interesting to see just how green Kolkata actually was with large green parks and wide roads in a lot of places. There wasn't the hustle and bustle I was really expecting from films I had seen.
Finally we gave up on the taxi and got out - the one-way system was causing the driver grief and it was only a short walk from where he had eventually pulled over (and crossed the street to ask again for directions again) to our hotel!
The first day was spent recovering from the journey and orientating ourselves in the big city. Fortunately both Amanda and Julie must have been Girl Guides becasuse their map reading skills were terrific - apart from 1 minor detail - that is judging distances and time! No Jane, you may think I was exaggerating the '300 yards', but I'm not sure how often over the weekend 5 minutes became more like 30!(or just felt it). Its ok, I don't get much exercise in Puri so was good for me! The street life was fascinating - vendors of every type of ware you could think of just set up a market barrel and sold their goods. It seems to be the accepted rule that all stalls selling the same things all group down the same stretch of road! So if you want fruit in 1 place you have a hundred stalls to choose from all selling the same, but if you want vegetables you have to walk on at least half a mile! This is similar to Puri but distances to walk and quantity of stalls seem less here now!
Saturday was a slightly more relaxing day and we visited the Queen Victoria Memorial Museum. I am proud to say we all got in for the local rate of RS10 because I had taken my residency certificate with me. The tourist rate is RS150, which is under £2, but when you are being paid an allowance based on local rates every Rupee matters! Kolkata does have a very good underground system which gets you from A to B quickly and cheaply - as long as you only want to travel north or south, there is at present only 1 line. Fortunately that was enough for us and meant we could easily meet up with another volunteer based to the south in Kolkata : introducing Kevin Ross:
In the evening we eventually found a lovely Bengali restaurant and had some very tasty fish and vegetable dishes, and extremely reasonably priced too! While in the restaurant a fierce thunderstorm started outside bringing the promise of hopefully cooler weather! We managed to get a taxi back to the metro for Kevin and our hotel for us without getting too wet!
On Sunday we did actually wake to a much cooler air though it had already taken its toll on me - the really bad air pollution combined with Air-con in the shops had given me a sore throat and chesty cough - first in years I must say! (I need the clean humid sea air of Puri!!!). We planned to visit the Mother Teresa of Calcutta memorial on Sunday, a short 1.5km from hotel according to guide book lonely planet! I am so glad it was cooler! The walk took us along, what I can only describe as, 'mechanics mile' - every shop along the road selling exactly the same 'spare-part-extra-add-on-tool-you-really-need-gismo-thingys-for-your-car-motor-bike' as the next one as well as every tyre ever made!
When we reached the Memorial I was in awe of it's simplicity and the gentle nature of the Sisters still carrying on her good work. Her room was left as it was when she lived there - no fan, a simple bed, desk, chair, pen and pencil. A remarkable lady and a visit I shall always remember. I didn't take photos because it seemed disrespectful, even though it was permitted, unlike so many religious Hindu, Muslim and other religious monuments. Just an observation on my side not a comment on beliefs.
Kevin accompanied us to a shopping mall where for about an hour I could forget we were in India's second largest city and imagine being back in Reading - almost! There was an M&S and a supermarket selling even bacon and beef! I did indulge myself and bought some herbs and things not available in Puri, also a new for Kirta for work!
The best restaurants in Indian cities are the ones locals queue for an hour to get into. We found such a one on Sunday evening but by then I think I was past my best from shopping, walking and the heat! (Not to mention a shared beer of course). After a 45min wait our number came up - BINGO! - It all looked lovely and I would have loved some another time, but then all I could manage was ice cream and fruit salad! And tea!
We returned to Orissa on Monday evening, the train a lot more crowded than our departing journey. The coming week sees the Car Festival or Rath Yatra in Puri, when 100,000 devotees flock to the quiet seaside town to worship Lord Jaganarth and family on their trip in 3 enormous hand drawn carts to their Aunt at the other end of the Grand Road Puri.
I leave you with this as it will be the subject of my next blog - coming very soon!
