Old Kolkata

The 4 of us (Sara, Hannah, and Becky + Katy, Sara's friend) arrived safe and sound last night to be met by a very excited mum and dad, who have been looking forward to this pretty much since they returned here from the UK in september. We promptly piled into one cab to drive the 30 mins to Kolkata old town where mum and dad live. Me and dad shared the front seat with the driver and the rest were squashed in the back, a trick we tried again today in an auto- rickshaw. Driving across the city in the middle of the night, there were only a few dogs and the odd person to be seen, but come daytime the roads are a cacophony of car, bus, and truck, and Tuk-tuk horns, the shouts of rickshaw pullers and the bustle of people. We have just been for a wander round the local area this afternoon. Taking in the chai stands, barbers and shoe shiners on the edge of the streets. Wirey armed rickshaw pullers, Cycle trailers loaded 10 feet high, stands loaded with marigolds and other flowers, kids playing cricket. We headed down to the river about 20mins walk away; the Hooghly a tributary of the Ganges. On route we were passed by funeral trucks, and paused to see a dead elderly lady being lifted from one of these on her flower strewn bier. We also crossed the railway which is lined on either side by innumerable slum dwellings. The river where the cremated dead are commitited to holy waters is banked with the detritus of puja idols. These are created for holy festivals from bamboo and papier-mache often quite large and intricate. Once the festival is over they too are carried down to the river and dumped into its murky flow. Despite the evident filth of this river, people who live by it use it to wash themselves and their clothes, use it to cook and drink and believe it has healing properties. There is much evident poverty the minute you step outside the front gate, and this isn't anywhere near as bad as it gets. So our first afternoon has thrown us into India in all its reality. It seems amazing that mum and dad are just living here everyday and getting on with it all, but it is vibrant and colourful and exciting to be here. Great to be eased in with people who know their way around and can speak enough Bengali to get by. I'm loving it already.