Duhita Guest House Kolkata (Calcutta)

... thank God we survived it, lol!

We finally arrived and saw for ourselves that it is really true - these beautiful, incredibly sweet families truly live in that dump. They were so happy to see us - but nervous too we could tell. They wanted so much to make a good impression - the little kids behaved perfectly, everyone greeted us with little roses - even in the midst of their situation they had so much love and so many smiles for us! The little kids were ...

... celebration and we can't wait to play some of our new music for his family. We have many exciting adventures ahead and we'll try our best to keep you updated on all of them. We will be sightseeing for the next week or so and hopefully have a chance to post some pictures and videos when we reach New Delhi. We wish you all the best of luck as 2009's March comes around and hope everyone is healthy and happy. Take care. Namaste, Andrew, Jonathan, Justin and Shayna

I was 62 on the 15th. A birthday like no other I have ever had, I am here to tell you. Too graphic to go into for decency's sake. Suffice it to say an intense purification process began explosively and I was down for the count. Wretching in bed, taking pill after useless pill with endlessly roiling thunder crashing around painfully in my abdomen, I was also having vivid, technicolor dreams. Of climbing a narrowing circular staircase and stopping at all ...

... She told that the tiger was sitting in one corner of the room. Some one bolted the door and informed the forest department officials who came with guns with tranquilizer bullets. We left after the adventure for Sudhanyakhali. As we sailed along deep mangrove forests, we realized that civilization as we know it comes to end in this forbidden terrain and we enter the tigerland. We saw a large family of stork, possibly Lesser Adjutant Storks on a tree. But when shouts of Muktar ...

... here in Kolkata he and his family are Hindu and it is their year (once every 18 years) to host the Puja. His wife, Tashi, is Buddhist and from Sikkim. They live in a newer, large building that the family owns. The lower floors are open areas for parties and gatherings. They live on the 5th floor. Neil and Tashi with their two daughters live in one side of the flat and his mother and father live on the other. Families here ...

... Sweet Shop - what we would mostly call a bakery.  It is a very popular place and is swamped by the time the trays of things come out in the morning.  The yogurt comes in small or medium sized thin terra cotta bowls, covered with paper fixed with a rubber band.  We buy two of them at once for 40RS each....about 45 cents.  These we carry in a plastic bag along with the eggs which are in a folded newspaper.  I carry them about chest high to avoid being crushed on the way ...

... vision by only visiting the government ran, military like schools for India's elite. When you hear about the success of India's education system they forget to also mention that 90% of their population doesn't graduate from high school. This grassroots organization was passionate about tackling this problem, even without the support of the government. I had a great conversation with the leader about achievement gaps. Today we had the day off ...

... in Kolkata is... crossing the street. Man, they weren't kidding either. Traffic here is nuts on the main streets, with 3/4 of the population of vehicles being yellow Ambassador taxis. All honking incessantly. Now, people may hear me always mention the honking and think me a whiner. One thing that I have come to realize, and this goes for pollution as well, is that even though there may be honking back home, and a little pollution, you rarely get to ...

... it and I am going to Varanassi tomorrow on the sleeper train. Sleeper train is a bit of a misnomer cos you dont sleep much. Too many people selling stuff and the train is noisey etc. One interesting thing , the train toilet just drops straight down onto the track, so if you do a dump in the station when the train moves away everyone see's it. Nice. Varanassi tomorrow night and should be there for a few days. Gotta find a dobhi walla cos getting a bit stinky.

... and looked like an Hindu temple, others are inspired by the Pyramids and the Sphinx, the Bayon in Cambodia, castles, caves, etc..... Statues are made of clay and decorated with all kinds of materials, shells, paper, etc.... Every night, people walk around going from one Pandal to another. They worship the statues, but make no offrands. On the last day it gets a bit crazy. There are trucks carriyng statues everywhere! Durga has 10 arms, so it's quite ...