Hotel Lindsay Kolkata (Calcutta)

We reached Kolkota by 8 at night from where we hired a random guys car to the Sealdah railway station. Being a festive week there was heavy traffic and reached the station almost on time.<br><br>We find that our tickets were not confirmed and hence we were made to sit on the births! <br><br>I guess i had a good sleep. didnt know how the other two guys slept tho.

... down the road and stopping traffic (I even saw one waiting at some traffic lights!), smelling beautiful sandlewood incense and spices, hearing a cacophony of different languages, experiencing the mix of muslims, hindus, sikhs, christians etc......its an endless emotional rollercoster ride from the friendliest happiest smiles to the poverty which is in your face like no other country I have ever been too...India is the best of humanity and the worst....but ...

... say. Our trusty Lonely Planet, thicker than the unabridged original edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, our trusty companion, font of knowledge and above all, our guide book, was left either in the Hotel room or, we suspect, the back of the taxi. Well played taxi man, well played. Farewell India. We will be back, we promise. But not for a while, we just need some time apart you know? And you owe us a Lonely Planet.

... land, we are greeted by a small gathering of men led by Kripa Sindudas, a school headmaster and teacher who is revered throughout Gosaba. Kripa worked relentlessly for 2 years convincing the locals, who were extremely cynical and resistant to anything new at the time, to form the Mission's first Self Help Groups in the area. We are led along a typical, brick path on a elevated mud walkway for about 5 minutes before we arrive at a compound of pristine, very high ...

Sunday, January 4th. A long quiet morning. Journal writing about my intentions for the coming year and the next four months in India, I slipped naturally into prayer and meditation. Flowing in the stream of grace and light as I have yearned to for so long, with the possibilities of the life of my soul reawakening, all of the hard and frustrating, seeming endless tasks and expensive complications of remodeling one home, moving temporarily, then remodeling a second home before I ...

... is celebrated in Kolkata by each community putting together its own temporary, unique and artisitic puja. Everyone in the community - Hindu and non-Hindus - participates in this great celebration and competes for city wide trophies and cash prizes as the puja is a source of great community pride. This is another example of the Bengali mantra of acceptance and community over sad communalism. We saw pujas made from mesh wire, thatch, plaster of paris ...

... no pics allowed. It's an 1853 mansion made of, you guessed it, marble. It's completely overdone with marble statues everywhere (of Napoleon, George Washington, Queen Victoria to name a few), large Chinese vases, enormous mirrors from Belgium, original paintings on the walls, way too many glass chandeliers, inlay marble floors, and quite a bit of dust. Rabindranath Tagore is/was India's greatest modern ...

... in front of him. He asked me, "How you can do this thing." To which I replied "i sit here, on this seat, my friend sits there on the bed of the vhan, and I turn the peddles. When I get tired, i sit on the bed and rest, and my friend peddles." He said, "no you can not do this" "why not, you try it, sit there and peddle" " no no, not possilbe" Beginning to get frustrated I said "look, this is possible because I did it, my friend did it, so if we can ...

... of *ll the people we've t*lked to *nd eng*ged with, i c*n truly only think of *round five who h*ve h*d open he*rts *nd been ple*s*nt for the s*ke of it. m*ybe it's bec*use we're on the tourist tr*il. *s much *s i h*te tourists, i h*ve no option but to c*ll myself one here - seven d*ys in indi*, in four different cities, le*ves me no other choice. but is it re*lly in the best interest of the individu*ls involved, *nd the wider communities, to h*ssle *nd rip off everyone ...

... weight,<br>pointing out that it is a misconception that eating meats will make you<br>gain weight. She even tells us innovative methods of color therapy to<br>induce weight loss and gain, whichever suits your purpose.<br>Well there was a time I got so addicted to her advice: as they did<br>prove her intuitive contemplativeness and observation truth revealing,<br>that I could guess people&#8217;s zodiac by talking to them and sometimes ...