Sharani Lodge Kolkata (Calcutta)

... behind with the folks at the dump.

It turns out Christopher ended up staying with them a few more hours after we left. He told us later about the many times he was harrassed personally for his work with the families, even threatened by a group of guys one time wanting to beat him up, but each time the families came to his rescue specifically protecting and defending him. He said workers at the Shree-Durga hotel across the street are the worst offenders.

This one is a little bit disturbing. This entry tells of doing the ridiculous journey from South to North India that i did whilst ill, i wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy and would lash out on flights for this leg unless you are a hardcore trainspotter in which case you will be in orgasm heaven. This is really just a map pin marker entry because the last five days have gone by in a blurry feverish haze of ...

... to chat with the owners and exchange contact information. We even got to listen to the owner practice his flute as we browsed for books - it was enchanting. Kolkata was a bit of a pleasant surprise. We expected it to be similar to the other big cities in India, like Delhi and Mumbai, which we didn't really enjoy too much. But despite having all the ingredients and characteristic of big cities, i.e. the traffic, noise, construction and chaos, it felt friendlier and it was one of ...

... and nights. On another night, looking up at the stars, I kept noticing streaks of light from shooting stars crossing the sky, until 3 coming from different directions met together in a single, central point overhead and sent a dramatic shaft of light to earth. In between wretching and dreaming, the trips to bathroom, calls to the doctor to ask questions or get new meds, all of which seemed to make me feel worse rather than better, I was praying ...

... that is the dream of all wildlife lovers. A tiger was crossing the river. It was swift, it was beautiful. It vanished into the forest of the Dakshinrai River in flash. But we were so over excited that only Dipak's camera clicked and rest of us just forgot to catch the moment. We disembarked at Netadhopani and went to the watchtower through a passage protected by steel netting from tiger attack. We spent an hour on watchtower with forest guards. Some deer and a couple of wild bore ...

Today we have a day off from Puja. It is a quiet day between Ashtami (the big 7th day) and Dashami (the end or 9th day). We'll be back at it tomorrow. Tomorrow the fasting/vegetarian food will turn into fish which we can use. All this carbos and sugar without protein is making us weak and weird! Both tired and probably from the unremitting heat/humidity too. So, today we take a taxi to the big, modern shopping mall. Forum Shopping Center on Elgin ...

... stomach....although the greasy spoon food nearly did it for me. The last part of our daily routine has to do with the lock up procedure for our apartment.  We have to leave the house early to accomplish it.  We have several doors to the outside which have bolt locks at the ceiling and other bolt type units at the center of the doors.  They do not have actual key locks on them.  The front door, however has a keyed lock on it.  Once opened there is an accordian type ...

... a lot of what Indians call temple beggars; severely disabled people sitting or lying outside of the temple who could only stay alive out of the help for others. It was very hard to watch and be around. I am so grateful for the people and family I have in my life. On our way out some of the children and old lady beggars started following us. We thought that once we got to the our taxi it would be alright. We could barely get in! They ...

... I am sure. He fires up the truck, and after four or five efforts to go forward result in going in reverse, he finally gets it and moves the truck forward. There are Indians to direct him in turning left, right, forward, as well as stop nearby cars lest they interfere with the reshuffling. Cheap entertainment. Kolkata on foot: I tried two times, two separate days to go exploring and sightseeing on foot, neither of which was very successful; random at ...

... person in charge, face to face and on the spot. I decided it would be best to wait fort the boat, board the boat and speak with the captain if necessary to sus out the real situation. After a long discussion and several rounds of negotiations, the first engineer and captain agreed to give up their cabins for a healthy fee. Dhaka, here we come. I was in fact looking forward to getting away from Rayenda for a couple of days. I still have not yet ...