The Hhi Kolkata Kolkata (Calcutta)

... or if they were hallucinating. It felt like a horror movie as i took a couple of reverse steps back away from them and then turned and went straight back to the platform and waited. Four hours later a passenger train came through and i was squashed into the claustrophobic, general seating as the train crawled along for 3 hours back to Varanasi, distance unsure. Finally here was light at the end of the ...

... blessings. Your body and your mind will begin to fill with gratitude. "You have been dwelling long enough in your self condemnation. It is time to leave that behind and dwell in appreciation. The soul doesn't demand condemnation. The soul demands appreciation. When you begin dwelling in the awareness of all that you have already been given, there is no room for all of the old, negative habits of your mind. You will not fall into self criticism as often or as deeply as ...

... who work for the benefit of the people, for a more enlightened and humane shared future, and who have the depth of character to act boldly, in the face of all obstacles, to making that future real. I wonder if all this suffering on the planet isn't Life's way of bringing us to our knees before God, en masse. It's the only sense I can make of it. Whenever in my life I have been really up against the wall and have sent out my soul call to God, help came and it came immediately ...

... br>different that it is impossible to consider what they are &#8211; good or<br>bad. The main reason of my trip to India was social work. I was working<br>in New Jersey, USA as counselor in a children camp (http://www.oakcrestdaycamp.com) and<br>last year I decided that I want to refresh my memories. And finally I<br>did it. I found the company which provides all ...

... tap or two. They rounded on the driver and abused him soundly, but he didn't care. Another day another ding, you know? All that I have said about India is true, but I haven't mentioned a lot about the dirt and the poverty. Kolkata is the first city I've been in that has so many paved streets - most streets seem to be just packed dirt (and rubbish). The cities are veritable tips. Kolkata is better - the streets are relatively free ...

... golden feeling of welcome from all. This was a unique experience. With the exception of one family that was kind, we had roughly 1500 people staring and glaring and hissing. It was stunning. There was such a sense of hatred...i have NEVER felt anything like that before. Like walking into a wall of REJECT!!! Melissa &amp; I broke off from our small group of 5 to essentially hide in a meditation temple. I have such a renewed appreciation ...

... by a 60 year old canadian ex-pat with worn-through sandals and a crazed gleam in his eye who got into a huge (one- ended) discussion on US politics as Emily kind of nodded along. Someone blew a whistle or rang a bell, and like good little sheep everyone shuffled to one side of the room and began chanting. An asian guy, noticing i looked rather lost, turned my shoulders toward the poster everyone was reading. Emily decided to pray silently, which ...

... with eateries and shows. Lighting was fantastic showing world events and floral designs. It was fairy land Calcutta. So were Astami and Navami and crowd swelled to millions jamming each and every road, all caught up in festivities. We, too, were caught up in it. Last day of puja was Dasami when idols were immersed in the river making Bengalis and city sad. They will wait for an year for Goddess Durga to return. Before the idols are taken out to immerse, married ...

A word of warning - inadvertently inspired by the literary heritage of Kolkata, we´ve accidentally written a bit of a novel... It was a day of firsts.. first on the plane, first through customs, greeted by our first authentic Indian head waggle...excellent! And for a budget airline, Air India Express is brilliant - heaps of food and very comfortable. We arrive at the airport with no rupees, thinking we will use the ATM when we land. Unfortunately there is no ATM ...

... and Oliver not at all so can't complain. Not sick of chicken and curry yet but we're sure that will come. Accommodation so far has been good. Nothing flash but our own room with ensuite... if you can call it that. Haven't had hot water since Sri Lanka, showers sometimes resemble that of trickle so end up kneeling under a tap to splash cold water onto yourself and toilets don't always work but hey for US$6 a night we ain't complaining ...