The Park Calcutta Kolkata (Calcutta)

... sunrays, boosted by diesel generator. Spacious dining hall had thatched roof with all four sides open. It was lunch time and we were served hot prawn curry, lentils, vegetables, salad and rice. There were really tempting menus daily, duck roast to chicken curry and fish of all types, plenty of fruits<br><br>We were traveling as a part of an eco-survey team. After lunch, we proceeded into the forest on our boat towards the Gangetic basin. The sun was strong for two hours and ...

... spray on a regular basis. I also have started reacting to mozi bites and therefore am continuously swollen on various parts of my body which is just great. Talking of swelling, today I discovered I am allergic to papaya - and therefore currently cannot consume anything if it makes contact with my lips as they are still swollen and painful after my experience earlier today! I also have been electrocuted out here - I was trying to work out if the kettle was on and so ...

... a restaurant, its staff and customers and a Sunday luncheon. So at home you ask to be shown to a table for two and then enjoy a meal with good service and other diners happily content around you...not so in this establishment. First you need to be sized up as to the appropriate place that you should be seated in the restaurant. Second no smiling at the customers (in an Indian restaurant this is pretty unheard of). Thirdly show other diners to the ...

... on your side of the road. It's like being forced into game after game of chicken, but the smaller vehicle inevitably just gets hell out of the way. You are definitely left believing in God, when you see so much traffic barreling so recklessly at each other , or trying to get around the myriad goats, cows, stray dogs, ducks, children, the old men who amble and linger in the road, or vehicles that are just parked in the road for no good reason. (We passed a large SUV ...

... to Krishna. She is the veil covering the face of Krishna. No one knows Krishna without pleasing Radha. Only If she sees that your heart is pure, that you are sincere, will you experience Krishna." KrishnapriyaMa beamed like a 5 year old child, almost jumping up and down with excitement, as she sat crosslegged on her bed talking about the prospect of traveling to Brindaban. As the conversation meandered comfortably from topic to topic, from Bengali to English, at some point ...

... Durga but she only has 4 arms, a necklace of men heads, she sticks her tongue out and she has a spear pointing into a man at her feet! Kali helps destroy all the demons and personal problems in each of us. Go Kali! Everybody goes Kali / Durga crazy during this festival. There are temporary Durga shrines (called pandles) every 2-3 blocks. Community groups run them and they get businesses to fund the building of the shrines. There are thousands and thousands of them just ...

I had the great privilege of attending mass and taking communion at the Mother Teresa Hospice in Calcutta. It was very poignant to be in the same room with probably 120 men, all dressed in comfortable and matching bed cloths, lying in various stages of dying as the mass and communion went on. After the service I had a brief tour and saw the ...

Many days would be spent wandering through the parks of Kolkatta. We took lots of pictures. The Indian Museum was a joke - it looked like it haden't received any funding ...

... splashed the driver, me, and sprinkled some on herself for good measure. We were all very blessed. "I'm writing a book about Ganga and her healing properties. "Really?" "Throughout history there were references to Ganga from many different foreigners who'd come to India. Long before there was mass communication." "So several different groups of explorers had similar experiences without knowing about the others?" "Yeah, exactly. They had no way of hearing about Ganga from ...

... entire Universe, if you have surrendered to him, everything about your life is in his hands." The man led Baba to his office to show Baba his altar, with its image of Siva. The man, it turns out, was the Director of Security for the entire airport. Then he kept his promise. He took Baba back into the main terminal area. He called several guards, who rushed over to carry Baba's bags. So here is our sweet, white robed monk ...