On the Street

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Ever spent the night on the street? There much more than that on the streets in Kolkata.

What was dramatically diferent in Kolkata than in the other parts of India we visited was street living. Getting up to go and volunteer at 5 or 6 am led us down roads or maybe better--through people's houses. People were living on the street. People would be asleep--some on the ground, some on their day-time merchant stand, some alone, some in groups. Mostly were men, but there were a lot of young boys 10 years, 14 years, sometimes less.

We've all heard of people living on the street, but have you really ever seen it? In Kolkata, the men would do everything on the streets. A daily image we saw was the bathing ritual. From 5am to 7 or even 8am, men would go to the streets in their simple traditional sleeping dress, a sarong (long or short). There were all of these pumps in the street--Christine mentioned that water was a public right here. Well, on these crowded streets, the men would lather up, pump the water, and have a full bath in their sarong. There were often many people at once doing these baths and was just a part of the morning street ritual.

In addition to the baths, we also saw lots of men shaving and urinating. A little girl defecated on a piece of plastic--I guess to be thrown away.

The situation for families was a bit different. A few blocks away, a family would build their make-shift house. They would use a brick or cement wall from a business and tarp off the sidewalk. This would give them around 10 feet by 5 feet to create their "house." When sleeping, you could tell that every bit of space was taken between the 4 or more who livied there. At other times, you could peek in and see there were many items for everyday living--except some of the things we need the most, like water, a bathroom, and other necessities.

One person living in "luxury" had a two story "condo." It was attached to other buildings and was a solid construction. It was basically like a storage bin, about 8 feet square. Upstairs was the sleeping and living quarters. 3 guys shared these accommodations, taking up all that space. Downstairs was their work room. They did some of the local ironing with the tradtional coal and iron method--the only way to get clothes dry in this season.

And most lucky of all were people like the men who ran our hotel. They didn't have a home. All four of them slept in the lobby of the hotel. Two on couches; two on the floor.

Oh, and did I mention this was the rainy season? Often the streets will flood up to several feet. I just can't imagine life in these conditions and I see how lucky I am.

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Photos

On the streets
Christine with local kids

On the streets
Other kids in the neighborhood

On the streets
Youth likes to get his picture taken!