Why I Love India #7 : the totally random meetings (or: how I spent 6 hours while waiting for my train out of Kolkata)

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In India as in life, its important to have a plan but not too much of a plan; to know where you are intending to go, but not with too much certitude; to set out on your own with confidence, but to be very open to company along the way; and to rely on yourself, but be open to trusting others.

And so, one often finds oneself thrust into the path of a new friendship that is totally random and unexpected. And so often the unexpected includes meeting someone who totally surprises you in terms of the extent they will go to make you welcome and comfortable.

I was in Kolkata for 4 days of leisure. I had not been to this amazing city for 30 years. But my memory of the first time I came to the place is a fond one as it was my very first experience of India. I was young and green behind the ears - I had just spent 2 amazing weeks on what was then a very beautiful and unspoilt Koh Samui (Samui Island) in Thailand. I had met a woman named Kate there (also Australian) who had just come from spending months in India. She had delighted (as I now delight) in telling me of some of the wondrous experiences I was about to have in India. So I was primed.

I flew from Bangkok to the then Calcutta (India has since returned to original traditional names of its places) into the Asian sunset on a clear night. I took myself into the night at the airport to catch a local bus into the city. I did - a rickety old thing with perhaps three other passengers on board. What I did not know was that it was the Kali Festival - an annual festival celebrating the goddess Kali held on the October full moon. Kali is the goddess of destruction - however she is also a beautiful and sensual and powerful and a benevolent goddess as well. She is associated with eternal energy. The name Kali comes from Kāla which means black, time, death, and lord of death (don’t ask how a goddess is also a lord - but she is also a consort of Lord Shiva, known also as Kala, but that’s another story). She gets a bad rap because of her power to get due justice through rather violent means, and probably also due to a popular depiction of her with her tongue poked out threateningly and the fact that she is wearing a necklace of severed heads (of men!). Don’t mess with Kali!

It was wild that bus trip! Colour at every street corner and at the numerous temples along the way - loud music and people carrying on. You have to remember that I had had only the vaguest contact with Hindu religion in Bali (2 days) and Malaysia (some temples from the Indian population there). I took it all in - the smells amidst the visual experience of the festival in action - and thought to myself regarding my time in India (very strongly) “I am gonna like this place!”. They say travelers to India either love or hate the place - well my die was caste right then.

But I do digress. On my last afternoon in Kolkata this time (having thoroughly reconnected with the place and keen to return again), my train back to Bhubaneswar, Odisha, was not due to leave until 11.45 pm. So I made a plan. I had to ‘check out’ by 12 noon from my hotel. I decided to leave my bags at the hotel - and take a little adventure. The Kali temple in Kolkata is in Dakshineswar - a northern suburb of Kalkata right on the banks of the Hugli River. I could take the Metro to it’s last current stop to Dum Dum (interesting name!), change to the suburban railway for Dakshineswar, check out the temple, take the ferry to Belur Math; and make my way from there by train back to Howrah Junction and then back to the city where my bags were (Chowringhee).

The Kali Temple was built in 1847. The 12- spired temple with its enormous courtyard is surrounded by 12 other temples dedicated to Lord Shiva. It is a world famous place of pilgrimage.

Besides being the site of the Kali Temple - Dakshineswar is also where Rama Krishna (1836-1886), an amazing saint of India, lived a lot of his life. He proved that the revelation of God takes place at all times and that God-realization is not the monopoly of any particular age, country, or people. His small room in the right next to the Kali Temple within the gardens became a veritable parliament of religions.

He was the guru of an equally famous Indian saint named Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902). And his shrine and the Rama Krishna Mission which he founded is at Belur Math down river from the Kali Temple on the opposite shore of the Hugli River. Vivekananda is considered to be a major force in the revival of Hinduism in modern India. He is best known for his inspiring speech beginning with "Sisters and Brothers of America", through which he introduced Hinduism at the Parliament of the World’s Religions at Chicago in 1893.

So I got to Dum Dum and being either “dumb dumb” or the system not being as helpful as it could (!), I could not work out which platform to go to for the train to Dakshineswar. What to do? I asked a guy for help and as often happens he got me to follow him way out of his way to the Ticket Inspectors’ office tucked away in the bowels of the station building.

The Ticket Inspectors were very helpful but…. the next train, to my total disbelief (one has lots of moments of total disbelief in India) was not for another 75 minutes! But they said, the young Inspector sitting across the table with a huge smile was going that way and would direct me to the platform (well, that was my interpretation of the broken English) if I came back to the office 5 minutes before that time. Fair enough - so off I went for a little discovery tour of the streets of Dum Dum (as you do).

I got back - and true to his word, 23 year old Ravindra (from Haryana state), was knocking off from his 8 hour shift and would accompany me to the relevant platform. We got the train and emerged and started walking towards the Hugli and the temple. Great. I was waiting for Ravindra to say ‘bye’ in his broken English to head off to his home.

However - it quickly became apparent that Ravindra did not live anywhere near Dakshineswar at all. He lived at Sealdah - halfway back into the city in the direction I had come from to get to Dum Dum! This was his first visit to the Kali Temple - and he simply was availing himself of his own little adventure whilst taking care of his “first foreigner friend”.

Then, with no communication about what was happening - we were lined up in a huge queue waiting to enter the temple itself to see Kali. I would not have chosen this course myself - but Ravindra just assumed that this is what you do if visiting Dakshineswar. And besides - my train was not until 11.45pm so what the heck? Spending probably the better part of an hour in a queue talking to people and getting to know a little more about Ravindra was cool. Turned out he had been married for 6 months - but his wife was still back in the village in Haryana (which is a state over the over side of the country north of Delhi). This set up is often the case where money does not afford the new wife to follow the husband to where he has employment. I guessed that in time she would come to Kolkata - meanwhile Ravindra shared a flat with another guy from Haryana. He had worked for the Eastern Indian Railways for 3 years, quite liked his job, and the prestige of the Inspector status. As do most Indian men - he believed in the traditional position of women but gave off airs of being a ‘bachelor’ while alone in Kolkata. What that actually meant for his social life I am unsure - but I suspect there was more bravado going on here than anything else. In our conversations, Ravindra came across as a fairly traditional and simple guy committed to the family back in Haryana. He was about to take 2 weeks leave to visit his village.

We finally got to see Kali - no wait, I got to see Kali - for at the end of the queue, for reasons unknown to me, Ravindra stepped away to allow me to go in and give my respects - and waited outside for me.

Then we headed down to the Hugli - which of course is part of the lower Ganges River - so is sacred. The ghats at Dakshineswar are quite beautiful as is the whole Kali Temple complex. We boarded a ferry - me being the only foreigner amongst what seemed mostly to be other Indian tourists in Kolkata. Ravindra insisted on paying for my ticket (as he did for other tickets and drinks along the way: “Not possible” said he to my offers to pay. “You are my guest in Kolkata”).

The ferry was delightful - we went under the Grand Trunk Road as it started out across the river on its way to Delhi. The bridge is called Vivekananda Bridge. The view back to the Kali Temple complex was lovely as was the view coming to the Rama Krishna Mission (Vivekananda’s shrine and temple and ashrama complex).

After looking around at Belur Math - we took a cycle rickshaw through the relatively clean streets of that place to the railway station and waiting another 40 minutes or so for the train to Howrah Junction. We tried for a pre-paid taxi back to the city but the booths were shut and I was not inclined to be fleeced by the open market taxi negotiation! So we boarded a bus. It being the peak hour - we then joined a parking lot on the Howrah Bridge! So I suggested we hop off the bus and walk - which was a great idea as we outpaced the vehicular traffic easily across the bridge. We then were in new territory for Ravindra again (and for me) - but I knew if we headed east we would hit the Metro again. This was a great older part of town - narrow market streets - by now it was dark so lots of activity and light and colour along those streets as Kolkata came to its night life where people are out and about eating and shopping.

Finally we got to Mahatma Ghandi Road Metro Station. Ravindra was at this point indicating that he would get me back to my hotel safely. “No way” as I assured him I was an experienced India traveler and could find my own way. It had been a delightful time spent with him but ‘comes a time’. We both lined up in different queues for tickets (playing a game to see who would get to the window fastest as I was saying “no, I’ll pay” and he “not possible”!. I won - and so I bought him a ticket back to Dum Dum (which was his option for then getting a train back to Sealdah).

So that was decided! We parted ways - I had given him my card. This guy had just spent 4 or 5 hours with his “first foreigner friend” just for the heck of it ‘on his way home!’. He would have done a huge loop of Kolkata by the time he got back to Dum Dum! Of course by now he had also invited me to visit his village in Haryana one day - who knows?

A good afternoon spent! Got back to the hotel - retrieved my bags - occupied the common lounge and availed myself of the bathroom there for a shower and rested a bit before taking a taxi back to Howrah for my trip back to Bhubaneswar.

I do love the random meetings in India - unplanned and for some, to be avoided. But inevitably if you go with the flow they are nice experiences.


http://www.ramakrishna.org/rmk.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swami_Vivekananda

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kali

http://www.durga-puja.org/dakshineswar-kali-temple.html

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Photos

Kali Temple Dakshineswar
Looking across after boarding the Ferry from the Kali Temple ghat

Ravindra
23 year old Ticket Inspector from Haryana

Rama Krishna Mission
Approaching the mission from the Hugli coming downstream from Dakshineswar

Vivekananda's Temple
This temple was designed to incorporate architecture and features from all religions.

Ghat at Rama Krishna Mission
On the Hugli

Howrah Bridge on a good day
Parking only! If you have a couple of spare hours to get back to the city - otherwise try walking.

Comments

[Leema]

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