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Published: January 15th 2011
4pm at Baboo Ghat
Pollution anyone? Ive been told that the Hooghly River, a smaller branch off of the Ganges River, is considered holy to the Hindu people of Calcutta. Apparently that’s why people come in droves, seeming ignoring the obvious state of the river, to take a quick dip in the putrid, frothy, chocolate milk colored waters. It must hold some significance that someone like me, holding nothing resembling blind faith, just can not quite grasp.
I normally don’t like to sit down and scribble out my observations of a place in which I’ve just arrived. Im in a brand new country, experiencing everything that comes along with landing in a completely foreign land but, this place is different. Id like to be able to soak up my surrounding for a couple of weeks, letting my thoughts marinate in my psyche like a chicken breast before for dinner, while I come to a point where I feel like I can write with some sort of certainty. This time is different. I shouldn’t even be babbling on like this yet, but life in the capital of west Bengal is like no other I’ve experienced. I just want to jot down a few quick thoughts about
a city that I couldn’t hope to understand if I spent ten years here.
Calcutta is a complete assault on the senses. In every imaginable way, the daily goings on in this city of over 14 million inhabitants will change every preconceived notion you ever had about how life is capable of being lived. This is a city whose outdoor meat markets hold the ability to convert even the most serious meat-atarian into strict vegan. Every one of your senses will feel like they are under siege in this city if you could just put down the mud cup of chi and convince your legs to carry you another hundred yards down the severely deteriorating sidewalk. Here in the ever confusing maze of streets, smells, both good and foul, have a habit of changing every ten feet or so. Colors, the most vivid Ive ever experienced in a city, blanket nearly every person and object in sight. Unfortunately, so does the filth and garbage generated by such a large concentration of human existence. One must almost wade through the objects we can find no more use for, along with the byproducts of the food we eat. It is absolutely
everywhere. It’s on the streets, the sidewalks, the rivers, and streams. It is a constant reminder that you are in a city of almost 15 million people and no way of collecting or disposing of the waste. Calcutta is raw. It is raw life unapologetically in your face, like nowhere else Ive seen. Here, life trudges on for millions of homeless and destitute people in a way those of us in the cozy western world can not even fathom. Life can be a moment to moment struggle for those families, orphans, sick and starving who make an existence by scavenging from the things others find useless, begging, and by doing anything necessary to get by. Through the suffering, Ive had a quick glimpse of people who are friendly, helpful, and just curious about my world. And yes, my height is still never not funny. But, after three days, I shouldn’t even be writing this. I have no idea how life revolves here, but I am eager to learn more. With out more time though, Ill never have an accurate idea. These are just some initial ramblings on a very complex city. If the next two-and-a-half months of my life are
Rickshaw
Kolkata. The last city where you can see these. like my experiences in Kolkata, Im in for an amazing ride my friends.
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scottandanny
Scott Tyrrell
I love India, and I love reading other peoples first impressions of what is, as you've already grasped, a incredibly complex country. With time, the complexities will multiply, and the clarity that time in a country normally engenders will, beautifully, only lead to more confusion! With India, the more you learn the less you know. That is its inherent charm. Really great pics by the way, especially that one of the market. Enjoy.