Where I last left off...

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I am finally enjoying some high speed internet, but unfortunately I can't upload photos right now. I know, I know, its all about the photos, but I promise once I get to a place that has an internet cafe NOT in a cocohut, I will get some pics up.

I last left you on a train to Kolkata, fairly sick. I got a posh hotel room, asked them to get me some fluids and corn flakes, and passed out for the rest of the day. After two days of sleeping and watching TV (lots of Anthony Bourdain, ironic), I left my cozy hotel room for the prison cell of Hotel Paragon. What the hotel lacked in ambience, it made up for in community. Everyday, between 4 and 8 travelers would congregate and amble around Kolkata. We saw lots of markets, lots of side streets, and lots of Kolkata life. I got addicted to this things called kati rolls. It is a chapati, a round piece of bread, with an egg friend on top. You could get it stuffed with veg, chicken, mutton, chillies... all that good stuff. I mainly subsisted on these and sandwiches till my stomach fully recovered.

The main highlights of my stay in Kolkata was Kali Puga and the strike. Kolkata is the city of Kali, so when there is a holiday devoted to her, Kolkata is the place to be. For two weeks leading up to the holiday, communities, families, clubs start making their own statue of Kali. Pictures will come, but a brief description: She is the goddess of destruction, she wears a necklace of skulls, stands on the dead body of Shiva, and has blood dripping out of her mouth. Yes, she is awesome. People eat, make puja in front of her (pictures will come) and generally be merry. On the main day of Kali Puja, myself and a friend ended up in the suburbs of Kolkata. One men's club was particularly happy to have us present at their worship of Kali and gave us tea while we watched. I got to wave around burning coconut shells.

The following day was the end of Kali Puja, when the men take their Kali statues and put them in the Hoogly River. It was quite a celebration, full of manhood and bravado. I left before it got dark.

After Kali Puja, the people of Kolkata declared a 48 hour strike in the city. The government of West Bengal wanted to take some land from tribal people, the army was sent in, and it got pretty violent. There was a stand off between the tribal people and the army, so Kolkatans showed their support by calling an all out strike. No trains, no buses, no taxis, no ricksaws. No open stores, restaurants, markets, cinemas. If the police saw something open, they would close it immediately, not because they were enforcing the strike, but because they didn't want to deal with the response the strikers would have if they saw the store open. It wasn't violent at all, really it was a day off for cricket and quiet. In the touristy area, some shops and restaurants were discreetly selling food and drinks; but the majority of them abided by the strike. The second day was not as thorough of a strike, so I managed to book a plane ticket out of Kolkata. I can't get much information now about Nandigram that I am out of Bengal, so I am not sure how it all resolved.

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