Victoria, St. Paul, and Fly Nets

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Diane .... the name of the hotel is the PemaThang Guesthouse in McCleoGanj and costs Rs.900 ... sorry no email.

Today began slowly at around 08:30 with a knock on the door wanting to know did we want the room cleaned....after breakfast please..... breakfast was slow in coming....no one else had come down so no one in the kitchen...it can be delivered to the room....wendy asked that it be delivered to the dinng room.....I cannot eat in a bedroom ... she can but but me ... so we read the paper and ate out omelettes in the 'bar'. The tea is so strong the spoon does stand up in it. At that point I promised myself a capuccino at the same Peerless Hotel from a few days back.

The manswept the floor with a large cloth on a meter long stick and then came with a wet rag to wipe the floor. Wendy tipped him!

And it was off to the GPO...General Post Office.... a building not on the metro line but within walking distance... three Kolkata blocks.... which means passing sleeping families, sleeping food vendors, boys and men washing themselves and their clothes and the food containers at running water spouts (in that order), shoeshine boxes ready for business, frying eggs, bread toasting over charcoal fires (not cow dung here). cooked potatoes being cubed between crossed feet, red onion being sliced on gullied two by four wood, chapatis heating on small hot metaldisks, hungry office workers eating their breakfast of pan and some curry creation and the invariable chai (Indian tea which consists of more milk than water with a dash of cardamonand ginger and cinnamon) seller.

The GPO was built in 187? and still stand today as it was depicted in pictures at the Victoria Memorial Exhibit. Outside on the sidewalk sit men selling, glue sticks paper, tape...all the needs for sending mail....and among them sit the parcel sewers... who wrap your parcel in muslkin and sew it by hand seal it with wax and provide a magic marker for addressing the package. The first one lost me when he followed me and grabbed my sleeve....you touch me and that's curtains for you....don't touch me...I must wear a sign!!....

The man i chose cave me a small stool to sit on and he proceeded to sew together my two little packages....this is the first man I saw waste cloth in the sewing... Rs.50 later with an attempt to get more for the wax sealing I was on my way into the Post Office.... now this is one huge place!...

It has a dome that can be seen from far far away... It has columns ...it is a magnificant example of english excess .... it has a fence all around it....it occupies a half block...it serves as the main post office for a city of 15million... AND ..... two wickets were open.

I waited almost 40 minutes to get to the cashier. There were two lineups and they were always long the whole time I was in the vast room.... OK so it was a small holiday... but two casiers? The man behing me spoke enough english for us to have a pleasant conversation.

He told me all about the holiday happening tomorrow...a bigger holiday....so big that all the markets are selling statues of The goddess of education? . Each household will buy one and create a small temple so that students can lay their school tools before her. This especially important for those students preparing for their very important school leaving or school continuing exams. The goddess who is elaborately decorated with paint, coloured ribbons and fancy threads comes in all sizes and is available at all the markets.

After Rs.1560 for two packages it was off in search of a bank....

Found a coconut stand on the way and because of almost violent thirst had some coconut water. The man has a big sharp curved knife with which he lops off the top of the coconut in three to four swipes and then hands me the green sphere with a yellow straw... so he touched the straw ...what to do had to drink....Wendy did not want one...tasted mine with a second straw and found it not too sweet. It was cooling and after drinking it empty the man split the sphere in half and with a slice of the green skin scooped out the white spongy/semi-firm coconut meat which I ate. It tasted bland and good. Wendy tasted it too but did not eat it all. The husks were then thrwon into the pile of other husks on the street behind the coconut vendor.

After a bit of a walk and back on a street I recognized, the HSBC was found. It had Plus access at the ATM machine.


The bank is housed in an old building. When entering the lavishly stained wood doors you enter a worls of plush red carpets, freshly painted walls dorian columns, glass partitions and numerous security guards. The woman at the "May I Help You' desk was taking on the phone. She interrupted her conversation to answer my question of, "What was in this building before the bank?" with "I don't know. That was a 150 years ago."
I countered, "What was in this building before the Hong Kong Bank?"
"I don't know.' she quickly replied so she could get back to her smiles and gossip....which is what it was because she wasted not one glimmer of a smile on me...THE COW!

The an AC restaurant for toilet break, rice and lemon tea.

The treck to the subway was short and for Rs.4 the ride took only two stops to get to the Victoria Memorial... a highlight of any visit to Kolkata....I think.....

There was a long walk from the subway on a street congested with spewing busses...have I told you about the spewing busses....coal fired! I swear....

A lovely park where one had to pay admission was passed ...there was no exit from the park to the Memorial. The walk proceeded along another busy street. On one side was the Memorial and the surrounding garden and on the other side was a huge field covered in dry grass filled with herds of sheep and goats, some resting ponies, some children riding ponies and some couples and/or families relaxing by sitting on the field.

THere quite a number of people visiting the Memorial....it is massive, made out of marble, impressive, under repair, and a venue for the history of Kolkata and an exhibit of paintings about the ealy impression of India by european painters ( no names I recognized).
Some shots later and a repeat of the pollution filled walk brought us briefly to St.Paul's Cathedral. The original church is depicted in pictures as quite an elaborate edifice but it has been damaged in a number of earthquakes and has lost its spire. It now has a squared off tower erected in 1934.

It is a mission church. I spoke to a woman on the tour bus who has been working out of this church in the slums of Kolkata since the early 70's. I stayed behind with her when the bus was making tours of temples and listened to her story and philosophy.... she advises the slum dwellers to better themselves, raise their standard and then help other raise their.... sounds simple.....she said that once people took the courses her group offered be it sewing, crash math, or machine repair they became someone and were no lomnger a nobody.... sounds simple...but often simple wins much more than convoluted....she was very interesting!

Once St. Paul's had been visited ... walked right by the Planitarium...there was a lineup and it was beginning to get dark....I needed a bag for the week-end boat trip...do not want to take my whole huge pack ...am coming back to the same hotel Sunday night so it is easier to leave the monster here.

Before the shopping a promised stop for capuccino.... imagine my regret when told the machine was not working....so after a hand and face wash in a most excellent toilet, a pot of lemon tea and creme caramel I was ready to shop....

No bag was found....had to brave two VERY clogged street crossings and was not prepeared to back track for the subway so just kept walking till the internet place was reached.

Crossing the street is always a challenge. I attach myself to a group... ususlly men and when they move I move with them...alone I wouls never make it...they seem to know when it is safe and when the spewing bus will not sun us down...but then one has to watch out for honking taxis, tinkling bnicycles and honking autorickshaws...its not easy crossing the street ... even with the white? clad traffic cop it is confusing ...is he motioning to the car or to the pedestrians....

Have survived one more day .... the only worry I have is breathing visible air.....You can see the particles of pollution floating towards you... I do not exaggerate..... of to clean the breathing channels...to drink a beer and to eat some chick peas....

Did not tell you about the family I have seen living on the street at the corner where our hotel is nor about the baby sleeping under a fly net...you know the kind you put over your potato salad at a summer picnic... only this was big enough to cover a baby...a small aby with sores on its head ... sorry place is closing............continued next time......

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Comments

[Michelle and Nick]

Holy Shit
Hi Barbara, we were just reading your emails and cannot believe that you have survived all this time there! Are you ready to come home? Or is it still too exciting? Have you been accosted by eople begging or do they leave you alone? Take care of yourself! Lots of love, Miche...Nick wishes you lots of luck