How is life in Kolkata? As the caption of this blog says, it is ‘simply beyond words’. Several images crisscross the kaleidoscope of one’s mind while moving about in this great city, often hailed as the culture capital of India. Here is a vivid account of Katie Block and her friend Annie, currently in Kolkata on a volunteer mission (collected from Katie’s blog). Excerpts:
We arrived in Calcutta a few days ago and were immediately immersed in Indian life. We are truly living like locals in a slum near Calcutta called Khardah…
The most interesting part of life so far is riding the train. Imagine hundreds of people lining the platform, pushing and shoving to squeeze into an already overfilled space. Any sense of ‘personal space’ immediately goes out the window with the smoke of the men’s cigars…
As a white woman on the train it is a whole different picture. Even though there are hundreds of people around, every eye is focused on you. They stare blatantly and intently, I wonder what they are thinking…are these girls lost? Did they get off the wrong plane on the way to Australia? Some touch you, poke you or just whisper to their neighbor about you…
Annie and I saw our first ‘Bollywood’ movie, the Indian version of the big screen. Instead of a plot, this movie seemed to be all about…SONG AND DANCE!…
After the movie we returned home on the infamous train. We opted for the women’s car hoping to escape the groping and torture of the men’s compartment… Once inside, women yelled, screamed and pushed almost to the point of being dangerous. I flattened out as much as possible against the wall, closed my eyes and prayed I would make it unscathed…
Yet for all their inconvenience, Katie and Annie love what they’re doing. It surprises me what inspires them doing these service..! Any take..?
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