Calcutta

By the time we reach Calcutta, we are all tired.  Traveling takes a toll on you!  This was the last stop for Anne, Andrew, and Annie before they flew back to Pune and then home!  We had a couple more stops before the farm.  Calcutta is a complicated city, you can’t go anywhere without people asking for money or help.  The sheer numbers of people wanting your attention and money is overwhelming.  Often they were young or old, had babies, were missing an arm or leg, or could not see.  It was a constant moral debate in your head how to help and what to do.  Sometimes it was so intense, it was hard to think about anything else, especially after going to Mother Teresa’s home and being aware of such a caretaker of the city.  With that said, there was more to Calcutta.  There were cool buildings, lots of taxis, and the best flower market in the world (in my humble opinion). 

 

Mother Teresa’s Home

This is wear Mother Teresa lived and died, where there are great articles and educational posters about her life.  There is a lot to take in as you read about her incredible life serving the poorest of the poor.  As soon as you walked out of the home, there were beggars asking for money.  You felt convicted immediately, and they knew that.  We don’t feel good about giving money away, not knowing what we support but we can’t always have food on us to give away.  We consistently feel stuck and/or helpless.  How the heck did Mother Teresa do it? 

 

Walking Tour

We took a walking tour of the old city of Calcutta.  It matters little probably the actual title of these places, but here’s a slew of them.

Flowers in front of St. John’s church and St. John itself.  We met a very friendly, talkative man there who wanted us to sing for him…we resisted. 

 

The pond that is surrounded by old government buildings and then the post office.  I just love post offices. 

High Court.  There were a row of typewriters out in front that I think were documenting cases or doing something important.  I’m also pretty sure I wasn’t supposed to take their picture.  The arches are in high court itself and then the room with stacks and stacks of documents.  I wouldn’t want to try to find anything there!  It seems dang near impossible. 

One of the most magnificent buildings we saw in Calcutta (Kolkata) was the Victoria Memorial, a building made for the queen.  It had fantastic grounds, with ponds and trees all around.  There was also a light show we went to, and due to time constraints we went to the Bengali one.  Little did we know it was more of a history lesson and we failed to follow it. 

St. Paul’s Cathedral, incredibly beautiful

A bit more gruesome: a meat market and a bathroom with no hole.

Joanna, I took this one for you…look at all the pineapples!

There were tons of people carrying loads on their heads.  Anything from sticks to food to boxes.

Flower Market

Now for the best part, the best part of Calcutta: the flower market!  I absolutely loved it.  It was packed crowds all around flowers, selling/buying beautiful flowers.  People wearing, carrying, sharing flowers!  How could you not be joyful with so many flowers around?  Pictures tell the story:

 

This man tried to sell us daises and I couldn’t help but smile as his disposition.  He asked where we were from and when he heard America he said, “OBAMA!” in a rather joyful manner.  The interesting part was he was by himself with only one bouquet of flowers when the rest of the crowd had heaps for sale.  He stood out in more than one way.  Calcutta at it’s finest: flowers in all forms.  I was just a little ball of sunshine by the end (just ask Mike).