The Kolkata Special: An entree of India, with a starter of Britain and globalization on the side

This is it: my last night in India (until I come back to catch my flight home from Delhi, that is). I was going to post last night, but it had been one of those days that India and I just weren't seeing eye-to-eye, and I was pretty worn out by the evening. Happens frequently enough; on this particular occasion, it was a combination of 1) my being antsy to get to Bangkok, 2) a crappy hotel room, and 3) me walking through a very Indian marketplace, crowded of course, being laughed at by everyone I ask "do you know where I can find a mosquito net."

"Where can I find a mosquito net?" Not exactly SNL material, but whatever tickles your funny bone I guess. Plus, this is India - 95% of what happens (and what is talked about) in the bazaar is totally beyond a Westerner's understanding.

All of that considered, I didn't really give Kolkata (Calcutta, for all of you politically-incorrect neo-colonial bigots) much of a chance on my first day. So, I woke up this morning determined to soak in whatever it had to offer. The day started off well: I took my first ever human-drawn rickshaw to Park Street (tourist / middle-class Indian hotspot) and had a half-decent filtered black coffee (always a nice touch!). I then proceeded to the local YWCA, and attended a church service that I'd been invited to by someone I met in the same coffee shop. Henry is a British guy doing some very interesting-sounding work with young adults and street kids in the city, and he played in the worship band of the small congregation that gets together in the good ol' Christian Association (imagine a church service happening in a YMCA / YWCA in Canada in this day and age!) After the service, we hit up a cute little all-day breakfast joint for bacon and eggs, and parted ways after visiting the Oxford bookstore, where I naturally gave into the temptation to buy yet another book that I probably won't read while I'm here.

I'm starting to identify this as a bit of a problem I have. No need for the room with the padded walls quite yet though, I don't think.

Anyways, it was almost 2:00 by this point, and there was quite a bit I still wanted to see. Now you all know how much I love recapping the things that I've done in the day, so you probably wont' be surprised that I'm going to cram it into the next 3 or so sentences. I took the Metro (French for subway) down to Kalighat, which is the site of Kolkata's holiest temple...

"Wait a minute, Tom: what the heck does Kolkata have to do with France? If the nearest French-influenced town is Pondicherry (see previous blog) 1500 kms down the coast, why is Kolkata's subway called a Metro?"

Good question: I think the answer is something along the lines of "shut up, stop asking me questions about things I don't understand, and don't interrupt!"

As I was saying, I went to Kalighat, Kolkata's holiest Hindu temple. Due to the fact that I've seen more temples than you can count on he goddess Devi's hands (see photo), I admittedly wasn't that driven to see the monument itself. Rather, I was on a mission to find Mother Teresa's hospital, which I'd heard was in the area. Sure enough, it was directly beside the temple - according to my trusty Rough Guide, the blessed Mother set it up here intentionally, so she could serve the sick and dying that came to the temple for their last rites. I could probably write a whole blog on the little that I've heard about Mother Teresa, so I won't elaborate any further. Basically, it was a really neat experience. After that , I backtracked on the Metro to the Maidan (really huge central park), and checked out the famous Victoria Memorial (rather impressive monument the Colonists built to remind themselves of their own greatness). I then went back to my slum-of-a-hostel, satisfied with what I perceived as a pretty productive day.

Now for what I'm sure is the much-anticipated analysis. From my very-limited point of view, Kolkata differs from Delhi in that instead of being a city that shows glimpses of it's past in the midst of globalization, it's a place where western culture still very much seems like a visitor in the Indian household. OK, so maybe globalization is a bit more firmly planted than that; there are just as many KFC's here than any other big Indian city. It's just that the billboards perching ominiously on the tops of 19th-century buildings still feel very out of place, and when one takes a stroll in one of the bazaars, it seems as if things must be the same as they were 40 years ago. Kind of hard to explain - I just got that vibe.

Ironically, despite it's Indian-ness, Kolkata has deeper roots in western influences than your average metropolis on the Subcontinent. The British started building it in the early 18th century, with the military enclave of Fort William central to the plans. In this sense, it's one of the newer major cities you'll find over herel although it feels like it could be hundreds of years older. The British feel coincides with the Indian culture in a strange way - everything that's old in the city feels colonial, giving it a kind of ghost-town feel in this sense. Don't get me wrong, though - it's just as alive as any other Indian city. The western influence just doesn't feel as strong as in Delhi, despite the fact that Delhi's a much older city, with a much more indigenous heritage.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like I'll be able to get a fill of either Mumbai (Bombay) or Chennai (Madras) during this trip, making this an incomplete series of commentaries on two of India's four metropolises. Maybe one of you will get to those places sometime soon (Jenn - Chennai???), and can add on to what I've started.

As you might have already picked up, I'm leaving for Bangkok tomorrow morning! I know that I promised a detailed itinerary, but this posting has dragged on as it is, so I think I'll leave that for next time. Signing out from the Subcontinent, I'll talk to you from Siam!

Cheers,
Tom