Calcutta and Soma Home

When I asked what India is like, a yoga teacher of mine said to me "India is in your face". He was right.

My first morning at Soma Home, I went upstairs for breakfast, which is eaten on one of the children's beds in a main sleeping room, which also serves as the food prep area and kitchen. The nice women there made me an egg, some rice, some toast and tea.

The 30 or so girls are basically in 3 age groups, small, middle and big girls and all go to school at different times so some are almost always at home. There are just a few hours in the day when all is quiet. I wasn't really sure what I was supposed to do, so after breakfast I went up to the roof to do a little stretching and reflecting amidst the laundry hanging there to dry. All around the neighborhood you can see people cooking outside, babies crying, people talking and bathing outdoors. Smoke and pollution fill the hot, humid air. There is no air conditioning in the house, just fans going all the time. My body is not used to this heat. I always feel sweaty and sticky and dirty.

When the small kids came home from school we read some stories on the roof before having our tea. There is a nice little library there with some great american classic stories. We read a story about Barbie and one Sesame Street book.

The middle and big girls came home later and we talked a lot, they showed me photos of their families and later on we all danced, which we do every night. Dancing is big here and is an important form of communication. The girls showed me an incredible Bengali dance that is the story of the goddess Kali, which Calcutta is named after. They where heavy bells on their ankles and the dance is amazing and beautiful. Then they all sat down and told me to dance for them. I think it was so they could get to know who I am. I'm not sure if they were impressed or not. Probably not :)

Dinner is eaten about 9:30 pm, bedtime at 10. I'm not liking that at all and have not been having dinner the last several nights. It's just too late to eat and too damn hot. And my stomach is not boding well with the food here.

There are several women in the house who take care of the girls and do the cooking and cleaning. There is one woman whos only job is to take care of me, it seems. I call her Godi Mashi, which is Mother in Bengali. She cleans my room and washes my clothes and gets me anything I need. She used to work the streets of Calcutta as a prostitute, I"m told. She doesn't speak any english but she is very funny and we manage to communicate just fine. I feel like I have known her before.

On the second day I was there, I went to New Light, run by the same people who run Soma Home, and is a shelter for the children of the red light district, and is above a brothel. It was very intense. There are some volunteers there from Argentina who were distributing clothing to the kids and I helped with that. It was like Christmas. The kids were so happy to have some new clothes. Even though they were gently used.

In the afternoon, I went with the nurse to the medical clinic called New Light II that serves the lowest caste people in the city. They are the ones who clean the garbage and burn the bodies of the dead. This was probably a bit too much to do so soon after I arrived. It was all just a little too much to process. I have never seen people living like this or even imagined it was possible. The poverty and living conditions are beyond appalling.

I like having my little sanctuary at Soma Home and love the girls so much. They have been through a lot but are so loving and sweet. They always make sure I am served first and given the best portions of everything. I know they like having me there and they keep asking me to stay. They said I should bring Taylor and Julian to live there too.

This whole experience so far is making me take a hard look into my soul and try and answer some pretty deep questions about life. I let you all know if I find some answers here.