My friends arrive in Calcutta about 11 pm and I am there to greet them. Dick and Ann Grace from the Napa Valley and Gloria from Tennessee. We will spend the next 10 days traveling together and it turns out to be a magical wonderful time. Not that I ever had any doubt....
The next morning we meet bright and early for breakfast. It is a grand and glorious buffet of everything imaginable. Fresh fruit, yogurt, pastries, eggs, cereal, juice, salad, curry, fish and the list goes on. This is a fairytale land with hard cold reality waiting just outside the beautiful doors that are always being polished and opened for us.
We get in the mini van with our guide Ashok and head for the Calcutta flower market. On the way, we see a festival happening along the banks of the Hoogley river and are told that wandering Sadus (holy men who give up everything and wander around in nothing but a loin cloth) and others come from all over India to do puja and pray. Dick asks Ashok to stop the car so we can get out and explore.
It is the first of many wonderful scenes that go like this:
Dick has a small flesh colored rubber thumb that fits over his own and has a red light in the tip. He walks up to a holy man who has probably walked for miles on this day, probably not had anything to eat or drink for days and doesn't know much about modern life. He says "hey, what's that in your ear?" and he reaches for the ear and pulls what looks like a red light out of it. As they look on in shock and wonder, he gently blows on the light and is disappears. Soon there is a huge crowd around, everyone smiling and laughing and yelling "Jadu! Jadu!" which means "magic" in Hindi.
Dick has a pocketful of magic (he doesn't like it to be called "trick". It's just magic) and he knows when and for how long to show them before moving on and leaving a happy crowd in his wake. It is a beautiful thing indeed.
At this point I should explain a little bit about Dick Grace. He is a winemaker from the Napa Valley and has long been a supporter of under-served people around the world. He makes yearly trips to Tibet, China, Nepal and India to look in on his projects. He is a hard core ex marine and runs a very tight ship. He can be very strict and while at the same time being one of the most kind human beings on the face of the planet. I met him in 2005 when I worked on his project in San Francisco, "Unsung Heroes of Compassion", like all others in Dick's orbit, my life has not been the same since. When he invited me to come to India with he and his wife, I did not hesitate before saying yes. I would go anywhere and do just about anything for this man. I learn so much from him and want to do the same kind of work. When I traveled to India last year, I volunteered and looked in on many of his projects in Asia, so I knew the people we would be meeting this time around.
Ann Grace is one of the most beautiful Graceful women I have ever met. Inside and out. She is kind and loving as she smiles as Dick takes center stage. She is Dean Martin to his Jerry Lewis. She is active and young for her 72 years. She laughs a lot and likes to be silly. She is as at home in a Tibetan monastery with no heat or plumbing as she is at a multi millionaire's home for dinner. They are as in love now as they were when they married 52 years ago. When they are not traveling somewhere, the two of them are out mountain biking, hiking, sking or taking care of their lovely gardens and vineyards. I am completely inspired by them.
Gloria Ghegan is an openly gay woman from Tennessee. I had not met her before but we were to become roomates and fast friends as we traveled together. She is a very neat and tidy woman who unpacks and organizes as soon as we get into the room, while my suitcase lays open like an explosion went off inside. She's down to earth and funny and spends time going on medical missions to places like Bhutan and Nepal. She has been nominated to become one of the next Unsung Heroes of Compassion.
After our walk along the river, we go to the Calcutta flower market, no far away. It's a bustling, busy place bursting with the color of a zillion blossoms that are used all around the city each day in offerings, weddings, cremations and celebrations. It was amazing.
We wind our way through narrow alleys and stalls filled with men and piles of flowers. Everyone stops to look at us strangers in their midst. This is definitely not a stop on the usual tourist route. Dick sprinkles magic and Polaroid camera photos along the way, picks up some flowers for us and we are on our way again. He stops outside the market where a small child holds a tiny baby in one arm and holds her other hand out begging for some rupies. Dick stops to talk with her and show her some magic. He takes a photo of her and the baby and leaves it with them and they are as happy as can be. It's a wonderful thing to watch.
The next morning we meet bright and early for breakfast. It is a grand and glorious buffet of everything imaginable. Fresh fruit, yogurt, pastries, eggs, cereal, juice, salad, curry, fish and the list goes on. This is a fairytale land with hard cold reality waiting just outside the beautiful doors that are always being polished and opened for us.
We get in the mini van with our guide Ashok and head for the Calcutta flower market. On the way, we see a festival happening along the banks of the Hoogley river and are told that wandering Sadus (holy men who give up everything and wander around in nothing but a loin cloth) and others come from all over India to do puja and pray. Dick asks Ashok to stop the car so we can get out and explore.
It is the first of many wonderful scenes that go like this:
Dick has a small flesh colored rubber thumb that fits over his own and has a red light in the tip. He walks up to a holy man who has probably walked for miles on this day, probably not had anything to eat or drink for days and doesn't know much about modern life. He says "hey, what's that in your ear?" and he reaches for the ear and pulls what looks like a red light out of it. As they look on in shock and wonder, he gently blows on the light and is disappears. Soon there is a huge crowd around, everyone smiling and laughing and yelling "Jadu! Jadu!" which means "magic" in Hindi.
Dick has a pocketful of magic (he doesn't like it to be called "trick". It's just magic) and he knows when and for how long to show them before moving on and leaving a happy crowd in his wake. It is a beautiful thing indeed.
At this point I should explain a little bit about Dick Grace. He is a winemaker from the Napa Valley and has long been a supporter of under-served people around the world. He makes yearly trips to Tibet, China, Nepal and India to look in on his projects. He is a hard core ex marine and runs a very tight ship. He can be very strict and while at the same time being one of the most kind human beings on the face of the planet. I met him in 2005 when I worked on his project in San Francisco, "Unsung Heroes of Compassion", like all others in Dick's orbit, my life has not been the same since. When he invited me to come to India with he and his wife, I did not hesitate before saying yes. I would go anywhere and do just about anything for this man. I learn so much from him and want to do the same kind of work. When I traveled to India last year, I volunteered and looked in on many of his projects in Asia, so I knew the people we would be meeting this time around.
Ann Grace is one of the most beautiful Graceful women I have ever met. Inside and out. She is kind and loving as she smiles as Dick takes center stage. She is Dean Martin to his Jerry Lewis. She is active and young for her 72 years. She laughs a lot and likes to be silly. She is as at home in a Tibetan monastery with no heat or plumbing as she is at a multi millionaire's home for dinner. They are as in love now as they were when they married 52 years ago. When they are not traveling somewhere, the two of them are out mountain biking, hiking, sking or taking care of their lovely gardens and vineyards. I am completely inspired by them.
Gloria Ghegan is an openly gay woman from Tennessee. I had not met her before but we were to become roomates and fast friends as we traveled together. She is a very neat and tidy woman who unpacks and organizes as soon as we get into the room, while my suitcase lays open like an explosion went off inside. She's down to earth and funny and spends time going on medical missions to places like Bhutan and Nepal. She has been nominated to become one of the next Unsung Heroes of Compassion.
After our walk along the river, we go to the Calcutta flower market, no far away. It's a bustling, busy place bursting with the color of a zillion blossoms that are used all around the city each day in offerings, weddings, cremations and celebrations. It was amazing.
We wind our way through narrow alleys and stalls filled with men and piles of flowers. Everyone stops to look at us strangers in their midst. This is definitely not a stop on the usual tourist route. Dick sprinkles magic and Polaroid camera photos along the way, picks up some flowers for us and we are on our way again. He stops outside the market where a small child holds a tiny baby in one arm and holds her other hand out begging for some rupies. Dick stops to talk with her and show her some magic. He takes a photo of her and the baby and leaves it with them and they are as happy as can be. It's a wonderful thing to watch.
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| Children at the flower market |
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| Flower market |
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| Dick and a sadu |
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