After a 6 hour flight that took me through Kuala Lumpur, I arrive in Calcutta. It had been almost one year exactly since I left. After being in peaceful, serene Bali for 2 months, I was feeling nervous about the transition but also excited to be in this special place again, amongst friends.
I collect my bag and walk through the dirty double glass doors into the smog and smoke filled afternoon. Calcutta slaps me in the face and kisses me on the mouth. I immediately connect with the smell and the sounds and am glad I'm here.
I look through the throng of dark faces holding signs and looking anxiously for their clients. The others swarm around me; "taxi madam? taxi?". Then the beaming faces of Krishna and Sanjeev are there. We happily hug each other and they lead me to the waiting car. We talk excitedly as we drive through the city.
Hundreds of yellow Ambassador taxis speed around us, beeping and bleating their taxi language. Ancient buses with people spilling out of doors and windows lumber past. The small auto rickshaws zip and bob and weave through everyone, spewing their noxious gasses, and barefoot rickshaw pullers sit lazily drinking tea and praying for customers. People are camped along the sidewalks cooking some small bit of food over a few sticks of burning wood or some dried cow dung.
There are SO many people. So many faces. Each with a name and a history and a family. It's mind blowing.
I feel a huge excitement growing inside me and I smile and talk and laugh with my companions. They fill me in on all that's been happening at New Light India in the last year. How the babies, Coco and Gouri are doing along with the rest of the kids and the girls at Soma Home. I can't wait to see them all.
I ask if we can stop for a chai. We pull off to the side in front of a crumbling tea stall and order our drinks. The afterwork crowd is there having an evening brew. Everyone stares and is so curious about this white faced girl on the streets of Calcutta.
The small brown terra cotta cup is handed to me and I take a whiff and then a sip. Ahhh...that is the taste of India for me. It is the perfect temperature and the perfect balance of tea, milk and sugar. It tastes like heaven and is the most comforting thing in the world. Chai is a ritual and is part of everyday life in India. I have drank hundreds of cups of it by now. When I finish, I drop my cup on the ground to join the piles of shards of brown pottery that used to be chai cups in a previous life.
We pile back in the car and head towards the Oberoi Grand Hotel. It is the nicest most luxurious hotel in town and I feel shy and a little embarrassed about staying there. I feel the need to explain that I wouldn't be staying there if it weren't for the invitation of my friend and hosts, Dick and Ann Grace. They have invited me to join them in India to tour some of the many projects they support and I am honored to accept.
I say goodbye to Krishna and Sanjeev for now and will see them tomorrow. I have about 5 hours before the rest of my traveling companions arrive, and I spend it walking through the streets, drinking more chai and reacquainting myself with Ma Calcutta. I feel comfortable and confidant as I walk (which comes a surprise to me) and no one bothers me, save for a few beggar children and men calling me to "just have a look" inside their shop.
I feel like I am walking on air. Filthy dirty disgusting air, but happy about it and have a huge smile on my face. I know this neighborhood and remember the good and the bad times I had here before.
I collect my bag and walk through the dirty double glass doors into the smog and smoke filled afternoon. Calcutta slaps me in the face and kisses me on the mouth. I immediately connect with the smell and the sounds and am glad I'm here.
I look through the throng of dark faces holding signs and looking anxiously for their clients. The others swarm around me; "taxi madam? taxi?". Then the beaming faces of Krishna and Sanjeev are there. We happily hug each other and they lead me to the waiting car. We talk excitedly as we drive through the city.
Hundreds of yellow Ambassador taxis speed around us, beeping and bleating their taxi language. Ancient buses with people spilling out of doors and windows lumber past. The small auto rickshaws zip and bob and weave through everyone, spewing their noxious gasses, and barefoot rickshaw pullers sit lazily drinking tea and praying for customers. People are camped along the sidewalks cooking some small bit of food over a few sticks of burning wood or some dried cow dung.
There are SO many people. So many faces. Each with a name and a history and a family. It's mind blowing.
I feel a huge excitement growing inside me and I smile and talk and laugh with my companions. They fill me in on all that's been happening at New Light India in the last year. How the babies, Coco and Gouri are doing along with the rest of the kids and the girls at Soma Home. I can't wait to see them all.
I ask if we can stop for a chai. We pull off to the side in front of a crumbling tea stall and order our drinks. The afterwork crowd is there having an evening brew. Everyone stares and is so curious about this white faced girl on the streets of Calcutta.
The small brown terra cotta cup is handed to me and I take a whiff and then a sip. Ahhh...that is the taste of India for me. It is the perfect temperature and the perfect balance of tea, milk and sugar. It tastes like heaven and is the most comforting thing in the world. Chai is a ritual and is part of everyday life in India. I have drank hundreds of cups of it by now. When I finish, I drop my cup on the ground to join the piles of shards of brown pottery that used to be chai cups in a previous life.
We pile back in the car and head towards the Oberoi Grand Hotel. It is the nicest most luxurious hotel in town and I feel shy and a little embarrassed about staying there. I feel the need to explain that I wouldn't be staying there if it weren't for the invitation of my friend and hosts, Dick and Ann Grace. They have invited me to join them in India to tour some of the many projects they support and I am honored to accept.
I say goodbye to Krishna and Sanjeev for now and will see them tomorrow. I have about 5 hours before the rest of my traveling companions arrive, and I spend it walking through the streets, drinking more chai and reacquainting myself with Ma Calcutta. I feel comfortable and confidant as I walk (which comes a surprise to me) and no one bothers me, save for a few beggar children and men calling me to "just have a look" inside their shop.
I feel like I am walking on air. Filthy dirty disgusting air, but happy about it and have a huge smile on my face. I know this neighborhood and remember the good and the bad times I had here before.
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