Christmas in Calcutta

I finally arrived in Calcutta 4th December without fanfare or mishap. I had postponed my return to India by a week- in part because I was enjoying Nepal so much, but also because I was a bit apprehensive about returning to India. As much as I was eager to dive right in to volunteering with the Missionaries of Charity, I was dreading the pollution and the exhaustion of being eternally suspect of all I encountered - wary of every thing and every one. I hated how that was making me feel and was afraid of altering this state of peace and creative groove I had found in the Himalayas. As it turned out, Calcutta was more than I could ever have imagined. I loved every minute of it and am hoping to return again someday. This entry will be brief in comparison to all I experienced and learned, but I know from your e-mails that your all curious about my experience there. So, I will dispense with any attempts to prettify the prose and just get on with the basics.

I stayed on Sudder Street - which consists of a string of low budget hotels housing mostly volunteers and quickly immersed myself in the community of travelers and volunteers. It felt almost like a college town at times - you live with or near all of your friends, work together, hang out together, eat at the same places, etc. I met some fascinating people of all ages and from all over the world who had come to Calcutta to volunteer with the Missionaries of Charity. So much positive energy and good will focussed on one place. It was such an empowering feeling to be part of it. I hadn't expected that nor had I expected to find so many volunteers. Some of the people I met come every year for a month, 2 months, even 6 months at a time. I met only 1 other social worker (a woman from Ireland who has come several times). Others I met worked in the medical field, computers, fiannce, business, or were students. There was even a family there volunteering together. It was so interesting talking with people -when I had time- about their experiences and their motivations for coming. Soon after I arrived, one volunteer said to me that people come to Calcutta and do things they never imagined they would, or even could, do. Out of necessity you find youself with skills you never knew you possessed. For me this was true in so many ways- and not just involving the work.

Earlier I said 'when I had time' because I ended up just as busy in Calcutta as I have been in NYC! By my 2nd day volunteering, I found myself also a member of the volunteer's choir for Christmas (Excellent! I had missed singing and was excited about having an opportunity to sing for Christmas) and the director of the Christmas play- to be performed before Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve for all 200+ sisters, brothers, fathers, a multitude of their guests, and other volunteers. As I was told later, the sisters had been praying for someone with theatre experience to direct the play. With a mix of excitement and reluctance -I had after all never directed anything outside of scenes for a directing class 12 years ago!- I agreed and was handed an adapted version of Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol.' I had less than 3 weeks to revise it, cast it, decide on lighting, sets & costumes, in addition to directing a cast of volunteers of whom the majority, although extremely enthusiastic, had never acted before! Of course I never would have pulled it off without much help from others involved. It turned out much better than I ever imagined and everyone loved it (I even ran into a man and his wife 2 weeks later in Thailand who had seen it and really enjoyed it).

All in all, Calcutta became sort of a 'Fantasy Island' for me. Not only was I volunteering with Mother Theresa's sisters -something I had been thinking about for years, but I was given a chance to direct, sang 'O Holy Night' during Midnight Mass (another thing I had always wanted to do), and was even in a movie (more on that later)!

Calcutta is a city teeming with life and the one Indian city I really loved. Not because it was any more beautiful than any of the places I had visited. It was just as pollutted- if not more, much more crowded, and probably held fewer cultural or historical attractions. But there was a different energy there which felt somehow more welcoming to me. Perhaps because I created a home for myself while I was there. I found a great community of people, was doing work I loved, and was beginning to make connections with some of the people there.

My days began at 7am with breakfast at the Mother House, sometimes even earlier if I was inspired to attend mass. I was usually awakened anyway by 4am by the call to prayer from the mosque nearby. By 8am I was at my morning volunteer site- at Mother Theresa's first home for the dying and destitute. I worked with women who had been found on the streets or at the railway stations ill and sometimes close to death. I saw medical conditions, wounds that had been allowed to fester for days, injuries, things we would never see in the West. We began the mornings with breakfast then bathing the women and changing their sheets. Dressing the wounds and massages followed and by the time that was finished it was time for their lunch. I loved getting to know these women in a different kind of way. Communication was difficult - they didn't speak English and my knowledge of Hindi or Bengali never got beyond more than about 10 words- if that. But there was communication of feeling. I learned so much about the nature of giving- more than I could express to you all right now and in this format. My afternoons were spent rushing back to Sudder Street, writing, and either working on the play or volunteering at another site -an orphanage for malnourished and/or disabled children. This was another task I loved. It maily involved changing diapers constantly, holding and feeding babies and todders and -if there was time between diaper changes- playing with them. Here too, I saw things I never imagined could exist.

I've got to get going now. I will fill you all in with greater details when I see you.

[The movie appearance.... Apparently Hindi movie directors like having western faces in their films. Myself and about 6 other volunteers -and one professional soccer player- were given a brief 'screen test' and choosen as extras in an Indian children's movie. I spent about 5 hours one night at the planetarium as an audience member for their opening scene. They actually liked my face -or maybe it was just that I was behind a featured actor- and spent about 45 minutes playing with lights around my face and filming me from different angles- writing in my journal, leaning forward, tucking a curl behind my ear, etc... It was a riot. And- I was even paid! (does this make me finally eligable for my SAG card?) Also-the best meal I had in India! And incidentally, my fame has spread internationally- yesterday in Jakarta I was asked to be a 'handbag model.' But, alas, I had to refuse...Bali calls.]