Mother Theresa's City

I arrived into Howrah station at 6am on the overnight train from Darjeeling. The train station was huge and as I was still half asleep it took me a while to get my bearings and find the exit. I headed straight for the taxi stand and was surprised to see yellow taxis, similar to that of the ones in the US. I didn't see any rickshaws at all. I went to negotiate a fare with a driver and asked him to take me to Sudder Street where most backpackers stay. I hadn't booked a room ahead, so was just going to check out the various hotels around this area. We drove over Howrah Bridge (AKA Rabindra Setu), which crosses the Hooghly River. The bridge is really long and is a similar size to Sydney Harbour bridge. It is so busy on the bridge and there are no pillars in the middle to separate the traffic flows, so traffic is sprawled along everywhere and horns constantly tooting.

I was dropped off at one end and ws left to go in and out of the various places. There were touts in operation trying to persuade me to go with them to this hotel or that, but I ignored them. I had chosen a couple in LP that sounded ok, so went to look at those first. After checking out a few rooms I decided on Hotel Maria. There wasn't much difference really in any of the other places I had looked at, but the atmosphere seemd nice and friendly here. All rooms were basic, but clean.

After checking in, I went to shower and unpack and did some laundry. It was difficult to do washing in Darjeeling because of the cold weather, so I had loads to wash. I then went in search for breakfast, so walked out onto the main street and found a restaurant nearby. I took the LP with me to read, so I could have a look at what to do. After breakfast I went for a walk, to get my bearings. Sudder St is so busy and chaotic. There are whole families living on the street so a lot of beggars. I was approached many times by children and mothers carrying babies. Taxis and rickshaws park all along, outside the hotels. There are many shops and restaurants as well as the hotels. Traffic is constantly flowing, whether it be people, touts or transport and the beeping of horns never stops. Everyone has to fight for a place to walk or drive. Also every morning I saw women and men sorting out truck loads of rubbish. They collect this from the street and sort it out to sell on to be recycled or re-used! So the street is alos smelly! I did wander towards the end of my stay what I was doing here and how did I survive living on this street!

I found myself on Park St, a main road with losts of shops. I ended up going into a huge bookshop (you know me and books!) called Oxfords. It reminded me of Borders on Oxford St. I spent a couple of hours in there browsing and I ended up buying a few books to keep me busy on all those train journeys. The funny thing was I also got chatted up in there! A guy came to me asking me to help him choose the best dictionary for him to learn english. I went along to see is options and looked at a few and gave my opinion. As I was getting ready to leave he said, pls may I have ur fone number so I can talk to u and practice my speaking. I just laughed and said no and walked away. Next I went to the tourist office to get a map of Kolkata. Yuri was arriving tomorrow, so I was saving all sightseeing for then, for us to do together. I did admin type things like sending some post and checking emails. Nothing too exhausting. I started reading one of the books I bought.

In the evening I went out to get some dinner. I didn't venture too far from the hotel. It was still busy out and there was enough lighting, so I felt safe walking around. I found a small cafe and had a rice dish. I really enjoyed it and the cafe became my regular place for breakfast and snacks during my stay. After dinner I went to New Market (known as Sir Stuart Hogg Market in British times), a bustling shopping place. I just went to browse and take in the atmosphere. The touts were out trying to seel me shawls, saris, jewellery and handicrafts. I just ignored them. I bought some diwali cards to send to my family. After that it was time to all it a night, so back to the hotel. I had to be up early to go meet Yuri at the train station. Her train was arriing at 7am.

Next morning it was still dark when I arose, but thankfully getting light by the time I left the hotel. I had to walk for about 10 minutes and then catch a bus to go to the station. The bus dropped me off on the main road - a dual carriageway - opposite Sealdah train station. I had a bit of a panic as how I was going to cross as the roads get really busy, but luckily traffic was ok, and I made it across. I had to go through ahole in the fence in the middle bit. At the station I went to enquiries to find out if Yuri's train was on time and which platform. It had just pulled into platform 9 I was told, so I headed off in that direction. I didn't have to go far as I saw Yuri walking towards the exit. Thank god I found her. There were so many people. Sealdah station was just as chaotic as Howrah station! We went to get a taxi and headed back to the hotel. I would have to check out of my room so we could go find a double somewhere, but in the meantime Yuri used it to freshen up and then we went for breakfast. After breakfast we asked if there were any spare soubles in Hotel Maria and luckily there was so we moved into there.

We then went to do some sightseeing and headed off to see the Victoria Memorial. We walked there and it took us about 30 minutes. We had to walk past a park called Maidan. We could see the building as we were approaching and we were amazed. it is stunning, such white marble. Calcutta used to be the capital of British India before being moved to Dehli. This building is an impressive reminder of British India and the victorians. In front of the main building is a statue of Queen Victoria. Inside is a museum dedicated to the Indians living under British rule and the movemonet for Independence. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside. There is a nother statue of Queen Victoria inside of when she was younger. We spent an hour or so wandering round looking at the various paintings, newspaper clippings and collections. Outside the memorial we came across a group of schoolgirls and stopped to take a picture.

After the memorial we walked to St Pauls Cathedral, which wasn't too far. We took some pics, but didn't go inside. We couldn't as it was closed. It's a nice buildiong, too long to be able to take a full photo. We then decided to walk back towards the hotel and get some lunch. After lunch we decided to try out the metro system (like the tube) and we went to the centre. From there we walked towards the river. On our way we saw the writers building and the huge Post Office. I've never seen such a big building for a PO before. I couldn't take pics as thats how big it was and there were too many trees in the way if I tried from across the road. We the jetty for the ferry ride across to Howrah bridge and hopped on board. The view of the bridge was great.

When reaching the other side we went to find a taxi as we wanted to go see the 2 famous temples Belur Math & Dakshinewar Kali Temple. They were not walkable. The 1st guy told us a fare of Rs1200, which I refused. I went to the policeman at the station and asked him to get us a metered cab as I didn't trust any of the drivers and wasn't sure what the approx fare should be. He got us one and off we set. I told the driver we wanted to go to Belur Math 1st as it was on the same side of the river as we were currently at and then the Kali temple, but did he listen, No! I became so frustrated with him. He crossed the river 3 times, when if he's listened to me he would only hae had to do it once. I explained it all in Hindi as well, so it wasn;'t like he didn't know what I was saying. He said if he's done it my way we would have gotten stuck in traffic, but it took him 2.5 hours to make the whole trip with going back and forth and it was dark now. I'm sure it wouldn't have taken that long with my route. And to top it off he tried to rip us off with the fare. Beacuse we had to stop off at the temple, he told us to note the meter reading as it would start from the beginning when we set off again. I told Yuri to remember it as well. It said 109, but when it came to payment he claimed it said 190, so I asked Yuri what it said and she confirmed it said 109. He then wanted extra money for having to wait for us, even though we didn't take too long looking around. I told him where to go and I really told him off. Cheeky git! Arrrggghhhhh!!!!! I'm so glad I can speak Hindi, I really went off on one, with him. Even Yuri was annoyed with him.

We went back to the hotel to freshen up and went out for dinner. We went to a restaurant in a hotel that was nearby and I had a G & T. For dinner Yuri ordered some fish curry - a speciality of Bengal and I had prawn curry. We both had rice with it. I have to say I wasn't that impressed as there was too much butter in the sauce. The prawns were nice and Yuri's fish was nice, but the meal was overpriced for what we got. Ah well. To walk off dinner I took Yuri to New Market and she had a look around, but we were both tired. It had been a long day, so we headed back to the hotel for sleep.

The next morning I awoke early again to go sort out my train tickets for my journey onwards. I took the metro downtown to the office and found I wasn't alone. The office hadn't even opened and there was a huge queue already. Good job I had my book to read. It kept me busy while I had to wait. It took an hour for me to get to the counter. Anyway I got my train tickets sorted and back I went to check on Yuri and to get some brekkie. She was still asleep when I got back and poor thing had a sore throat. So I gave her some strepsils and some paracetomol. We went to brekkie at Zurich Restaurant and the service was a bit slow this morning, but it didn't matter. We only planned to go the the Indian museum and Mother Theresa's house today. Yuri was leaving tomorrow, but I was staying on as I wanted to do some volunteer work at Mother Theres'a mission.

We went to the museum first. There's a collection of art and natural history as well as historical sculptures. Also there was a collection of the biggest number of stones here. The room to house them was huge. I've never seen so many different types of stome. There was also a section on wildlife and skeletons of elephants and whales are on display. No pics were allowed. It was interesting to see it all. We decided to walk to Mother Theresa's house, but had I known it would have taken so long, we would've taken a taxi. Anyway we finally made it and were glad to go in and sit down. We went to the room where her tomb is kept and took some pics and had a look around. We then went to find the sister in charge of signing up volunteers. I signed myself up and listened to my options and asked loads of questions. I only signed up for one day, but people come here from all over to do weeks and months of service. I felt a bit guilty that I was only doing one day, but it's all I had to give. I was told to turn up at 7am on the Sunday for breakfast. All the volunteers meet together have tea and then go off to the various houses where they will work.

We headed back to the hotel to rest a bit. Yuri had a nap (she was still feeling ill) and I read my book. I spoke to my folks as well. Mum was filling me up on all the goss back home. We then went for some dinner to a place called Jo-Jo's, just across the way from the hotel. We really enjoyed our meal and even had chocolate cake for dessert, yummy!

The next morning we both had a lie in (much deserved) and packed, ready to check out. I had to get a single room again, the one Ihad before wasn't empty, but I took another one, but had to share the bathroom, but it was ok. On Sunday I would be volunteering all day and on Monday I was leaving, so I'd be ok. We didn't do much today, wondered round the shops, went to KFC for lunch, basically just passed the time until Yuri had to leave. I put her in a taxi and sent her on her way. Back at the hotel I met a spanish lady called Aurora who was also doing volunteering and we agreed to meet in the morning to walk to the house. I was glad of this as I wasn't sure how to get there and she knew of a quicker route. I went to chill in my room, read some more and went to sleep.

The next morning I was up early 6am, as we agreed to meet at 6.35am to walk down. There were some others walking with us as well, all Spanish, so it was nice to chat to them. We arrived, had some tea, a banana and biscuits. There were quite a lot of volunteers and everyone was busy chatting. I joined in. Aurora found out for me who else was volunteering at Nirmal Hriday in Kalighat, so I could get the bus over with them. I was introduced to a lady called Bernadette, who said she'd take me when it was time to leave. We left at 7.45am in a group. I said my goodbyes to the spanish gals and headed off. We got on a local bus which took 10 minutes and then it was a couple of minutes walk.

The Nirmal Hriday building houses men, women and children, some with disabilities and some ill. The men, women and kids were all kept in separate areas of the building. All are given a bed and fed and clothed and looked after. A lot of them don't know where their families are. I was a little nervous as I wasn't sure what to expect. We entered the Nirmal Hriday building, washed our hands and put on aprons. The first task of the day was to rinse out the washed clothes to be put up for drying. There were huge sinks in the washing area, full off clothes worn by the people in the house. Bedding was also washed. There were at least 10 people in this area all rinsing out clothes. It reminded me of when I was younger as me and mum used to rinse out the bedding in the same way. It took us about 90 minutes to rinse out all the clothes. They were then hung up to dry.

Afterwards we the men went to the mens area and the women to the womens area to check on the patients. We had to sit and talk to them and see if any of them required anything. I was introuduced to 2 ladies. I massaged oil onto one of them and had to walk the other one up and down the stairs. All the volunteers tended to the patients and tried to help them as best they could.

As it was Sunday there was a mass service at 10 am. So we had to get some of the patients ready to attend mass. Not all of them could attend, only a few. We sat them on a stage. Then we all sat on the floor on some sheets and listened to the preacher and the nuns whilst hymns were sung and a sermon was read. It lasted about an hour. It was mostly in english, so was easy to follow. Some outsiders had also come to attend. After mass some tourist had come to have a look around, so we chatted to them for a little while, in between doing jobs.

After mass it was time to feed the patients. Food turned up in big vats. There was boiled rice and chicken curry. We had to dish it up on a plate and hand it out. No cutlery was provided as all are used to eating with their hands. There was some plastic spoons provided for those that can't eat by themselves and we had to feed them. After the patients had eaten, we collected up all the dishes and washed everything in the big sinks. Again there was at least 10 people doing this task. Some rinsing, some soaping, some clearing off the excess food & some drying. This was the last task of the morning. After stacking the dishes away, we were free to go. As it was Sunday, lunch was provided for the volunteers, so we headed to the roof to grab a bite. Again it was rice, chicken curry and a veg curry. I opted for the veg curry. I haven't been eating meat in India. I chatted with some of the other volunteers and then a group of us made our way back to Sudder street on the bus. Back at the hotel, I rested for a little while and had a cuppa. The house is closed from noon until 3pm and all the patients and nuns rest during this period. At 2pm I headed back to Kalighat. I wanted to see the famous Kali temple next door to the house. I had a quick lok round and took a picture. You can't take pictures inside. At 3pm the afternoon shift starts and the work is similar as in the morning, but more time is spent with the patients. The shift ended at 5.30pm.

I didn't do much else today, just packed my stuff, did a bit of shopping, wrote my diwali cards, was feeling a little homesick. I went to dinner at my usual cafe and the owner chatted to me for a bit. He didn't realise I could speak Hindi. He was telling me there is a Sikh Gurdwara in the city and I should go visit if I get the chance. I said I'd try tomorrow, but wasn't sure if I'd get the time. I chatted to the spanish girls (Aurora, Maria & Diana) later in the evening. They had been to the cinema to see a Hindi film and were telling me about it. Aurora asked for my blog link and we swapped email addresses.

Next morning I had a lie in until 9am, then got ready and checked out. I left my big rucsac behind and went for brekkie and then a wander about. I had to go to the Post office to post my diwali cards, but I wanted to buy an 18th birthday card for my cousin 1st, so I could send all the cards together. It took me ages to find one! I couldn't believe it was that difficult. Most shops had childrens ages, but not the special ages (18, 21, 40 etc). I finally came across one in the market in a bookshop. Also for a city the shops open late 10am, but I suppose they do stay open late into the evening most days - 8pm.

At the post office, I first had to queue up at the enquiry counter to find out how much the stamps would be for my cards, as some were for India and some for the UK. I then had to go to a separate counter to buy the stamps and attach them. Lastly I had to go to another counter to have the cards stamped by the staff ready for posting out. I hope the cards arrive on time. Diwali is on 9th Nov and I posted them out on 29th Oct, but I know there's been loads of postal strikes in the UK. Grrrr!

After the PO I went to an internet cafe to try upload my pics from my camera to my blog and the bloody computer crashed on me and corrupted my memory card! AAARRRRGGHHH! So I lost my pics. I was extremely pissed off, but didn't do anything about it. What could I do. I did complain to the owners, but he just blamed it on my card, not the computer. So I now had to go in search of a new memory card. Luckily I found one in the market. I went to get a cuppa afterwards to calm down. I was in such a bad mood and kept biting off eveyones head, especially at all the touts who approached me in the market.

To cheer myself up I decided to go in search of a beauty parlour. My eyebrows badly needed threading. Whilst I was there I also had a manicure and got my legs waxed. The girls were nice and friendly, so I chatted to them for a bit and we had some tea. I felt uch better after that and on the way back to the hotel I came across a cake shop. I just had to go in. I had a chocolate brownie and a coffee. However I almost burst out crying whilst I was sat in there as all around me were couples and I was on my own. (Bloody PMT!). Ah well the brownie was yummy and I read my book whilst drinking my coffee.

I had to organise a taxi to take me to the train station, so off I went back to the hotel to collect my rucsac. I asked the owners there, but he was asking for a lot of money, so I said I'd call one on the street. I managed to get one for a lot less. I had an hours wait at the train station, so after finding out my platform number I went to find the platform. It took me a good 15 minutes walk to get there. I found a bench to sit on and wait for the train. I didn't have to wait to long as the train pulled in early, so I went to find my berth to settle in for the night. I was going to Puri in Orissa and would arrive early next morning.