Monday, October 19th:
The group arrived in the capital city of West Bengal (also known as the cultural capital of India), Calcutta or, more correctly, Kolkata, after another rather sticky night on a two-and-a-half-hour-delayed overnight train (a new record!). We taxied to the Sunflower Guest House, a nice tourist establishment with the front desk curiously located on the top floor. After making ourselves at home in our shared seven-person room, Madison made the unfortunate discovery that someone had stolen 4,000 rupees out of her pack the night before. Perhaps learning the Dharmic teachings on the emptiness of material wealth the previous week helped her cope — in any case she handled the situation well and didn’t seem too distraught. The group rejoiced that there was a Western-style toilet in the bathroom — toilet-paper-flushing and all!
Later that day we all chose a Mother Teresa house to volunteer for. Many people, myself included, chose the Prem Dan house, a home for the dying and destitute. Others chose homes for the mentally handicapped and/or severely underprivileged young girls. While I can’t speak for everyone in the group, I can say with near certainty that we all gained at least a few boatloads of respect for the long-term volunteers and sister nuns working in the homes full-time. Although we only volunteered for about four hours per day, the tasks with which we were presented left us physically and sometimes emotionally exhausted. At Prem Dan, these included: washing the floor with buckets, packing/sorting food & tea, washing and hanging clothes, and interacting with the old folks (massaging their legs, helping them walk, assisting with their urinary and shaving needs, serving them lunch, chai and biscuits, and generally being there as someone to sit with and talk to). Our other group members had similar jobs, but some were specific to their home — changing babies’ diapers, singing to developmentally disabled children, etc.
Thursday was our day off from volunteering. The group split up in half and visited 1) Science City, Kolkata’s premier science museum, and 2) Kalighat temple, a Hindu temple dedicated to the goddess Kali, where live animals are sacrificed regularly. Blood and guts covered the floor upon which everyone stood barefoot as one unlucky goat was bifurcated. Many Hindu onlookers ran up to the decapitated goat’s body after the sacrifice in order to smear blood on their foreheads as part of the ritual. Science City was also pretty cool.
…But that wasn’t the only gory spectacle to behold this week — here’s Sawyer’s account of an event he and a few others witnessed on the street on Friday: “Upon befriending a Bangladeshi man named Ashik at an internet cafe, Jamal, Omar and I found ourselves following him into the center of a Muslim festival accompanied by the loud beating of drums and overwhelming crowds of people dressed all in black. When we made our way to the middle of the crowd, we witnessed something that blew my mind. The center of the crowd spread wide open, leaving ten Muslim males in the middle, including one young boy, who all took off their shirts. The inner circle was filled with men rotating clockwise and pounding their chests violently. Then the men and the boy in the middle were handed razorblades, which they took in their hands and copied the gestures of the men circling them, slicing into their skin with every beat. The men and the boy continued to do this until their entire torsos were covered in blood. We found out from Ashik that the annual ritual, called Ashura, is practiced in order to feel the pain of the prophet Muhammad’s grandson who was stabbed to death by traitors.”
*WHEW* what a week! Since you’ve taken the time to read this far, I guess I should explain the title of this post. “Kutta” means “dog” in Hindi! Get it?? Sigh…at least I tried.
Tomorrow we rise at dawn and set our sights on Rishikesh. Let the journey continue.
-शांति