On the Move in Kolkatta
Left Jaipur on Sunday to begin yet another journey...5 hours later the bus deposited us in Delhi and we shoved ourselves, the pack and the sitar into a rickshaw. Arrived at the New Delhi train station, which Josh said felt just like Penn in NYC, ate some extraordinarily salty but cheap dhaal, and then loaded ourselves onto our sleeper car for the 15 hour ride to Kolkatta.
We had a wonderful train ride--bonded with two couples who were in the berths next to us, talking about Indian politics, US politics, poetry, ragas, Harry Potter, and I spent a lot of time playing hide-and-seek with the 1 1/2 year old little son of one of the couples. The food was pretty damn good (although the white bread and one slice of American cheese sandwich they served for tea was a bit strange. But at least it came with ketchup.), and there is nothing in the world like falling asleep on a train. We woke up to the Bengali countryside--women in brilliant saris and men in dhotis harvesting rice paddies and wheat fields, red mud brick houses with thatched roofs, palm trees and delicate tall grasses--a far cry from the dusty pink cliffs and yellow mustard flowers of Rajasthan.
A few hours later, we climbed out of the Kolkatta train station into what felt SO MUCH like New York City--yellow cabs, tall apartment buildings, crumbling Victorian homes, and the pulse of 14 million people. The family of one of Josh's students back in Boston has so kindly put us up for our first few days here. They are serious about feeding us and stuff us full with chapatis and Bengali sweets. Our friend Alaam arrived the day after us, and we'll be cheering him on at a couple of concerts here in Kolkatta and maybe doing some Indian-style clubbing (??!!). In the meantime, we've done some serious shopping (Josh bought a totally blinged out kurta) and are out on the town as I write this, ready to explore the culture mecca and madness of this city.
The grant continues to wait for approval from the government of India, so we, inturn, continue to practice serious adherence to the constantly evolving plan. Josh has a gorgeous new sitar waiting for him in Pune (south of Mumbai), there are music festivals in Ahmedebad and Kolatta, and we are contemplating spending some time in the mountains. We'll let you know where we're laying our heads as soon as we know:-) For now, it looks like we'll be in Kolkatta for at least two more weeks, and then...stay tuned:-)
Peace and Love,
J&J
We had a wonderful train ride--bonded with two couples who were in the berths next to us, talking about Indian politics, US politics, poetry, ragas, Harry Potter, and I spent a lot of time playing hide-and-seek with the 1 1/2 year old little son of one of the couples. The food was pretty damn good (although the white bread and one slice of American cheese sandwich they served for tea was a bit strange. But at least it came with ketchup.), and there is nothing in the world like falling asleep on a train. We woke up to the Bengali countryside--women in brilliant saris and men in dhotis harvesting rice paddies and wheat fields, red mud brick houses with thatched roofs, palm trees and delicate tall grasses--a far cry from the dusty pink cliffs and yellow mustard flowers of Rajasthan.
A few hours later, we climbed out of the Kolkatta train station into what felt SO MUCH like New York City--yellow cabs, tall apartment buildings, crumbling Victorian homes, and the pulse of 14 million people. The family of one of Josh's students back in Boston has so kindly put us up for our first few days here. They are serious about feeding us and stuff us full with chapatis and Bengali sweets. Our friend Alaam arrived the day after us, and we'll be cheering him on at a couple of concerts here in Kolkatta and maybe doing some Indian-style clubbing (??!!). In the meantime, we've done some serious shopping (Josh bought a totally blinged out kurta) and are out on the town as I write this, ready to explore the culture mecca and madness of this city.
The grant continues to wait for approval from the government of India, so we, inturn, continue to practice serious adherence to the constantly evolving plan. Josh has a gorgeous new sitar waiting for him in Pune (south of Mumbai), there are music festivals in Ahmedebad and Kolatta, and we are contemplating spending some time in the mountains. We'll let you know where we're laying our heads as soon as we know:-) For now, it looks like we'll be in Kolkatta for at least two more weeks, and then...stay tuned:-)
Peace and Love,
J&J
posted by Jessica Pierce at 1:08 AM
1 Comments:
hey guys!!! someone finally gave me the link to the blog so im reading too now!
hope all is well... looking foward to hearing more about your travels, and i'll keep y0ou guys updated with my job search up in boston :)
love you bothssssss,
heather♥
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