Sweet Memories
It has been just over a week and a half since I returned back to Bristol from India. I went to Calcutta to attend to a friend's wedding. The wedding lasted for 3 days and was terrific. However, I missed the first day due to food poisoning. Besides attending the wedding and feeling sick and lying in bed, I also went around Calcutta and the surrounding countryside. As stated in previous posts, the traffic in Calcutta was horrible, no one followed the traffic rules and it was pretty much every man for himself. However, it wasn't all doom and gloom in Calcutta. I visited a very impressive monument called the Victoria Memorial. It is a memorial dedicated to Queen Victoria back during the colonial times. It looked like a mini Taj Mahal from some angles.
The Victoria Memorial
A cricket game in the village square
The Victoria MemorialI also took a ferry across the mighty Ganges. However, all is not good on the Ganges. It is probably one of the most polluted rivers in the world. On one side of the river bank, I saw people playing, taking a bath, washing clothes, cleaning dishes in the river. And then I saw people relieving themselves, urinating, and doing some other unprintable things into the river a few hundred metres upstream. Not very pleasant at all.
The River Ganges
I also visited a local market. The market was bustling and full of life. You could buy all sorts of exotic spices like saffron, cinnamon, nutmeg, bay leaves, cumin, and garam masala.
Spices
Fresh fruits and meats were also readily available. Fresh - as in you buy your chicken live and it will be slaughtered right in front of your eyes. You really do need a strong stomach to buy your meats. And it is customary to haggle to get the best prices.
Lively and bustling
I then took a trip to the countryside as the bride's family had a country house and we were welcomed to use it. And what a difference it was compared to the city!
Peaceful and idyllic
The air was cool and fresh and the cough that I had while I was in the city disappeared. There were very few vehicles about and it was so quiet and peaceful.
View from my window
The country house had a pond which had fishes and prawns inside, so we caught some of them and had them for lunch and dinner.
Fishing in the pond
Fish food!
However, power blackouts are common in the countryside and we were unlucky to experience one during our stay there. It only lasted for a couple of hours and the power came back on again.
A cricket game in the village squareI really felt relaxed and calm while I was in the countryside. Hence it was with a heavy heart that I left to return back to the city to catch my flight. All in all, it was an enjoyable and eye-opening experience. India is such a great place to visit and 10 days just isn't enough to do it justice. I hope to return again someday to satisfy my thirst for more exploration. I really have to thank my hosts, Soorjya and Ishita, for inviting me to their wedding and for taking the time to show me around their amazing city. It is a favour I hope to return someday.
Farewell for now......
posted by SJ at 10:28 PM
14 Comments:
Interesting observations. But wouldn't you agree, all this is what gives a place character? I hear India is developing very rapidly these days and Calcutta is a major city. What would you say was modern or developed about the place?
Indeed! That's what makes it so different compared to other places. Calcutta is probably one of the most populous and largest cities in India. The IT and manufacturing industry is taking off / or has taken off already! I feel that the pace of life there is pretty fast, probably no different from NY or London. Most people have the latest mobile phones and computers and the young are very tech savy!
Personally, would you ever work there? Don't know what you do, but if it had a future in Calcutta? I've travelled quite a lot too. Which other places have you been too?
Well, anonymous (it would be nice if you had a name though), I was actually asking myself that same question while I was there! I really loved the culture, the people and the food. However, I hated the traffic and the pollution. Hence if I'm ever to work or live there, I would stay in the countryside and commute to the city to work. But....it's not that simplistic. There are many factors to consider. I guess if a place isn't really attractive enough for me to say an outright yes, then I wouldn't go. But that's just me. It could be different for you.
Oh,I'm Tanya. I don't have a blogger id since I don't do this stuff. Just happened to come across your page randomly. I'm curious 'coz I've been there only once as a kid. The markets look the same, crowded as ever :) You take really nice pictures. Anyway, so I was wondering if I should get a job there, since my grandparents still stay there, so was pestering you with questions.
Hi Tanya! I'm guessing its probably gotten more crowded now since the last time you visited. Many people I spoke to while I was there seemed to be working in Dehli, Bangalore or Mumbai(Bombay). And I've been told that traffic in these places are 10 times worse than in Calcutta! Bearing in mind most of these people I spoke to were either lawyers or in IT. It'll probably be easier for you since you've already got relatives there. I bet your grandparents live in the country side. If you like the hustle and bustle of living in a big city and can stand up to the pollution (or if your kids/husband/boyfriend/parent etc..etc don't mind), then I say go for it. But go there for a holiday first to see whether you like it.
New bike huh? Damn cool. Always wished I knew how to ride one. A girl showing up on a bike, how amazing is that? Neways, thanks for the advice on Calcutta. Nobody else to worry about pollution except for me. Doubt my parents will move back to India. A vacation sounds more like a fairytale, as soon as I can afford that ticket :) Maybe couple of months of no partying would achieve that. Anyhow, you don't work too hard and if you ever consider the lucrative career of a driving school for bikes then lemme know ;)
Hehe....I'll give you a ride if you're ever around the area. Riding a bike is not too difficult, you just have to be very aware of cars and pedestrains. And its fun! Just out of curiosity, where are you based and what do you do?
I'm a market analyst in London.
Oh wow! That's really close! For some strange reason, I keep thinking that you must be from America or from somewhere further afield like Australia. Could be because the timing of your replies seem to coincide with the time zones over there. Anyway, if you're ever in Bristol don't hesistate to drop me a mail. Would be nice to meet up for a chat!
I'm just a bit of an insomniac. Like late night conversations with friends, late night movies, and very very late wake-up calls :) What do you do for a living?
I'm an engineer. I design buildings. Would you have to wake up early to go to work then? How does that tie in with your late nights :-) ? I guess living and working in London would require you to spend a lot of time commuting on the tube/bus. I go to London quite often for work and it's always so packed during rush hour. Maybe you're one of those lucky people that live really close to work....
Actually, I need to commute for an hour to get to work and it involves 2 journeys on the tube and then on the train. It's quite a bitch to be honest, especially on a day like today. Atleast the Caffe Nero lady at London Bridge Station made up for standing in the cold. She stamped like 6 places on my card even though I just bought one small coffee and said "Now tomorrow you get free coffee". It's been a pretty crappy day otherwise, and now I'm with job applications. Aaaargh!!! Sorry, this isn't my blog is it? It's yours, you're supposed to vent. I have to wake up like at 7.30(in my opinion it should be illegal to wake up at that hour). Now my work has me taking courses at a university as well to "append my knowledge and skills", so I attend classes twice a week. Basically I'm a zombie by day.
Btw I think designing buildings is waaayy cooler than analyzing markets. I wanted to be one but after a couple of units my Prof told me outright that I was setting myself up for failure (who crushes a kid's dreams like that?) Anyway, lack of sleep and any other human being has made me rant enough, I shouldn't take up anymore space on a blog that isn't mine.
Hahaha! Had a good laugh reading your comments. I know its not nice laughing at other people's misfortunes but the way you put it was so funny! So did you get your free coffee in the end? Don't worry about space here. Space is unlimited over here. Go ahead and write/rant if you want. Hang in there for those university courses for the moment. I guess its pretty difficult but it'll be worth it in the end. Just to let you know I wake up at 6.30am every morning, barring weekends. Although I could still make it to work by waking up at 7.30, I like to have the time to sit down and have a proper breakfast instead of rushing through it all. It takes me about 40mins to get to work (door to door), and that's through rush hour traffic. 30 if I'm pushing it (i.e riding dangerously, breaking speed limits). I'm one of those irritating people that are in the office half hour earlier than required :-) So you're filling in job applications? Do you plan to be in the same industry? Are you still going to be in London? Why not try somewhere in the Southwest (Somerrrset, Brrristolll, Bath...failing miserably in my bristolian accent here) for a less hectic life? I hope you catch up on your sleep and rest this weekend :-)
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