A week of discoveries

Last week I made several interesting discoveries. I am writing this listening to an instrumental version of ‘Abide with me’ gently pervading its way through an air conditioned café, and at the same time happily imbibing a chocolate milkshake. Yes, I have found a barista café quite close to where I live, and it is currently using up a significant proportion of my allowance. There are four different types of hot chocolate on the menu, and innumerable wonderful milkshakes. And they don’t make me sick. Bonus. But, on the other hand, one milkshake costs about the same as the average daily wage that people earn in the slums, so it is difficult justifying wasting so much money. Hence I am going through a difficult internal struggle, and may have to sadly reduce my daily chocolate milkshake intake, and keep it as a luxury….

And last week I finally ventured into the ‘big city’ all by myself, to go to church. I was able to go to the same church that I went to when I was here four years ago – it is run by Emmanuel Ministries, with whom I volunteered. They run many amazing projects, including informal education for slum children, several children’s homes, and work with HIV positive women. It was wonderful walking into the church again and being greeted by so many beautiful smiles, and hearing that the work is going from strength to strength. I volunteered in an informal education project in a slum, and apparently, about 80 % of the children now attend formal school, and so they may be able to bring the project to a close in a little while – fantastic! And I was able to meet some other ex-pats, so no longer feel as alone in this big city.

And my final discovery was a different side of India, one that I had never experienced before. On Wednesday evening I and Judith (the other volunteer) were invited out for dinner with an investment banker and his wife. Their house was in central Kolkata, and to describe it as ‘rather large’ is quite an understatement. His wife runs an art gallery, so the air conditioned rooms were stuffed full of wonderful paintings and sculptures. When we went into dinner there were four different dishes, and the servants were summoned by a little bell to bring us the food. Wow. Both the husband and the wife were incredibly welcoming, and so friendly – it really was a great example of Bengali hospitality. But during the taxi journey home we drove past rows and rows of men sleeping on the streets, some in huge pipes that were being laid as part of a new sewerage system. Apparently some Bengalis get frustrated with the abiding way that the image of Kolkata is linked with abject poverty; many say that it is the cultural capital of India. And indeed it has a rich cultural history and a current thriving cultural scene. Maybe its poverty now is no worse than the poverty of Mumbai, or Delhi, or Karachi. But that doesn’t make the daily confrontation with such suffering and exclusion any easier, or any less unjust.

Since writing the above I have made another, very unfortunate discovery. Last night on a trip to my bathroom a rat was staring up at me from the drain. On my birthday!! I can cope with many things but rats are definitely not one of them. Help! There is a possibility that I may be able to move in a couple of weeks, so really hoping that works out….