Kooolkata

Happy Saint Nicholas Day! It is my patron saint's day and we celebrated by getting out around the city on foot and trying to go bowling. We found the great Italian restaurant we were looking for, but the MegaBowl was MIA. Tomorrow, we are going to look for the other bowling alley in the city because I am looking forward to seeing ladies with bowling shoes and saris on---I promise to get lots of photos!

We really like Kolkata. We didn't know what to expect. The few images I had were from that movie, City of Joy, that starred Patrick Swazey and of Mother Teresa caring for the poor and dying people of Kolkata. Yes, there are man-pulled rickshaws, but these men don't lack the dignity that westerners would suffer in this job and therefore presume of them. The rickshaw wallahs we have seen are strong from their hard work and carry themselves with respect. They are glad for a fare and share a smile when parting ways. It is how the side streets of Kolkata move and it may also be why the air is little bit cleaner than other cities its size too.

We were supposed to be in Chennai this afternoon, but we canceled our flight yesterday after reading the Times of India. (Mom and Midra, please don't worry...) We choose a flight from Kolkata to Chennai to avoid the 30-hour train ride but the story in the paper said Indian Government Intelligence (a bit of an oxymoron there) had gotten information that domestic flights into Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore may be under threat on December 6th, the day of our flight, and we didn't feel like dealing with the airports or risking any danger, so are staying put in Kolkata for now. If you had spoken to us yesterday,we were heading to Thailand and then back to Mumbai on January 6th only to catch our flight out to Frankfurt and then home, but today we are still staying open to being in India for the rest of the trip. I am feeling angry and heartbroken at the thought of leaving India early because of all of this, but we can't continue to make plans only be forced to cancel them because of threat of more danger here. It is the reason we are in Kolkata to begin with, to avoid Delhi, which we thought may have some backlash, if only anti-Pakistan protests. We are keeping tabs on the papers and the up-to-the-minute news here and trying to make a decision about staying in India or going within a day or two.

Yesterday we went to Mother Teresa's home and mission. It was really wonderful and quite fortuitous for us, as they only have open mass and Eucharist once a week, and it is on Friday afternoons when we were also there. We were able to share in the gathering in the little chapel. We got to see Mother's spartan room where she lived most of her time in Kolkata and also many personal notes of hers, her sandals and many photos of her throughout her life. Her prayers and thoughts and utter devotion to the Lord was really moving for both Luke and me. After accepting her mission to work with the dying of Kolkata, she had to wait years before being given leave by her bishop to fully devote herself to this work. She spoke of her dark years of loneliness she suffered and her prayers to help her bear the suffering, never to have it taken from her, as she thought of it as a gift from the Christ that was to help shape her. Her notes were most intimate and she always spoke with the deepest gratitude and absolute faith.

We have a bunch of photos chosen to load: from Everest Base Camp to Bodhgaya. Luke has to do that though with his computer and we'll let you know when he puts them up.

More of the same blessed synchronicity for us in Bodhgaya; we just happened to run into two friends, Roger and Chris, whom we met in Bhouda, KTM. Roger was the man who took us to Tibet and Chris was a happy Australian whom we shared laughs and apple pie with at the Double Dorje. On my birthday, which was really wonderful day, we were able to get blessings from the other Karmapa, Trinley Thaye Dorje. We went to a stand to get khotas to offer him before bounding up the back stairs of the Karma Kagyu Gompa to wait for a turn to meet him. It was just us, several large groups of monks and Tibetan pilgrims there that night. When it was our turn, he welcomed us up warmly and blessed us each. He blessed Luke's mala and spoke to us in his excellent English. He has such a sweet presence and we both left feeling like we had met a truly extraordinary person. Over the next two afternoons, we gathered with 100s of others under the Mahabhodi tree to hear him speak about the Buddhadharma. We sat with the monks who shared their sitting mats with us and who enjoyed the TicTacs we shared with them. It was quite funny to see Luke and the fun-loving monks mime out the cool, mintiness of the TicTacs to each other!!

On the night of my birthday, as we walked our last few koras of the day, we were smiled down on by the planets Jupiter and Venus that were in a rare alignment with a waxing crescent moon. They set just behind the Mahabhodi Temple and it was quite a sight to take in!

Watch for the photos and we'll keep you posted on our plans.
So much love from Luke and me both!
oxo

sugar cane juice man

tailors (note the almost TBJ menu on the right)

downtown Kolkata

tana (human drawn) rickshaws

Kolkata flower market