Viewing Calcutta

It has been a weekend of much contrast here in Calcutta.

On Friday I had an interesting meeting with an NGO. The head of this NGO spent a good 30 minutes telling me her plans to revitalise the NGOs of Calcutta – working on a basis of collaborative ventures and sharing of resources and ideas. She told me how she felt this was the right time for change and the organisations in Calcutta were ready to work together in order to help the most people possible. What an inspiring women whose goal is very simple – progression. She wanted to see India progress and she had a vision for it. Am really looking forward to working with her over the next month to see this vision come to fruition.

Shabbat is very quiet in Calcutta - something which I have been quite apprehensive about during my visit. What I gained this Shabbat though was a time of solitude and reflection that is little afforded in England. When do we ever get so much time to spend reading, learning and thinking at home? There is always someone to see or somewhere to go. What was something I was quite nervous about has become a small haven of the week. Although it would be lovely to share this with a community it has also given me an opportunity to spend time doing Shabbat activities that often get neglected in such large communities. This got me thinking about some of my new Indian friends. There are a couple of brothers who own a clothes shop next to my usual internet café. They open from 9am and shut at 10.30pm. They open every day and don’t take holiday for themselves. They work to support themselves and a large family. Young boys, not married and with little life outside of their work. Certain luxuries of time with friends, family and alone are not found in this shop. Shabbat has taken I new dimension for me this week and one that I will try and make the most of while here.

On Saturday afternoon I decided to venture with a friend to ‘Calcutta’s equivalent to Central Park’ – the ‘Maiden’ for a relaxing stroll. What greeted us was a small garden which had more couples knoodling than flowers! It turns out that this park is a favourite for young lovers who come to the park with umbrellas (to hide behind for some privacy) to while away the long hot sunny afternoons. I’ve never felt like such a gooseberry before or laughed so much! If I had ‘central park’ expectations before, I left with rather different things in mind.

Saturday night was also an interesting Indian experience. We went to watch the newest Harry Potter film at a local cinema. On walking into the cinema, my first impression was ‘this is the BIGGEST cinema I have ever seen’ – absolutely huge! Although barely a quarter of the seats were filled the lively crowd soon made up for it. Indians are well known for expressing their emotions and this definitely extends to the cinema. Every time Voldermort took a hit, the cinema roared with cheers and when Harry and friends seemed doomed the cinema was icy cold – the people seemed genuinely moved. Initially, me with my English habits, found myself quite uncomfortable with this public display of emotion and sympathy. But by the end I was happily converted to being a true Indian viewer – I cried when they cried, booed when they booed and I am proud to say that I got up and cheered at the end. Going to the cinema has never felt so uplifting!!!

Sunday was a very mixed day. One of the Calcutta Rescue volunteers who is staying on my floor of our accommodation was taken ill with Gastro Enteritis. That morning he had woken up sick and gone out to get some water from a local street seller. While walking in the street he fainted. A local rickshaw puller saw him, lifted him up and placed him into his rickshaw and pulled him (barefoot) to the nearest doctor, from where he was sent to hospital. Thank G-d he is fine but in this lays a strong message.

When viewing Calcutta there are many lenses one can use. Westerners (including myself) on first glance will see the chaotic noisy streets with terrible driving, thick pollution providing every visitor with a permanent cough, mothers sending their children begging on western prey, filthy street food stalls, homeless people lining the evening streets and yes, elderly rickshaw men pulling out-of-date equipment, barefoot for pennies. However under close inspection and with surprisingly little effort a very different image opens up. The lonely Planet guide calls it a ‘daily festival of human existence’ quite a fitting description for India’s capital of Intellectualism and culture. A city where people have fought over who can give me the best directions to the bus stop, where so many people are working so hard to support their families because ‘family’ is truly so important, a city where its people are thirsty to progress and a city where poor, exhausted rickshaw men stop to help a stranger. We are told that we should ‘judge every man favourably’ how come then so many find it so hard to approach the developing world with an open mind? Looks can be deceiving and although there are enormous problems and uphill battles for Calcutta to face – I have learnt that the people of Calcutta are so far in advance of us in many ways. It is this idea of learning from one another rather than going to ‘help the needy’ that Tzedek foster and try and imbed into the tzedaka we give.

What jewels Calcutta has and beautiful lessons for us to learn. One thing is for sure, next time I am at the cinema – watch out, tears are in order.