In the name of the Father
As is the standard practise now, we have again split up the photos for the day into 3 separate sections so my section begins with our checking out from the guesthouse we are staying in (our bags were placed in storage until we leave for Howrah Station later tonight).
We bought some goodies from the same candy man last night, they are all sweet and milky and i couldn't finish mine cos it was too rich (im not one for sweet stuff)
this is a view of the corridor just outside our room. it leads to the rooftop, where we hung our clothes out to dry these past few days. The gate is locked at night. in fact, our guesthouse undergoes a mini lock down once night falls (around 11 or 12 midnight).
this staircase leads down to the dunge... i mean streets of calcutta.
the view from the alleyway leading to our hotel. the main street is just behind us. (Free School Street)
What we had for breakfast: Roti, chicken masala, egg omelette and chai. total cost about 1.80 SGD per person.
An example of what should happen once there is a fire in Calcutta. Notice there are no fire fighters on board.
This is how the average Calcuttan (?) gets his or her water on the street. Old school water pumps. this is also the water that is used to cook most street food so eat at your own discretion. In Calcutta, there is Street Food and there is STREET FOOD. We only eat Street Food, which is sold besides the road from stalls that have machinery and whatnot in it and a counter top.
STREET FOOD is the food that is sold literally on the street floor from makeshift stalls (made of wood), water from the ground, charcoal lit fires and floating ashes. The dogs frequently have a meal and pee and shit in the vicinity as well. Don't expect to come back alive after tasting this.
Here Elgin pushes the button. Its actually the symbol of one of india's many parties. I believe this one represents the workers and the farmers, or something like that. Indian politics, like a bee hive, is best to stay out of.
Quality technology in India.
An example of a day school in Calcutta. As today is Saturday, we didn't get to see any cute school children, sadly.
Elgin invading someone else's hearth and home. that inglorious bastard.
As we walked along the road to go to the museum, we came across a church along Sudder Street and for some reason decided to go in (because the door was open). There was no service, but there was a man called John ("it's not so long that you cannot pronounce it.")
John told us a lot of things about India. Oh, he also plays the pipe organ. His ancestors are apparently Finnish, not that we could tell, but he was born and bred in Calcutta and has lived here for his 48 years of life. We spoke about politics, the situation in Calcutta and he also gave us some advice before we went on our way.
The first thing John asked us was if we would like to hear him play the organ. Being Singaporeans, we obviously replied in the positive.
He then told us was that it was a bad time to visit Calcutta. Just about everyone we meet tells us the same thing so it must be true in some sense. Apparently the area where we live, which is just off this street called Sudder Street (also the street the church and this LAN shop is located on), is a hotbed of crime, violence and death.
He fished out a newspaper article about this very street which told of tourists getting raped, molested, mugged in broad daylight and a french man who got his throat slit while he was asking for prostitutes. Apparently the gangs look out for tourists, "Koreans, Japanese, just like how you look" specifically to take advantage of. He advised us not to follow random strangers off to random places, not that we would be inclined to do so anyway. Singaporeans are naturally unfriendly people. Just last night, a man approached us selling marijuana but i didn't even notice him and just brushed past. (Elgin told me later)
John spoke about the inequality in India "India is a land of great contrasts" and how 85% of the country is living in the countryside in farms. "That means no running water, no toilets and no electricity. it's horrible." the whole of india is in a mess and the politicians apparently aren't doing anything about it. "even the politicians, their relatives are all overseas...they are multi millionaires..." while the average indian worker earns a pittance (about 1500 rupees a month, where the required or equivalent (to other countries) wage is actually around 20,000 rupees)
Those beggars we see on the street outside are not working because there simply aren't any jobs for them to do. The unemployment rate is huge. The country is huge. This is a huge problem that cannot and will not go away.
A small child runs to the gates of the church from across the street and asks us for money. Her mother calls her back.
In the church, John gets 200 rupees a month to play the organ. the organ maintenance guy gets 150 rupees a month. if John wants to get a raise and goes to the pastor, the pastor will tell him to get lost and hire another organ player. John complains of broken and non functioning organ keys "i get very irritated when i cannot play [properly], but [they don't care]."
200 rupees is the rough equivalent of 6 SGD per month, which is about 4 USD a month. i wonder if John has another day job. Life is harsh in India. "Even the school system is the toughest in the world. They ask you questions you don't know the answers to. They try to make life as difficult for you as possible, which is why when we indians go overseas, we do very well." Interestingly, he echoed Manu when he mentioned that "I know that Indians are not welcome in Singapore and Malaysia."
The pastor of the church has been there for 8 years "too long...too much power and [it goes to a man's head]." and he won't talk about the salary (or lack thereof) and the maintenance of the church. all these issues are kept under wraps. maybe there are no funds; the church itself is dilapidated and crumbling.
John does love the mountains of Nepal and he told us to send him some pictures of the mountains of Darjeeling and Sikkim. We gave him this blog address to make things somewhat easier (hello!)
Apparently, he has also received offers to play in Poland but is reluctant because he does not know the language. His family is also here.
Perhaps the most telling statement came when i asked him if he was happy with his life here.
"I have no choice. If i say i am sad i will be even more miserable."
We bought some goodies from the same candy man last night, they are all sweet and milky and i couldn't finish mine cos it was too rich (im not one for sweet stuff)
this is a view of the corridor just outside our room. it leads to the rooftop, where we hung our clothes out to dry these past few days. The gate is locked at night. in fact, our guesthouse undergoes a mini lock down once night falls (around 11 or 12 midnight).
this staircase leads down to the dunge... i mean streets of calcutta.
the view from the alleyway leading to our hotel. the main street is just behind us. (Free School Street)
What we had for breakfast: Roti, chicken masala, egg omelette and chai. total cost about 1.80 SGD per person.
An example of what should happen once there is a fire in Calcutta. Notice there are no fire fighters on board.
This is how the average Calcuttan (?) gets his or her water on the street. Old school water pumps. this is also the water that is used to cook most street food so eat at your own discretion. In Calcutta, there is Street Food and there is STREET FOOD. We only eat Street Food, which is sold besides the road from stalls that have machinery and whatnot in it and a counter top.
STREET FOOD is the food that is sold literally on the street floor from makeshift stalls (made of wood), water from the ground, charcoal lit fires and floating ashes. The dogs frequently have a meal and pee and shit in the vicinity as well. Don't expect to come back alive after tasting this.
Here Elgin pushes the button. Its actually the symbol of one of india's many parties. I believe this one represents the workers and the farmers, or something like that. Indian politics, like a bee hive, is best to stay out of.
Quality technology in India.
An example of a day school in Calcutta. As today is Saturday, we didn't get to see any cute school children, sadly.
Elgin invading someone else's hearth and home. that inglorious bastard.
As we walked along the road to go to the museum, we came across a church along Sudder Street and for some reason decided to go in (because the door was open). There was no service, but there was a man called John ("it's not so long that you cannot pronounce it.")
John told us a lot of things about India. Oh, he also plays the pipe organ. His ancestors are apparently Finnish, not that we could tell, but he was born and bred in Calcutta and has lived here for his 48 years of life. We spoke about politics, the situation in Calcutta and he also gave us some advice before we went on our way.
The first thing John asked us was if we would like to hear him play the organ. Being Singaporeans, we obviously replied in the positive.
He then told us was that it was a bad time to visit Calcutta. Just about everyone we meet tells us the same thing so it must be true in some sense. Apparently the area where we live, which is just off this street called Sudder Street (also the street the church and this LAN shop is located on), is a hotbed of crime, violence and death.
He fished out a newspaper article about this very street which told of tourists getting raped, molested, mugged in broad daylight and a french man who got his throat slit while he was asking for prostitutes. Apparently the gangs look out for tourists, "Koreans, Japanese, just like how you look" specifically to take advantage of. He advised us not to follow random strangers off to random places, not that we would be inclined to do so anyway. Singaporeans are naturally unfriendly people. Just last night, a man approached us selling marijuana but i didn't even notice him and just brushed past. (Elgin told me later)
John spoke about the inequality in India "India is a land of great contrasts" and how 85% of the country is living in the countryside in farms. "That means no running water, no toilets and no electricity. it's horrible." the whole of india is in a mess and the politicians apparently aren't doing anything about it. "even the politicians, their relatives are all overseas...they are multi millionaires..." while the average indian worker earns a pittance (about 1500 rupees a month, where the required or equivalent (to other countries) wage is actually around 20,000 rupees)
Those beggars we see on the street outside are not working because there simply aren't any jobs for them to do. The unemployment rate is huge. The country is huge. This is a huge problem that cannot and will not go away.
A small child runs to the gates of the church from across the street and asks us for money. Her mother calls her back.
In the church, John gets 200 rupees a month to play the organ. the organ maintenance guy gets 150 rupees a month. if John wants to get a raise and goes to the pastor, the pastor will tell him to get lost and hire another organ player. John complains of broken and non functioning organ keys "i get very irritated when i cannot play [properly], but [they don't care]."
200 rupees is the rough equivalent of 6 SGD per month, which is about 4 USD a month. i wonder if John has another day job. Life is harsh in India. "Even the school system is the toughest in the world. They ask you questions you don't know the answers to. They try to make life as difficult for you as possible, which is why when we indians go overseas, we do very well." Interestingly, he echoed Manu when he mentioned that "I know that Indians are not welcome in Singapore and Malaysia."
The pastor of the church has been there for 8 years "too long...too much power and [it goes to a man's head]." and he won't talk about the salary (or lack thereof) and the maintenance of the church. all these issues are kept under wraps. maybe there are no funds; the church itself is dilapidated and crumbling.
John does love the mountains of Nepal and he told us to send him some pictures of the mountains of Darjeeling and Sikkim. We gave him this blog address to make things somewhat easier (hello!)
Apparently, he has also received offers to play in Poland but is reluctant because he does not know the language. His family is also here.
Perhaps the most telling statement came when i asked him if he was happy with his life here.
"I have no choice. If i say i am sad i will be even more miserable."
Espionage!
We brave the Calcutta heat, restless electronic eyes and the piercing gazes of museum watchmen to bring you never before seen footage from the inside of the Calcutta Indian Museum - the largest museum in India. Photography is prohibited (unless one pays a small fortune). Capture would have incurred us a forbidding penalty of 150 rupees (5 SGD) . Despite the daunting deterrents, we managed to escape the museum unscathed and now post here two hours worth of stunning pictures that are sure to shock the hairs off you!
Five years older than Singapore, the Indian museum is. It's a Saturday, hence the teeming local crowds which made things trickier for us. But no challenge is unsurmountable for us, the tremendous trio!
Locals pay 5 rupees. Foreigners pay 150 rupees for a nicer looking ticket. Price discrimination at work. Friendly guy at church, John, suggested passing ourselves off as some oriental looking tribe from a corner of India. But we couldn't speak the language so we passed.
In the natural history section of the museum, the shelves are filled with fossils. The elephant like creature is a replica of some ancient elephant ancestor.
Tim intrepidly poses for a picture to give you a sense of the scale of the skeletal structure.
Monster deer with antlers to match. Perfect steed for the Ghost Rider.
Who watches the watchmen? We do! We catch the guard, well, off-guard. Soundly in slumber, he does not see us plunder the secrets of the museum.
When the watchmen were awake, we resorted to numerous stealth tactics. Such as screening the photographer with our bodies, timing our snapshots to their patrol rounds and distraction methods.
Apart from natural history, the museum has a section cultural anthropology. It also devotes space to a zoo-like display of various animals. Here, we show you our closest cousins.
and how we came to be from where we were.
Slabs, statues and displays from religious structures of days past were also on display. This is the coldest room in the museum. Count the number of air conditioners. Also observe the level of security for this particular room. Imagine the troubles we went to in shooting guerilla-like photographs.
Gruesome sights. that smell of deformalhyde.
All things considered it was a pretty good museum. There was something for everyone. The architecture and the displays (there was one on geology too) were reminiscent of the British. One senses some of the "white man's burden" of education in the museum. British explorer pride was quite evident in the displays and choice of words. Unfortunately, the best room in the museum was too heavily guarded for us to use our cameras. The 6m by 6m square room was under surveillance by two closed circuit cameras and a watchman. The prize on display? A 4000 year old Eygptian mummy.A final surreptitiously snapped shot of the museum interior.
We leave you to consider these interesting, ancient and grotesque things at your leisure.
the hunt for mother theresa and the slums before that
We took a walk around town before lunch. In the photo below is Park Mansions. Colonial and nice, but obviously most of the locals won't even dream of stepping foot into these.
Our candidates for Dog of the Day. We invite votes. The first dog's tongue took our breaths away. The second dog's savagery was awe-inspiring.
Lunch break for all of us at Radhuni, a cheap but good restaurant near our sleeping hole. The mildly conditioned restaurant offered us a brief respite from the oppressive heat. The prawns in the light-coloured curry in the middle of the photo are probably the most expensive food items we have bought in India so fair. They cost 50 rupees apiece, about 1.5 SGD per piece. The rice is like free in Indial; they give you craploads.
Getting really adept at using hands now... Tim looking cool and Roger tries to learn the intricacies of my Phoenix Claw technique.
Finger dirt mixed with curry and rice tastes really good
We decided to visit Mother Theresa's house in Calcutta after lunch. It was easier said than done because we cleverly decided not to bring along Lonely Planet. Hence we had to ask for directions. The letter writer outside the post office was fluent in English, and was kind enough to type out the address for us! The font is really old skool brudda.
The biggest problem with reaching the house was the dodgy neighbourhood we had to cut through. It was cramped, and filled with locals that were predominantly muslims and might be communists (note the sickle and hammer red flags in the photo below). The area is clearly poorer than the more developed parts of the city. People stared and we didn't feel welcomed. The kind elderly Indian man from whom we got further directions from warned us not to follow the advice of other strangers in the neighhbourhood.
We ended up walking REALLY fast. Even though the heat was crazy. We managed to sneak a few photos at risk of losing our lives.
And after all the squallor, we arrive at a place which used to house a person that stood for everything that was good in humans, and still houses an order that continues to do good work for the poor and needy. The building of the Missionaries of Charity was plain and unadorned, so much so that we missed it the first time round and took 2 wrong turns.
There was no need for donations, and they gave us these as gifts.
Mother Theresa, or simply "Mother" as the Calcutta locals would affectionately call her, was buried in the very place where she did her charity work. The only place in the building where photography was allowed is the room which houses her simple tomb. We later went up the stairs nearby to visit her room. It was equally spartan.
More photos after we reach and tour Darjeeling.
Our candidates for Dog of the Day. We invite votes. The first dog's tongue took our breaths away. The second dog's savagery was awe-inspiring.
Lunch break for all of us at Radhuni, a cheap but good restaurant near our sleeping hole. The mildly conditioned restaurant offered us a brief respite from the oppressive heat. The prawns in the light-coloured curry in the middle of the photo are probably the most expensive food items we have bought in India so fair. They cost 50 rupees apiece, about 1.5 SGD per piece. The rice is like free in Indial; they give you craploads.
Getting really adept at using hands now... Tim looking cool and Roger tries to learn the intricacies of my Phoenix Claw technique.
Finger dirt mixed with curry and rice tastes really good
We decided to visit Mother Theresa's house in Calcutta after lunch. It was easier said than done because we cleverly decided not to bring along Lonely Planet. Hence we had to ask for directions. The letter writer outside the post office was fluent in English, and was kind enough to type out the address for us! The font is really old skool brudda.
The biggest problem with reaching the house was the dodgy neighbourhood we had to cut through. It was cramped, and filled with locals that were predominantly muslims and might be communists (note the sickle and hammer red flags in the photo below). The area is clearly poorer than the more developed parts of the city. People stared and we didn't feel welcomed. The kind elderly Indian man from whom we got further directions from warned us not to follow the advice of other strangers in the neighhbourhood.We ended up walking REALLY fast. Even though the heat was crazy. We managed to sneak a few photos at risk of losing our lives.
And after all the squallor, we arrive at a place which used to house a person that stood for everything that was good in humans, and still houses an order that continues to do good work for the poor and needy. The building of the Missionaries of Charity was plain and unadorned, so much so that we missed it the first time round and took 2 wrong turns.
There was no need for donations, and they gave us these as gifts.
Mother Theresa, or simply "Mother" as the Calcutta locals would affectionately call her, was buried in the very place where she did her charity work. The only place in the building where photography was allowed is the room which houses her simple tomb. We later went up the stairs nearby to visit her room. It was equally spartan.
More photos after we reach and tour Darjeeling.