Beautiful Mess

It was great to see more parts of Kolkata yesterday beyond our service sites and Sudder St. area. Seeing all of the places Katie described reminded me that Kolkata is a really beautiful city with such a rich culture. There is so much energy, color and history to see. There are some pictuers at the top of the beautiful mess that is Kolkata.

Being on the tour yesterday also made me kind of sad and it was another reminder of how lucky I am to live the life that I do. Even though we were more than 30 minutes from Sudder St. there still were homes made of garbage and beggars lining the streets that provided images of the widespread nature of the poverty here. It pervades everything and it is hard to escape. The flower market we went to was so beautiful, yet houses with plastic tarp roofs were behind the stalls. Last night Anne led a reflection based on the "Young Writers Project" from the Burlington Free Press. The prompt given to the children whose works were printed in the paper were India and stuck. After reading their poems and free verse, we wrote our own thoughts on words India and stuck. Reflecting on India made me think of how this trip is a constant reminder of how it can be easy to get stuck looking at the world from your own perspective and the bus rides to and from Shanti Dan came to mind. They are one of my favorite but most uncomfortable times of the day. I love knowing that I am on my way to see the women, yet it is cramped and I am usually tired. On the way back it is so hot and I am ready for lunch but I feel my head looking all around me because there are so many fascinating things to take in on the bus. First, the ladies sit on one side and the men sit on another (gender in India is a whole other discussion) and all the people are packed into the seats and the aisle. There is rarely a time when the bus goes mroe than 50 yards without stopping because of a speed bump, another vehicle, person or animal in the way. WIth all of these stops, there is plenty of time to see what is going on outside of the bus. People, young and old, are walking, buying, selling, washing, eating, picking through trash, honking, sitting and sleeping all in one snap shot on the side of the road. The amount of activity is unbelievable but what catches my eye the most is the poverty that the people I see live in. Even though I am uncomfortable, squished on the hot bus, I would be much more uncomfortable living outside of the bus living as the people I see do. I am lucky that I am simply traveling through their life on that bus than being there day in and day out on the same spot on the side of the road.

So for my reflective piece I wrote this. We had 10 minutes so it's no masterpiece but here it goes...

The Morning Commute

The sweat drips down my back
The bus stops again as the honking fills my head
I want to quench my thirst, quell my hunger and rest my body
The bus bumps along
A shanty town comes into view
Garbage, spices and human waste hang in the air
The children run in the street
I look closer
I am no longer thirsty
I am no longer starving
I am no longer tired

Love to all!
-Rachael