Sitting on my bed – a blanket and a thin mattress. My host “Man” (nick name of Suman) sit next to me rolling a joint and listening to music. He is great host along with all the other people I have met, here in Kolkata.
Ok, the last few days have been very blurry for me, like gazing into the air, not really looking. I think, despite having a few quiet days in the beginning and a train journey that was very relaxed, that my senses and tiredness got the better of me. So it is actually first today, on my third day in Kolkata that I can look around with fresher eyes. And Kolkata is busy, really busy and noisy and dirty and full of pollution and got an overwhelming experiences, where the only solution I had was to just let everything go and follow the stream of horn, durst and constant moving people. I also think today was the first I could feel the sun on my back and the see a quasi blue sky. Reasons being is that there is so much smog from factories in the air that it blocks the sun. Though in the night there is a clear sky and the sun has move into full on and further these days and it has been hanging large, round and red – an evening treat.
On the first day we walked around the city and ended up watching people bathing in the Ganges (or the off spring of the Ganges that goes through Kolkata), which is part of a yearly Hindu ritual and happens all along the Ganges. At the site and fellow performing decided to perform this duration exploration, which allowed us just to sit and watch him, but also the location we were in. It was really nice to sit and watch the evening process, with the moon and people coming and going.
The second day I slept till 12. I really allowed myself to just sleep and I obviously needed it. Here we meet with a larger group and Rokko and Nanxi Liu, who I know from my time in Slovakia, where I met them twice. So it was really nice to see them again and as we are all staying with “Man” then we have a change to speak. They arrived to Kolkata from Morni Hill where I will go and they say it is beautiful and very “rich”, so I can’t wait to experience it my self.
Foodwise I have begun to eat with my fingers, which really really satisfying, so I’m fully indulging myself!! I have had a lot of different things, though can really remember them all. Actually I can only remember Masala Dolsa, which is a South India dish, and is basically a gigantic naan, with sauces next to it. Great though! I can also say “dut Cha” and “Lal Cha”. Do sure how you spell it, though this is how I pronounce them and that seems to work. It means White tea and Red tea (black tea). So, yes, we drink a lot of chai here, with lots of sugar and milk and cups there are too small. Actually these cups are made of clay and are the size of small espresso cups, though what is unusual is that after use, you throw them out! First I felt very bad about it, but when you think of it, it is the best recycled material you can find. The clay comes from the river and is driven back to the river by water and rain. Though will all good ideas, they are now replacing them with paper/plastic cup… such a shame… I have, however, been inspired my the small clay cups, so I will make a performance one of the next days with those. I am really happy that this idea came to me, since it is a performance related to Kolkata, which is a relief, as I didn’t feel I had a voice in this new place, but now through tea it emerged.
This is already a long plot, so I’ll stop now and continue as soon as I can. Now I need to go to bed and dream away…
