This morning we were up at 04:00 so we could make our 06:50 flight here to Calcutta.

The early morning drive through Bombay was again quite interesting: sacred cows eating at garbage heaps, people sleeping on the sidewalks and roads, children sweeping in front of their cardboard hovels, the smoke of charcoal fires drifting in the morning haze and many other such sights.

The Jet Air flight left on time, so we arrived in Calcutta about 09:00. We collected our bags and arranged a car to take us to the Oberoi Grand Hotel in the city center. On arrival we were able to check in right away. The room was very nicely decorated and roomy. We checked e-mail and worked on our computers during the rest of the morning. We lunched at the hotel and then hired a car for a city tour.

The tour took us around the center of the city, then to Mother Theresa's mission. We asked to have a look inside, and the nun on duty allowed us in for a look at the tomb on the ground floor, around which has been built a shrine. A priest was preparing to celebrate mass there, so we only had a quick look which was enough anyway. As we prepared to leave, the nun called me back and gave me votive photos and "miraculous" medals with the effigy of the famous nun on it. I filed them for future reference. From there we drove about 45 minutes or so to the original Kali temple on the banks of the Hooghly River. Kali is the scariest of the Hindu gods (actually she's a goddess) sometimes requiring bloodletting in her worship. The name of the city comes from Kali's name (Kali-kota or Kolkata as it's now spelled by the Indians). We hesitated to leave our shoes and socks outside, as is required, since cleanliness was certainly an issue and we didn't want to pick up any parasites, but in the end curiosity won out and we stripped our feet and walked in. There were long lines of people waiting to enter the main temple with their offerings.
I shot lots of interesting video and took photos. We didn't want to wait in line to see the inside so we stayed in the temple compound only. We looked around at all the souvenir shops outside the compound as well, before returning to our car.

On the way back toward the center a passing driver caught my attention and gestured toward the rear of our car. I told our white-uniformed driver and he pulled over on the slum street and got out to have a look. The right rear tire was flat. We got out while he changed the tire. I starting taking photos and video and the locals gathered to watch us. In a similar situation in Cameroon or Nigeria I would be nervous and very wary. Here though, I felt no tension or possible hostility. One man came up unsteadily and with a slight slur in his speech indicating too much drink. He asked me to take a photo of him and his friends. I was only too happy to comply since I'd wanted such a photo anyway. I showed the photo to them on the digital camera's small screen. They were content. I shot some video of a tailor sewing. He willing gave a demonstration, and then held up the cloth after I was done to show that there had been no thread in the machine. Everyone had a good laugh about that. No one asked for money the whole time, which was unexpected, and I never felt any hostility or efforts at manipulation. After the fifteen minute break we got back in the car and drove on the Victoria Monument, built in the heyday of the Raj. It's a huge imposing monument which we could only view from outside, since for some reason the museum inside was closed to the public. The sun was setting by that time, so we headed back to the hotel where we had dinner in the coffee shop restaurant which offered very good Indian food.

We bought some postcards and also some lovely leather-bound books in the book shop. I bought Freedom at Midnight for only about $15, and a copy of selected short stories by Rabindranaths Tagore, which I shall give to Mom. He's one of the most influential Indian writers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and was an important influence on Gandhi and Nehru among others. It's easy for me to find gifts for my dad, I sort of intuitively know which things will interest him, and easily think in those terms. It's more difficult with Mom, but I think she will like this beautiful book. For Dad I bought a sliver money clip decorated with a British Indian silver 1 rupee coin bearing George V: "King Emperor"