Back From Vacation

Puja was a hit overall, and I had a great time. I'm pretty sure Keisuke enjoyed himself too. It's hard to tell sometimes, since he's always upbeat and totally gung-ho about everything, even about riding in the no A/C 1950's-looking cabs of Kolkata. Here's a list of notable Kolkata moments...

PUJA HIGHLIGHT: Riding standing up on a cargo truck with 20+ people, a drummer, and an 8-foot idol of the Goddess Durga. We chanted, sang, danced around, and tried to keep the Goddess from flying out of the truck every time we hit a pot hole while plowing through the streets of Calcutta. Immersed the idol ("Thakur" in Bengali) into the holy river Ganges, along with thousands of other people and their Thakurs.

BEST IDOL: No, its not a new Indian reality show--every neighborhood in Kolkata competes to see who can erect the most ornate, original idol of the Goddess Durga. This year it was defintely the The "Rajastani" Durga. Very impressive. It was complete with gaurds dressed in the North Indian desert style, camels, even sand inside the "pandel", which is the magnificantly constructed temporary temple where the idol is housed.

BEST BUY: The metallic-looking clay "Gonesh" statue that Keisuke bought for about one US Dollar. He has become obsessed with the half-man, half-elephant diety, who is the God of wealth, fortune, and general business sense. He claims it will be the first in a future collection.

KODAK MOMENT: When Keisuke took a picture of some military ceremony going on at the Bangladesh-India border. Some enraged gaurd stopped us and chewed us out in both Bangla and semi-sensical English. I guess its illegal to snap photos of the military or something. It was extra scary since a crowd of 30 people formed almost instantaneously. We played the "dumb tourist" card pretty effectively.

STREET GOURMET: We both craved the delicious-looking chow mein noodles being served in ad hoc food stalls all over the city, but no one would dare let us eat them off the street. Taking into account the recent hepatitis-B breakout due to the chow mein stallers, we ate some noodles in a reputable restaurant instead. Not as tasty, but parasite-free at least.

Well I hope that I can post my awesome Puja pictures soon. My camera cord arrived via mail today (thanks MOM!). Keep on reading...

TKP