Christmas but Crazier

Namascar from the festiva-crazed town of Calcutta (Kolkata I should say), West Bengal! This is the ninth day of the biggest Hindu festival of the year, and I am having a good time touring the city with my friend and fellow Fulbrighter Keisuke.

The ride here was a bit rough. OK, it was pretty much Hell. It was 14 hours on a Bangladeshi bus whose shocks had been ground to dust years ago. I honestly think I know what the dice in the Yahtzee cup feel like now. Note to self: wear sports bra next time taking BRTC international bus. We survived though. Hey, you still can't beat twenty bucks for an international trip.

Anyway, we spent last night walking all around Calcutta with my uncle and viewing the Puja "Pandels," or extravagent temporary structures built to house the idols of the mighty 10-armed warrior goddess Durga. Every neighborhood builds one and there's a big competition to judge who has the best pandel. Some are modeled after the Indian Parliament building, others like South Indian temples, one last year was modeled after the White House in D.C.!!! There are black-and-white Durgas, metal Durgas, clay Durgas, and she is always shown brandishing a weapon in each of her ten hands, stomping on demon, and riding into town on a hard-core looking lion. Durga rocks. I prayed to her for strength, courage, wisdom, and a better bus ride back to Dhaka. Saturday all of the idols be marched down the street in a dancing, shouting, drum-beating procession for immersion in the holy river Ganges.

Well, I wish I could post pictures, but I forgot my camera cord. Mom airmailed it a week ago, so it shouldn't be too long. Until then, you'll just have to imagine me hanging out in Calcutta with my favorite Deity.

Must run...much bad street food to eat...

TKP