queen of the road

I have become something of a Kolkata public transportation warrior.

The crowded city Metro? No problem. I OWN that Park Street stop and girl, you know I work that "SmartCard." I scoff at mere ticket holders. Rickety wood-n-steel deathtrap buses? Bring 'em on---I can read the locations painted on the side in both English AND Bangla. Put that in yr pipe n' smoke it! Taxis? Please, I have no love for those Hindi speakin' Bihari drivers who try to scam me outta that extra five Rupees. I carry my own fee chart, that's right!

I've been making full use of the city's myriad forms of diesel-belching public transport this week as I commute daily from home to work. It has been an interesting experience, and certainly one that builds my traveling confidence. I've actually been lost more times that I can recall, but I've started to learn Kolkata's north-south geography much better. The Durbar office is a 30-40 minute distance from my front door, depending of course on the traffic, monsoons, whether there's a special Hindu/Muslim/Christian/Buddhist festival that day, and all the other wildcard factors that you come to expect when living in this zany country.

My work has been fascinating thus far, and I'll hopefully post a more detailed piece about my field work later. After a particularly action-packed day, I wrote up a "day in the life of Tanya " post and saved it on a floppy disk, but this computer isn't recognizing it. Stay tuned.