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| Puja with Bihari family - Kolkata |
Many thanks for pointing me in the right direction, yes
Bhutan
is in the North East and I have been heading that direction anyway?
Since leaving UK
and Frankfurt airport I have travelled
through/ to :
Delhi.....
fast becoming a concrete jungle and with Japanese imported match box sized cars
everywhere, replacing
India's
own good old AMBASSADOR , pollution is a major worry even for those
living in the outskirt of the city.
Chandigarh.
( Punjab ).... my living quarters, roof top flat and the weather reminded me of
the
Greek Islands experience, without the sea
breeze of course. The family wedding, bangara music together with lots of
memories and good old home made Punjabi food made the stay in the city
worthwhile. There is nothing much else to do.
Hoshiapur..... full of old memories and full of new
mansions, which are holiday homes for most rich Punjabi living in the
UK and
USA.
Amritsar....
Pollution by car and tourist like me has destroyed the magic of the Sikh holy
city.... shame!
Wagha Border town
Wagha Border.... between India
and Pakistan....
only stop there if you have a great desire to witness 1000's Indians chanting
their national anthem while the guards are busy flexing their muscles twice
daily.
Shimla.... one night in a hotel, converted old palace, still
holds the magic of the British Raj, enjoyed only by the rich Indians , like me
you may say?
Asansol (
West Bengal)....
shitty old industrial town where I went to celebrate diwali ( festival of
lights) with Hindu families. Though the festival did not live up to my
expectation I did have an enjoyable ride in an old treasured AMBASSDOR car ,
fast becoming extinct.
Kolkata ( Calcutta)....
full of extinct battered old AMBASSDOR, yellow once and white once carrying out
taxi service .... so this is where they finally come to rest in peace?
Kolkata famous How rah railway station was once full of
human waste, and it has now been given a good clean, good job but I
wonder where have all the humans have been relocated?
The old Kolkata rickshaws are still pulled by men with bare
feet , some parts of
India
refuses to move with time... sad!
The highlight of my stay in Kolkata was to accompany Bihari
family to their annual puja ( prayers) in which they offer abundance of fruit
to the sun God. The colourful event , 3km long , led by very young and old,
some of them had fasted for 3 days and a few were brave enough to perform the
ultimate endurance test of reaching the banks of R. Ganges, inch by inch, in
prostrating position. This magic of India I hope will never change with
time.
While most of you are running around for festival season
celebrations, my next 6 weeks will be spent roaming around:
Darjeeling(
esp. Kurseong to dig up some more old memories)
Sikkim,
Bhutan,
Assam, Meghalaya and I might just cross the
border to say hello to
Bangladesh?
I shall no doubt be in “ cloud
9" see you there!!!
Love,
Davinder x
ps....I am very grateful for those who write to me with your
news and correct my mistakes, it keeps me alive! So please don't stop but
keep it short and sweet ..... Thanks
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