We promised ourselves we would make it back to Kolkata after leaving early to run the rickshaw race! I am so, so glad we did the rickshaw race, but also so glad we made it back to Kolkata as our week there was one of my favorite weeks so far of our trip. I kept thinking during our time in India, I really love India, but I dont think I like being a tourist here. Our week in Kolkata gave us the chance to settle in a bit, volunteer at the Mother Theresa homes, and see India from another viewpoint.
Working at the Mother Theresa homes was incredible in itself. To be a part of what Mother Theresa started was humbling and inspiring. To be a part of a community that was there to serve from all over the world- serving, in the simplest of ways, laundry, washing, hugging, painting nails, massaging, and yet feeling inspired by those simple tasks and feeling as if you are following in the footsteps of someone who loved beyond all barriers. The home that I worked at was for people that simply could no longer care for themselves and had no where to go. The building was new, open and light and surrounded by gardens. The resident women were not beautiful by physical standards, several with severe deformities, eyes removed, burned, heads shaved to keep away lice, etc. Some were grumpy with the volunteers, some really excited to sit and chat in their native language or have their nails painted, but either way I wish I could have heard each and everyone of these ladies stories. Where they had come from, what they had lived through, seen, heard, experienced, and how they had found their way to Prem Don.
Every morning at the Mother house, mass was held at 6am, followed by breakfast for the volunteers at 7. The breakfast was bread, bananas and chai. It was so cool because there are 6 or 7 places that the volunteers are sent, so breakfast was a time for everyone to see each other, hear how peoples days were, etc. After breakfast, we said a prayer, sang a song, the gate opened and we were released to travel to our different locations. I walked each day with Janet, a wonderful women from the UK who had come to Kolkata on her own to volunteer for the month. Janet and I always had the nicest chats while navigating the crazy streets of Kolkata to Prem Don. I loved meeting Janet and several other of the volunteers who inspired me with their willingness to come to India to serve. The volunteers were so diverse, from all over the world, all had a different reason for coming, some staying a day, some staying for 6 months. But no matter where they were from or how long they were there, everyone I met at PD was so amazing.
While I worked at PD, Toriann worked across town at another mother house-Working at the Mother Theresa homes was incredible in itself. To be a part of what Mother Theresa started was humbling and inspiring. To be a part of a community that was there to serve from all over the world- serving, in the simplest of ways, laundry, washing, hugging, painting nails, massaging, and yet feeling inspired by those simple tasks and feeling as if you are following in the footsteps of someone who loved beyond all barriers. The home that I worked at was for people that simply could no longer care for themselves and had no where to go. The building was new, open and light and surrounded by gardens. The resident women were not beautiful by physical standards, several with severe deformities, eyes removed, burned, heads shaved to keep away lice, etc. Some were grumpy with the volunteers, some really excited to sit and chat in their native language or have their nails painted, but either way I wish I could have heard each and everyone of these ladies stories. Where they had come from, what they had lived through, seen, heard, experienced, and how they had found their way to Prem Don.
Every morning at the Mother house, mass was held at 6am, followed by breakfast for the volunteers at 7. The breakfast was bread, bananas and chai. It was so cool because there are 6 or 7 places that the volunteers are sent, so breakfast was a time for everyone to see each other, hear how peoples days were, etc. After breakfast, we said a prayer, sang a song, the gate opened and we were released to travel to our different locations. I walked each day with Janet, a wonderful women from the UK who had come to Kolkata on her own to volunteer for the month. Janet and I always had the nicest chats while navigating the crazy streets of Kolkata to Prem Don. I loved meeting Janet and several other of the volunteers who inspired me with their willingness to come to India to serve. The volunteers were so diverse, from all over the world, all had a different reason for coming, some staying a day, some staying for 6 months. But no matter where they were from or how long they were there, everyone I met at PD was so amazing.
I, Toriann spent my week at Shishu Bhavan were I worked with handicapped children. As expected the first day was hard and intense but as the week porgressed it became easier and even more rewarding then I imagened. Every morning I would come in and say hello to all the children as they sat in there chairs waiting for breakfast. I spent my week mostly working with Bobeta one of the most beautifl girls ever. She has cerebral palsy and is unable to walk, crawl or talk, never the less, we really bonded. Her eyes would widen and she would get a big smile on her face every morning when I would come in and say hello. During my days I would feed Bobeta, change her dipper, do some exercises and just sit by the window so she could look out into the world. Feeding time was always difficult with her but I managed to get the food down after a few songs and some tickling. If she was distracted or laughing the food went down but otherwise she would be feisty and just spit the food out and make a big mess...oh the joys of children :) Exercise time was very therapeutic for her, she would relax her muscles as I stretched her legs and her arms. Although she can not walk, sit up or crawl she loved being in those postions. With much help I would walk her to the window so she could stair out into the world, or I would cross her legs and we would sing "patty cake" and other kids songs as she sat up. Bobeta really loved "patty cake" as well as loved being tickled, she would just start laughing uncontrolably. I love listening and watching children laugh it is just the most innocent thing ever. Working with Bobeta and spending the week at Shishu Bhavan has definitely touched my hart and opend my eyes to working with handicapped children...wow is it hard work. As hard as it was the experince cannot even be compared and I cannot wait to return someday soon.
( sorry dont know what happend) dder street. The street was filled with people you recognized from breakfast or from where you were volunteering. I loved it, it was like living in the dorms again, you always were running into people you knew, having a chai with someone you volunteer with, joining a group of people at Fresh and Juicy for some naan. It made the whole volunteer community even stronger and already I am missing life on Sudder street!
Another great part of returning to Kolkata was we had the honor of going to an Indian wedding. We met a large group of rowdy British (and Canadian) men having a bachelor party at a nearby hotel. They invited us along for the party to an Indian dance club and provided us with a very entertaining evening-including sweater vests, police chases, dance offs, etc. Colin, the groom(UK) and Shirley (Philadelphia) planned their wedding in the home town of Shirleys grandparents-Kolkata. Colin and Shirley were kind enough to invite Toriann, myself and two other friend, Gered and Sara (Denmark) to the wedding. We got invited at about 9:30pm the night before the wedding, and Toriann and I knew we had to find Saris to wear the next day. Lucky enough, in India, there is always a guy with a shop and it didnt take long to find a man with a wholesale sari shop who sold us 2 beautiful saris.
The next day, after working at the Mother house, we started getting dressed for the wedding, realizing we had no idea how to put them on. The sari is one long piece of fabric, but put on correctly, they look amazing. The women who worked at our guest house, Shanti, was kind enough to come up and dress us, but she was puzzled by the fact that we were missing half the sari. You are supposed to get a simple skirt to wear underneath the actual sari, but we had not had time so had just planned on wearing shorts. Shanti was unimpressed with our idea and kept saying 'this will not work' and we said 'it has to work!' She ended up totally pulling it off and made us feel so beautiful!
The wedding was a traditional Bengali-Hindu wedding, with a few western modifications. The bride was beautiful in a red and gold sari with gold jewelry and hair pieces, and the groom was decked out, wearing a tall, white hat with two balls hanging down the sides and a long red robe. The wedding was held on the rooftop of the beautiful Taj Bengal hotel. The groom rode onto the hotel grounds on a white horse, proceded by a marching band. After some dancing, the wedding party (besides the horse) moved to the roof to begin the wedding ceramony. The wedding ceremony, in a traditional Hindi wedding, can take up to 4 hours, including the moment where the bride is revealed to the groom for the first time. Shirley and Colin skipped parts of it, but still completed many of the rituals, guided by a Hindi holy man, including walking around a small fire 7 times.
After the ceremony, Colin and Shirley were officially married, the party really got started. There were Bengali dancers that came and performed to get the dancing going-full on Bollywood style. The Indians are amazing dancers and we had a great time dancing in our saris under the stars. After dancing up an appetite, we enjoyed the amazing food and drink while getting to know some of the friends of the bride and groom. I am so grateful to Colin and Shirley for extending the invitation and being so generous!!
Overall, our week in Kolkata was so good. I would have liked to stay for longer, but next up Andaman islands!
Another great part of returning to Kolkata was we had the honor of going to an Indian wedding. We met a large group of rowdy British (and Canadian) men having a bachelor party at a nearby hotel. They invited us along for the party to an Indian dance club and provided us with a very entertaining evening-including sweater vests, police chases, dance offs, etc. Colin, the groom(UK) and Shirley (Philadelphia) planned their wedding in the home town of Shirleys grandparents-Kolkata. Colin and Shirley were kind enough to invite Toriann, myself and two other friend, Gered and Sara (Denmark) to the wedding. We got invited at about 9:30pm the night before the wedding, and Toriann and I knew we had to find Saris to wear the next day. Lucky enough, in India, there is always a guy with a shop and it didnt take long to find a man with a wholesale sari shop who sold us 2 beautiful saris.
The next day, after working at the Mother house, we started getting dressed for the wedding, realizing we had no idea how to put them on. The sari is one long piece of fabric, but put on correctly, they look amazing. The women who worked at our guest house, Shanti, was kind enough to come up and dress us, but she was puzzled by the fact that we were missing half the sari. You are supposed to get a simple skirt to wear underneath the actual sari, but we had not had time so had just planned on wearing shorts. Shanti was unimpressed with our idea and kept saying 'this will not work' and we said 'it has to work!' She ended up totally pulling it off and made us feel so beautiful!
The wedding was a traditional Bengali-Hindu wedding, with a few western modifications. The bride was beautiful in a red and gold sari with gold jewelry and hair pieces, and the groom was decked out, wearing a tall, white hat with two balls hanging down the sides and a long red robe. The wedding was held on the rooftop of the beautiful Taj Bengal hotel. The groom rode onto the hotel grounds on a white horse, proceded by a marching band. After some dancing, the wedding party (besides the horse) moved to the roof to begin the wedding ceramony. The wedding ceremony, in a traditional Hindi wedding, can take up to 4 hours, including the moment where the bride is revealed to the groom for the first time. Shirley and Colin skipped parts of it, but still completed many of the rituals, guided by a Hindi holy man, including walking around a small fire 7 times.
After the ceremony, Colin and Shirley were officially married, the party really got started. There were Bengali dancers that came and performed to get the dancing going-full on Bollywood style. The Indians are amazing dancers and we had a great time dancing in our saris under the stars. After dancing up an appetite, we enjoyed the amazing food and drink while getting to know some of the friends of the bride and groom. I am so grateful to Colin and Shirley for extending the invitation and being so generous!!
Overall, our week in Kolkata was so good. I would have liked to stay for longer, but next up Andaman islands!
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