What an eventful week!
Last weekend, we had a two-day trip to Shantiniketan – a village area outside of Kolkata that’s known for Rabindranath Tagore, a major poet/novelist/essayist/playwright/artist/thinker. Tagore is so admired here, especially in West Bengal, and I don’t think a day goes by that I don’t hear some mention of his name. He founded a school in Shantiniketan, which means “peaceful abode.” Arundhati, Sujoy, and Vinayak came along with, since our parents had helped to organize and lead the trip. Arundhati is very involved in the arts, especially Bengali folk art, and Sujoy is very interested in history. We had a fairly long ride there – about 5 hours with stops. We stayed in a really nice cottages and had lunch before heading off to the local Saturday market. The market was wonderful! It was a local craft market – there was so much to look at and buy! Clothes, artwork, jewelry, journals, instruments, and more. I bought several pairs of earrings – they’re all made from natural materials like seeds, shells, and palm leaves. I also got some really great art – a slate etching of Ganesh and some framed copper wire art. I would have loved to stay longer, since we were given such a short amount of time there before being rushed off to a dance performance. I was upset that it was poorly planned to have only about 20 minutes there – you can’t bring us to a place like that and expect us to leave so quickly! We had to leave well before sunset though, since we were going to a dance performance in a village. The performance was wonderful to see and all I could do was sit there and think, “wow. I’m actually in a village in India.”
After the performance, we stopped at a store that sold local handmade leather products – and I bought a few gifts as well as a couple things for myself! We had a hodgepodge dinner of street food – I had a dosa (kind of like a thinner hardened crepe) and some pokoras (hard to describe – fried deliciousness – onions and other spices in a fried batter). I went to bed early that night since we had had an early morning and another long day ahead of us. The next day was all about Tagore – we visited the Tagore museum and the many houses he lived in. The museum was okay, but there were so many people and it was not well-laid out, so I didn’t spend much time in there. It was amazing to see how many people were there though – there are so many Tagore fans here, it’s a regional/national obsession. There’s good reason for it though – he was and still is incredibly influential, if not for just the sheer volume of his work but also his philosophy about education and (inter)nationalism. He believed in education for all, and also about learning about other cultures while maintaining an interest and knowledge of your own. After the Tagore morning, we spent the rest of the afternoon traveling home.
Monday and Tuesday were pretty low-key days full of class. Since Monday was Valentine’s Day, I went on a lovely date with my roommates to a nearby restaurant for some dessert. I had REAL ice cream for the first time here in India, and it was wonderful! And it was great to be out with 3 wonderful ladies – I love my roommates! :)
Yesterday was a national holiday – the birth of the Prophet Muhammad. We didn’t have class, and Madhu had arranged for us to have an art workshop that day. One of our classes here is a 2-credit course on Bengali folk art, which we have been doing through a series of events and workshops. This one was in Krishnanagar, and it was on traditional clay modeling. Arundhati, Sujoy, and Vinayak came along with again – Arundhati and Sujoy have helped to organize nearly all the art workshops. They had also invited the media (they work in PR) because this particular form of clay modeling is a dying art. It was a really early morning – we had to leave around 6:30 am. It was fine drive, until about an hour outside of Krishnanagar – we were in an accident :( a motorcycle hit our bus head-on. It happened so quickly, I didn’t really see what had happened, just a sudden screech on the breaks, falling forward, and seeing the windshield shatter. Apparently what had happened was the motorcyclist was passing (we were in the correct lane), didn’t judge it properly, was out of control and went head-on into the bus. I was in the back of the bus and didn’t see the man, but it was not looking good. Apparently there was a lot of blood – and he was transported to the hospital right away, and they took our driver along with. A huge crowd gathered, yelling in Bengali and it was so chaotic and panicked, we weren’t sure what was going to happen – accidents can have huge angry mobs. Luckily the police were there and it was calmed down quickly. None of us were injured. We’ve heard now that the man survived and is conscious, and that the CT scan was clear but he’s under observation for the next 72 hours and they’ll know his condition then. We’re all really thankful it wasn’t worse, for him and that none of us were injured.
I’m very (pleasantly?) surprised that this is the first accident I’ve witnessed here, even though the traffic is crazy. There’s usually a rhythm to it that keeps cars moving, but there have been several close scrapes that I was sure an accident was going to happen. It doesn’t help that they pass all the time, drive on the wrong side of the road (even the wrong direction on the highway!!), and don’t have seat belts (or if there are seat belts, people still don’t use them, and there’s often nothing to buckle the seat belt into). It was probably the best vehicle for us to be in and the worst for the injured man.
The accident took time – we had to go to the police station (nothing for us, just Madhu and the other program leaders sorting it out) and they had to arrange for alternate transportation for us. We eventually got back on the road (after hearing the motorcyclist had survived). We went to an artist’s house for the clay modeling, which was a lot of fun and it good to have something to do with our hands to redirect our attention and get over the shock of what had happened. We made village woman, Ganesh (a hindu god with an elephant head), and a mask. We were there for quite a while after the workshop ended, since it took so much time to get another bus. The people were wonderful though – so kind and hospitable. They entertained us with song and dance while we were waiting. We had a long ride home – we didn’t get home until a little after 10pm. It was a very long dramatic day, and I’m thankful we’re all safe.
In other news – I’ve found a on-campus job for next year! I’m going to be working as a Career Assistant with CSB Career Services. I’ll be helping students research majors/careers, critiquing resumes, conducting practice interviews, and helping plan/promote Career Service events. I’m really excited about it! It will definitely be more of a time commitment than my previous on-campus job, but there are also some great benefits for my own career development that come along with it. For example, they have assignments for you to do at work, like update your resume, research a grad school you’d like to attend, research a volunteer opportunity that interests you, etc. I think I will really enjoy it.
And, check out my piece for Pink Pangea! :) Click here: Scammed in a Kolkatan Cab.
You are the only person I know that could do these things and make it sound so fun. I am so thankful that you and no one in your group was hurt. You look like you are having such a great time, and what a time to remember. Glad to hear you was able to get a job on campus for next year. Hope you enjoy the rest of your time there, you only have a couple months left, then back home. I am sure your family and friends are missing you by now. Take care and enjoy yourself.
Chris