Not A Walk in the Park - Sunday June 26

This Sunday afternoon walk took me about a kilometre from home down a street towards the Hooghley River, a tributary of the Ganges. The area seemed much poorer, and I know it is not, but I was affected differently. I found it tough to integrate the images of desperation I encountered. I stepped around numerous people whose pillow is literally a concrete sidewalk. And even so, I encountered smiles and laughter in the midst of their lives.

Older woman with white saree.

Kolkata is the only Indian city with man-pulled rickshaws. I wonder

what he would do if he could not earn his living doing this work?

Parasitic trees cover many of the old buildings, it reminds me of  the Mayan pyramids of Tikal in the Peten Jungle. So many of the beatuiful older buildings in this city are being devoured by the jungle and the monsoon rains.

Note that many of the trees are actually growing from the INside of what was a magnificent building.

Someone's home on the sidewalk outside the mansion above.

Father and son sleeping on sidewalk. There were many people with no homes sleeping up and down this stretch of road. One and a half million people in Kolkata live like this, or sometimes with just a wee bit of plastic to call home.

During the last typhoon a couple of weeks ago six people died in Kolkata, all from high voltage lines breaking and falling into the streets. The wiring observed above is typical in the older sections of Kolkata.

The woman in the poster on the wall is Mamata Bannerjee of the Trinamool Congress party, she came to power in May 2011 and is the first party to oust the 50-year ruling communist party. 'Trinamool' in Bengali means 'grass roots' and Mamata Bannerjee has been working for change at the grass roots level for 40 years.

These "Ambassador Classic" yellow cabs are only found in Kolkata. I am not sure how they keep them in such good shape given the craaazzzzyy crowded driving conditions in Kolkata. I feel like I am taking my life in my hands each time I take a taxi ride and wish I could give each driver a medal for getting us safely to our destination!

I think I must get a colour photo printer so I can take prints back as gifts for these genuine people.

A Bengali boy.

There is plenty of fresh milk, yoghurt, cottage cheese and butter available. I wonder if it comes from these city cows?

I think sarees are beautiful.

This colourful group of women-folk engaged me for photos, they got me laughing and I felt a little better after the difficult walk up the street. I did see their living arrangements and they live so modestly. I suppose I will get used to this. They wanted to feed me, but I am still too nervous about getting sick to eat local. I am waiting till my language is better, it is all just a wee bit overwhelming sometimes.

The red mark on the woman's forehead is very traditional and indicates that she is married. But, if a woman does not have this mark it does not necessarily mean she is single. Traditions are changing.

The families put black marks on their children's foreheads to make them ugly so the demons will stay away. Note this younger woman is not wearing a saree, she is wearing the salwah kameez style outfit with a dhupata - the long black scarf. The dhupata is about two meters long and a meter wide. The salwah kameez style originates in the Punjab region of India and is not local Bengali style. But, the younger generation is preferring the salwah kameez to a saree, and sometimes dropping the dhupata entirely.

Two young fellows posing with their electronic device, it appears to be an MP3 player of some sort.

Inner courtyard with papaya tree.

A deserted lane.

Trip to Pune June 20-24

Pune is a five hour flight to the west from Kolkata, and light years away! What I mean is, economically, developmentally and culturally it was like landing in a different country. And I was quite taken by surprize. The language is different and a few simple demographic stats will explain the following images. Pune is a city of roughly four million people - sixty percent of the people have middle-class income and expectations, forty percent are surviving in slums, thirty percent of the population is muslim, and 2.2 million people are youth  under 25 years old (1.8 million are under age 15). India has an enormous futrure work population and the need for access to education and training must be one of the greatest needs.

I was in seminar every day and my only photos are from taxis through town, but none-the-less the photos tell much!

Pune skyline - a city of four million and growing

The traffic is somewhat organized and not near as dense as Kolkata. A bustling city with mostly new vehicles, new buses, air-conditioned taxis, motorbikes and scooters, and of course the ubiquitous auto-rickshaw.

This says it all - Pune is an Indian city bustling with industrial development. Volkswagon and Ford are moving in over the next few months.

Shades of things to come ... developments are springing up everywhere!

Looking like the mediterranean!

Very modern and contemporary architecture. So different from where I live in Kolkata where most buildings were built in 1931 or so. See June 18 posting.

Pune is running! Educational and training facitilities are growing exponentially along with increasing incomes and lifestyles.

Get ready, set, go! Waiting at a stoplight. Fuel is becoming more expensive in India making motorbikes and scooters one of the preferred means of travel.

A young and modernizing population.

Women driving scooters and motor bikes are never seen in Kolkata, but are enjoying their rides here in Pune! Although there are many muslim women who cover their faces as custom, this woman is not muslim, notice the orange saree under her sweater. Women wear head scarves to protect their skin from the sun and lungs from pollution.

One of the new shopping malls. There were also many McDonalds and KFCs. My favourite is Coffee Day, the Starbucks of India!

Young modern Pune woman.

The old is mixing with the new.

Auto-rickshaw driver.

A Ghandian man in early morning sun.

Father and son preparing flowers for their day at the market. So beautiful!

The flower market.

A man delivering goods with his bicycle.

A slower way to live.

Young people on the move and upwardly mobile.

Looks so Mexican with the tile roofs and colourful trucks!

The other forty percent are still just surviving and living in slums. It is such a contrast, so confusing, and will be the greatest challenge for Pune and much of India. Urbanization of the nation is only one of the contributing factors.

Woman in saree carrying pots through the forest. Sarees were scarce compared with Kolkata which seems about ten to fifteen years behind Pune.

A woman on bike in traditional salwah kameez. These were also more scarce in Pune as the population is so young and the young prefer blue jeans.

Waiting for the bus.

The condos where I stayed with my friend Ruby, a wonderful woman from South India. She spoiled me rotten and we had great fun!

Bougainvilla and flame flower trees nestled into bamboo.