When we finally got in to Kolkata on the 21st, we were worn from delays and most folks went to their room. I made a new friend; a young pastor with an amazing heart named Joseph. He is native to south eastern India and had come up as a special guest of one of our speakers. He had never been to Mother Teresa's charity and so we went together.
First, let me tell you that if you think the drivers of your own geography are challenged or they scare you, don't come to India. Lines, signals, and road signs are all considered merely suggestions and every driver we have seen is willing and able to turn a two lane road into 8! It's crazy...but amazing at the same time.
Mother Teresa's home is humble as you would expect. She stayed in a room that was somewhere between 9 and 10 feet across and only about 15 feet deep...that is right at or under 150 square feet and from there she prayed, handled charity business and mail, wrote, and slept. The bed is nothing more than a metal frame cot with a mattress with just over an inch of thickness to it to break the harshness of the wire spring mesh that ran from frame post to frame post. The room was right over the kitchen and never had air conditioning, so in the hot Indian summers, Mother Teresa slept and worked over the hottest place on the property. While we were there, we checked out the archive room with her life's work depicted through articles, awards and photos. We even got to see her noble peace prize. We experienced part of a daily mass and watched her many sisters carrying on her work in her absence. We visited the site where she is entombed (just off the main courtyard). It was a beautifully peaceful and moving experience.
After spending a good chunk of our afternoon there (it sucks you in and you just don't feel rushed to leave), we decided we would walk at least part of the way back and see the slums and other parts of the city. To say that most of what we saw was easily classified as first or second world type stuff just doesn't do it justice.
We became part of the crowd (as much as any Indian and white male could in he context). As we walked we saw people defecating on the streets, drug sales and usages happening, literally thousands of shack and lean to type structures that served as shops and homes, and tons of people. My host and walking companion told me that what I saw was the real India and was representative of what 80% or more of the people in the country experience as life. The issues regarding women, the economy, healthcare, drug use and abuse, etc. were no longer theories on paper, but now had real names and faces to associate with them. The despair was so thick in some places it was heart breaking. As I get pictures loaded, I will tell more of these stories in the days and weeks to come to where you can see some of what I saw a little more clearly.
Many in my group had already explored much of the city on past trips, so I am forever in my debt to Joseph who helped me get an inside look at India in ways that others might not have been able to or wanted to experience. I'll share his story and picture in an upcoming post.
First, let me tell you that if you think the drivers of your own geography are challenged or they scare you, don't come to India. Lines, signals, and road signs are all considered merely suggestions and every driver we have seen is willing and able to turn a two lane road into 8! It's crazy...but amazing at the same time.
Mother Teresa's home is humble as you would expect. She stayed in a room that was somewhere between 9 and 10 feet across and only about 15 feet deep...that is right at or under 150 square feet and from there she prayed, handled charity business and mail, wrote, and slept. The bed is nothing more than a metal frame cot with a mattress with just over an inch of thickness to it to break the harshness of the wire spring mesh that ran from frame post to frame post. The room was right over the kitchen and never had air conditioning, so in the hot Indian summers, Mother Teresa slept and worked over the hottest place on the property. While we were there, we checked out the archive room with her life's work depicted through articles, awards and photos. We even got to see her noble peace prize. We experienced part of a daily mass and watched her many sisters carrying on her work in her absence. We visited the site where she is entombed (just off the main courtyard). It was a beautifully peaceful and moving experience.
After spending a good chunk of our afternoon there (it sucks you in and you just don't feel rushed to leave), we decided we would walk at least part of the way back and see the slums and other parts of the city. To say that most of what we saw was easily classified as first or second world type stuff just doesn't do it justice.
We became part of the crowd (as much as any Indian and white male could in he context). As we walked we saw people defecating on the streets, drug sales and usages happening, literally thousands of shack and lean to type structures that served as shops and homes, and tons of people. My host and walking companion told me that what I saw was the real India and was representative of what 80% or more of the people in the country experience as life. The issues regarding women, the economy, healthcare, drug use and abuse, etc. were no longer theories on paper, but now had real names and faces to associate with them. The despair was so thick in some places it was heart breaking. As I get pictures loaded, I will tell more of these stories in the days and weeks to come to where you can see some of what I saw a little more clearly.
Many in my group had already explored much of the city on past trips, so I am forever in my debt to Joseph who helped me get an inside look at India in ways that others might not have been able to or wanted to experience. I'll share his story and picture in an upcoming post.
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