Like this:

Kolkata

A local Hindu Goddess – Kali (Kol)- lends her name to this kata (meaning area) hence the name of this vast sprawling metropolis, Kolkata. The Deity Kali is the one that makes us free inside and I think she must be very powerful as that was most definitely the prevailing feeling within our group. The name Calcutta is not used anymore locally.

After a short 15-minute trip from the airport, we arrived at our new Swissotel to enjoy a modern and comfortable residence for the next six nights. Following a free morning which enabled us to unpack properly and explore our surroundings – both within the hotel and the sizeable shopping mall joined onto it (with many cheap eating places and a drinking place called The Blue Nile – now just a mere trickle) – the group set off for the ODI at Eden Gardens.

Kali went to work again and our adventurers were surprisingly buoyant enjoying the call of the Kingfisher beer back at the pool bar and not letting a mere cricket whitewash restrict their freedom. After all there was still the T20 to come.

Our city tour proved to be an informative and very interesting excursion with Asif as our knowledgeable guide. We learned that the city was largely planned by the East India Company trading mostly in cotton, zinc, indigo and spices, that there are three main languages- Bengali, Hindi and English as the official tongue. We were also informed that it was the capital of India until 1911 when New Delhi took over the mantle and that the population consists of 70% Hindu, 20% Moslem, 3% Christian and 7% others including agnostics to make up a total of about 18,000,000 souls. It covers an area of 1,384 square kilometres and the oldest Catholic Church dates back to 1599, a relic of the Portugese occupation.

Our first port of call was a visit to a Jain Hindu Temple. Through narrow streets, one walks via a huge portal into a beautiful garden with the most exquisite temple immediately catching one’s attention. I cannot attempt to describe the detail so please look at a photograph or recall it in your mind’s eye. Jainism consists apparently of the better-off in society and they are vegetarian. This Temple is dedicated to Shitalov (hope I have that correct) who is their 10^th Goddess and the protector of fish.

From there we went to the Kumartuli – meaning the place of clay models. Here we could see the potters and artists making all sizes of various deities for their different festivals throughout the year. We met the full force of the Festival of Diwali (Festival of Lights) as it coincided perfectly with the timing of our visit, so most of the completed statues had been sold to be seen in processions on the streets. We had a good view of these later.

It would be fascinating to attend a talk by the erudite Howzat Traveller Mary Rance who has a degree in the study of religions or customs of the world (correct me Mary) where she could explain what we were looking at. On two occasions she briefly explained things to me and sense then prevailed and things came alive. I felt a bit like an ostrich which has eyes that weigh up to 80 grams each and can see clearly over vast distances but a brain that weighs only 10 grams. It can see very well but cannot understand what it is looking at.

After a coach ride around the city centre, with some of the most beautiful colonial architecture imaginable – including the awesome Governor’s House boldly sitting on 64 acres of gardens and trees in the middle of the city – we stopped at the St. John’sAnglican Church. Even religious architecture must take into consideration the tropical climate, so the building has huge openings on the sides with shutters that can open very wide for ventilation by the overhead fans. In the grounds of the church sits a very significant memorial monument. This pays tribute to the 123 men who died in ‘The Black Hole of Calcutta’. The original site of this 10 foot by 14 foot cell with no air vents is the cornerstone of the present General Post Office a short distance away. The memorial sits peacefully in the gardens of the church bearing the names of those who perished by suffocation. Horrible. Of the 143 men forced into this small space, 20 miraculously survived the overnight ordeal in that fateful year of 1756. It made me sad.

Also in the garden is the grand octagonal Tomb of Governor Job Charnock. Strangley, this tomb made me much happier.

It was time for some retail therapy so we spent 30 minutes fighting the hordes for some street shopping right in front of our original hotel the Peerless Inn. I think it made some of our group happy that we could escape to the Swissotel. The time allotted was too short for serious shopping and bargaining but proved to be a good recce for a later date.

After a very tasty and spicy (not hot) lunch at a local (off the tourist map) restaurant we drove around the Eden Gardens complex viewing the grand buildings of the National Museum, Fort William, The Writers Building and then stopped at the Eden Gardens Cricket Ground. It was swarming with police and security personell but Asif wanted to show us the ground inside the stadium. I held my tongue. We were met with a flat refusal. Armed with the philosophy of ‘ perseverance will win in the end’, Asif  reasoned the hind leg off a donkey disappearing into the offices now and again eventually accusing them of being bad for the nation’s economy and tourism in general until after about 30 minutes we were suddenly allowed in.

It was a lovely moment to be escorted by armed police and security to be able to view the stadium at ground level. Of course our group was very polite shaking hands with everyone in sight and what’s more we could even take pictures. It is something special for any cricket lover to experience one of the most famous and fabled cricket grounds on earth and our Howzat Travel group did just that. Asif had managed to do something in half an hour that had taken me four hours to do on my recce having had to get permission from the department of Internal Security.

In high spirits and amid congratulations for Asif we set off to catch the ferry across the mile-wide HooghlyRiver. It was a very pleasant interlude away from the hustle and bustle of the city moving through the warm air at a leisurely pace.

We docked opposite the railway station of Howrah, where our coach picked us up. This is a huge terminus consisting of 35 platforms, 23 for human transport and 12 for cargo. It handles 700 trains per day. Every thing is big numbers in this city.

Commonly called  The British Taj Mahal, this magnificent edifice formally known as The Victoria Memorial stands as proud as any that I have seen inIndia. It was our last stop of the day and certainly provided a suitable finale. Covered in marble and with its dome and turrets mixed  with columns and courtyards it’s a remarkable smelting of Indian and Victorian design at its best. The surrounding beautiful lakes and gardens certainly add to its palatial status. I’m sure the tax payers of old would have had a fit if they had known what was going on down in Calcutta. It must have cost a fortune to build but a heritage more beautiful I have not seen for love nor money.

Everyone agreed it was a great day’s touring.

Dave and Mary, Gordon and Judith had not had enough of sightseeing so they went again the next day to see different places. Well, it certainly was just that as they went to a temple where they witnessed the sacrificial slaughter of a goat! Nigel, Andy, Ray and Christine did their own thing and Richard, Geoff, Dave C, Paul and Des went bargain hunting. Having come across with 20 kilograms weight of baggage and allowed 30 on the homeward trip, I think it was Geoff when asked how many shirts he wanted to buy said ”10 Kilograms”

We five then caught an old 1958 AustinTaxi home. About five minutes from the hotel we heard an almighty bang from the left front wheel. We immediately ground to a halt riding on the rim to park in the left lane of a freeway. It was a blow-out. There were no buildings nearby and, strangely, hardly any people visible. Our driver got out his jack and proceeded to rotate the handle. These are heavy old cars and soon we could hear him using a tone of voice in Hindu that could only be interpreted as swearing. He had turned the lever with too much pressure and it had snapped or more likely the car was too heavy for modern equipment. I have seen it in the African bush. You think you are in the middle of nowhere but have a breakdown and soon you will be surrounded by dozens of helpers. India proved to be no different. Our helpers were mostly young teenage boys but as soon as the word ‘cricket’ was mentioned they were our friends.

Our driver then proceeded to manually turn the jack to the required height and wriggled under the car to place the jack in the correct position. But first we had to lift the left side of the car up to an angle sharp enough for him to do that. With Paul the strong one among us and the help of  a few of us we tried but could not lift this heavy motor car made from thick metal of bygone times. All hands jumped in and any grip of any kind was secured by many hands and up she went. As we were reaching an angle of 45 degrees I could just imagine the car rolling over onto its hood into the next lane of the freeway. Just in time the driver shouted to lower it gently and all went according to plan and the oldAustinrested on the jack with the left front wheel well clear of the tarmac.

The wheel change went smoothly and as we were about to lift the car again the driver said he did not want to risk that angle again and jumped behind the wheel and with aplomb amazingly and ludicrously  reversed off the jack.

We were cheered off by our new friends and now drove along very slowly as the replacement tyre was a racing car slick. It was totally devoid of any tread. The Blue Nile was the first stop upon arrival.

Paul had the flash of inspiration which led to us having our Farewell Dinner taking place at the poolside on the 6^th floor overlooking a large section of the city. “Why not have a poolside barbecue?” He asked, “I’m sure they could do that for us”. So, after some negotiation, that is what I organised.

It started with a bang. We gathered for a pre-dinner drink and were greeted by a stray rocket from somewhere in the spirit of the Festival of Diwali which managed to accurately narrowly miss Andy’s strong chest and Geoffrey’s drink in his hand and crash into the wall amid us and burst into a spray of colours and sparks and explosions as it should have done in the sky way above us. Any Health and Safety man back home would have done his nut but here the staff just smiled and swept it away. We had to just giggle and know that we were part of India where tolerance is part of one’s character and the only way to survive is to be tolerant.

What I remember of the dinner was the good food and sweets but more than that I recall the spontaneous participation of our group. I have been on many tours and one of my yardsticks of a successful tour is when people sing. You sing at a wake or a party. Sorrow or joy. This was a wake of sorts as the tour was coming to an end but not yet. The party singing was started by that binding ‘spirit’ of the tour, Judith, with her truly beautiful voice –applause all round- I thought no one would dare follow other than Gordon. Dave Rance came to the fore with a powerful rendering of  ‘Unchained Melody ‘ backed up by all singing along to his lead and the party then carried on for longer than normal because Ray Ellwood entertained us with some tremendous cabaret that had him and us bouncing in our chairs. It was a good Howzat Farewell!

Further notes from the evening (courtesy of an email from Des to the Howzat HQ at 22:50, 26/10/11)

“They are mostly still partying at the swimming pool and watching the unbelievable display of fireworks across this huge city as it is Diwali as mentioned before and it sounds like a war is raging with non stop sounds of bombs and machine guns crackling in the darkness and lit up by the searchlights of the exploding rockets. It’s amazing but this has been going on since the sun set five hours ago. The visibility is being affected now by the thick pall of fireworks smoke that makes the streetlights look like they are enveloped in a thick mist on a clear starlit night. Weird. Hope the wind might stir tomorrow as so far on our trip it has gone elsewhere on leave. Not a breath on our tour so far. Richard has just walked into the room and says the chef says this bombardment will last until sunrise. Hence the tight security around this time as if India were attacked tonight they would not tell the difference between real fire and fireworks. Oh well, Good night . Dessingh.”

The next day was spent at leisure except for Dave C having to do more shopping in town for at least 100 people back home.

We went to the final T20 not knowing what to expect. We knew we were the World Champions but….

I thought things might go our way when during ‘God Save The Queen’ the big screen focused on our star Dave R singing passionately with good voice and dressed in the magnificent colours of Howzat Travel red shirt, standing out from the crowd but was not certain.

We left the stadium as a happy lot and then proceeded to take about two hours to get home.

Every street we took was filled with a procession of lorries, preceded by youths of all ages dancing weird steps and gyrations to the beat of drums, carrying the effigies that had been made in the Kumartuli village we had seen before but which had now been brightly painted and mounted in a diorama with lights all around. It was all very cheerful. Procession after procession passed us by until I thought we would never get home. What I found endearing was that each lorry was followed by a cart being pushed along by a fellow carrying a petrol generator rattling away providing electricity for the display of  hundreds of light bulbs illuminating the statues on the lorry. Some of the electric wires were dragging on the ground. No one cared.

I arranged for us to keep our rooms for the day until we were ready to take the bus to the airport which made a huge difference and a big thank you to the hotel management for that. The Swissotel had done us proud. I would recommend it to all and sundry.