Kolkata 12-2005

We have been in the city for less than 24 hours and have blended right into the lifestyle. We have negotiated the bureaucratic machinations of the banking system, gone shoe & grocery shopping, used an Internet cafe, seen a play and chased it up with late night clubbing with the Calcutta Club set – barra pegs of whiskey and rum along with Chicken Reshmi Kebabs.

The play was produced by a theater group called Rupo-Darshini and was set among the lives of Sunderban inhabitants. The theater (at the Academy of Fine Arts) is one of the less attractive places to watch a play in the city. The theater was barely half full – a sad plight for what was definitely a good production. The director/lead actor made an appeal at the end to spread the word if we liked the play.

Awake at 4 AM, although that is better than the no sleep condition of last night. Sounds of street construction filter through the closed windows, the cawing of crows welcome the dawn. Day 2 begins.