Quiet Kolkata (Calcutta)?

I made it to Kolkata this morning after an arduous 12 hour bus ride (the train was sold out). The first half of the bus ride was especially torturous because the roads are often not wide enough (or are just too damaged) for 2 lanes of truck/bus traffic and so we had to stop repeatedly to let oncoming traffic go by, or sometimes we just did a little "off road driving". When we stopped it got too warm but no one wanted to open the windows. Ohh and of course there was incessant honking! It must have gotten better later on because eventually I fell asleep.

The highlight of the bus trip was seeing all of the castle-like temple facades that house various Hindu gods and goddesses (like the one in the picture) as we drove by all the different towns. In front of one there was a family dancing wildly, this made me smile.

As it is still Diwali (the festival of lights) there were Christmas lights and tea lights on and in front of many of the houses and shops. Even in front of the makeshift dwellings on top of piles of hay.

The most shocking thing about Kolkata so far is how quiet it has been, I was prepared for hoards and hoards of people and traffic and constant hastling, but there has been very little of any of that. I think that is due to the major strike that is going on. (called for by several political parties but I haven't figured out exactly why yet). Most businesses were closed today and the streets were almost empty, save for kids playing cricket!

I had a pleasant stroll around part of the city. One new thing I saw was people washing themselves and their clothes in the streets, there are certain corners where water bubbles out from under the sidewalk, and that's where I saw people and clothes all lathered up. Sometimes it seemed as though kids were having fun doing this. I'm not sure if they were homeless, didn't have running water in their homes or for some reason preferred to use the water from there.

A few people asked for money or food but it was really nothing more than if you walked down parts of Burnside in Portland. Maybe they are a little more persistent though.

Overall people seemed to be relaxing, playing cards in the street, watching the cricket games etc. Someone told me the mood is tense because of the strike but I didn't sense that. The man that told me that had been waiting for his regular bus that wasn't showing up, and at that moment there was an energetic rally going on nearby.

Here's something interesting- I have read that many people here are actually not so fond of Mother Theresa, they feel that she gave the city a bad image and has cost them millions of dollars in tourism money. Some people criticize her for not addressing the root causes of poverty and suffering (over-population and AIDS and other diseases) as her order (The Missionaries of Charity) is against contraception. Others call her a religious imperialist.

Kolkata is nationally thought of as the intellectual and cultural capital of India, and its residents aren't too happy when the sole connotations people outside of India have of their city are suffering and poverty.

Ohh I have so much to finish writing about, Darjeeling, Nepal, the Daywalka Foundation etc. Maybe later. Now its time to eat!

Update- after I wrote the above I went outside and there was a wonderful little parade in the streets, there were piles of kids with gods/goddesses on top if truck beds, and people playing drums and dancing with abandon. it seemed pretty organic and spontaneous, this was no Macy's parade, but it was much better in my opinion. This is what I wanted to see in India! Well one of the things.