Kolkata (West Bengal) - February 19th, 2007

Last night I met Christopher, a guy from France, so we decided to spend the day doing sightseeing. He has been in Kolkata already about 10 times, so was glad to be my guide.
We took the metro which surprised me at being so clean. No one throws anything on the floor or they will be penalized (only in the Metro!), and went to visit the Kali Temple in Kalighat from which the name of Kolkata comes from.
Inside, there is a pavilion where goats are ritually killed to honor the goddess Kali (Shiva's first wife). Every day they do these secrifices and later prepare meals with the goat meat for the homeless and poor. We visited the Maidan, a very big park about 3 kms., with statues, gardens and fountains, great place to scape from the city smog. At the south end of this part is the Victoria Memorial, a classic Victoriana building in white marble, with many statues of personalities in the history of Briths India.
One interesting factor is: during the Rag days the average Kolkata family had 110 servants. Nearby is the beautiful St. John's Church.
Then, we went to visit the tomb of Mother Theresa. She was the living image of human sacrifice, borned in Serbia, was sent to India as a nun on 1939. Her coffin lies in the Motherhouse, 20 minutes walk from the hostal. The inscription in her marble tomstone reads: "love one another as I have loved you".
I stayed for a volunteer meeting, and about 15 people were there to sign up for different helping jobs. I signed up to helpo hanicappted children in the afternoon.