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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsCalcutta pictures (dial-up warning)
My wife and I went to Calcutta this weekend for two reasons: for me to meet her family, and to avoid the first hellish day of Ganesh Chaturthi (the largest Hindu festival in Mumbai). Here are some pictures I took.
Here are some street views driving from the airport:
It will take me a while to get used to cars driving on the left...
Calcutta is "eastern" in a way that is difficult to describe -- the architecture, the vegetation; we're actually closer to Rangoon than Mumbai. This gives some small idea of it.
One of the many lakes from the Hooghly River
Remember: cows always have right-of-way.
We went first to my late father-in-law's family's house.
That's me receiving a blessing of yogurt, grain, and flowers from my mother-in-law. The men blew conch horns like trumpets and the women did that uvulating thing. The neighbors joined in. Then the monsoon hit and we all had to sprint inside. There were some tiktikis (geckos, sort of) that came in with us, but I couldn't get a good picture of them.
Being blessed is thirsty work, so I had some refreshing green coconut water after, along with the traditional meal of rice, lentils, fried fish, and fried fish roe.
The family (my family now, I suppose) was wonderful. I had a Bengali phrasebook that was somewhat useful:
Tea: "cha"
Good: "bhalo"
Uncle: "please see the attached 7-page insert on kinship terms". Sigh. There were I think 6 uncles and 14 cousins there, all of whom had a different relationship name with me (father-in-law's older brother is "jetu", while father-in-law's younger brother is "gakhu", etc.)
Then we went to the bazaar to try to find me some sandals. Unfortunately, while my feet go to 11, Indian shoe sizes generally do not.
After that, we went to my Mashimoni's apartment (mother-in-law's younger sister) in the middle of the city. She has this really cool place that is difficult to describe and I didn't get good shots of what was so interesting, unfortunately: the hallway between the rooms is actually a balcony; you have to go outside to get between rooms. But that doesn't quite get it either because the line between "outside" and "inside" is a little blurry because there are awnings everywhere.
Anyways, here's the view from her balconies:
(This balcony, apparently, has a monkey problem)
And here's me with my mashimoni and her housekeeper (who has been employed by the family for 60 years; her granddaughter is about to get her Master's degree in chemistry, which is a sign of how India is changing).
Finally, we went to my shashuri's (mother-in-law's) house for the Ganesh holiday there (it's not as big in Calcutta as Mumbai. However, my attempt to rename it "A Ganeshtivus for the rest of us" was not taken up).
Here is Lord Ganesh in his house inside the apartment building lobby before the adornment and ceremony.
And here's the ceremony in full swing, with Agni (the fire) taking the offerings of sweet wood and ghee.
And here's the view from the front.
Calcutta is a beautiful city and I can't recommend it highly enough.
Bucky
(53,929 posts)Great pictures! Thanks for sharing them. It's interesting that the festival of Ganesh is less popular (or at least less frenetic) in Kolkata than in Mumbai. What's the differences between the two cities that accounts for such different celebrations?
Recursion
(56,582 posts)Kolkata is 5 million, Mumbai is 20 (depending on how you count). Also, Ganesh is more highly revered in the west than in the east, both historically and because the Marathi population of Mumbai makes a point of pushing its strain of Hinduism against immigrants from the south. Finally, there's something to be said for civic character; Kolkatans (and Bengalis in general) consider themselves as more cosmopolitan and intellectual than the rest of India and try to do everything more "properly". The closest analogy I can come up with is saying Mumbai is like LA and/or NYC, and Kolkata is like Boston. The joke is every living room in Mumbai has a picture of Shah Rukh Khan (the Bollywood star); Delhi, Gandhi; Kolkata, Rabindranath Tagore (the poet laureate of India).
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)petronius
(26,595 posts)Hope you've gotten over the beri-beri, dengue, malaria, aneurysm, leprosy, strong fives, moon pall, or whatever it was that WebMD told you you have...
Recursion
(56,582 posts)Literally translated, it means "diarrhea without dignity". Oy.
Solly Mack
(90,758 posts)Art_from_Ark
(27,247 posts)It's also interesting that the Bengali word for tea, "cha", is also the Japanese word for tea.
Recursion
(56,582 posts)That is, "tea" entered European languages as "cha" and by the time it got to English had morphed to "tea". As far as I can tell it's a universal Chinese loanword.
hunter
(38,301 posts)Enthusiastically K&R.
fadedrose
(10,044 posts)So natural...
Your new family is very attractive and look to be loving..
I really love all the trees. I am a tree person, and can't bare to look at a street without trees. I would like it there.
Thank you for posting....
Recursion
(56,582 posts)I'm a tree person too; despite how unfamiliar many of the tree types are to me, I love that they're around.
LeftofObama
(4,243 posts)Thank you so much for posting them. Please keep them coming.
A Ganeshtivus for the rest of us.
IGoToDU
(177 posts)Really enjoyed the "virtual trip." Your explanations of Mumbai v Kolkata are very interesting too! Great photos!!!!
elleng
(130,710 posts)How are you feeling? Recovered?
AnneD
(15,774 posts)Ganesh Chaturthi at a friend's house. Hubby threw it to celebrate his music school. We bought a statue of Ganesh. I wanted a plain clay one, not knowing that he was was made from clay. My daughter got the most understated one. I was examining it and ask my husband what Ganesh was holding etc. He suddenly said that all Gods need transportation and Ganesh travels on the back of a rat. Well what do the other Gods use for transportation I asked. Laxshmi uses a swan, Ganesh uses a rat, Shiva uses a bull, Jesus uses a donkey.....
At that part, I cracked up. I started envisioning Car and Driver doing a Divine Drives edition.
Test your knowledge...
http://www.braingle.com/trivia/quiz.php?id=99
I got 90 so I must have absorbed some cause I never studied.