Kolkata, India

Photos coming soon

TL;DR

• Amazing food everywhere you go.
• Rich culture and traditions everywhere. They are 100% baked into everything including clothing, speech, everyday behavior. Makes the US feel kind of bland in comparison.
• No enforced traffic rules, no personal space or expectation of (my idea of) politeness on sidewalks, roads, or really anywhere

Interesting Common Phrases

• Truck hand-painted lettering art - very vibrant and creative lettering, illustrations, colors. Interestingly, seeing these was one of my favorite parts of the trip.
  • Stop / Blow Horn - not sure on the meaning here
  • Safe Drive / Save Life
  • Pilot / Emergency Gate - presumably for emergency response
  • For Hire All Bengal - "we serve the entire state"
  • India Is Great
• Stick No Bills - don't stick ads/posters here
• Serum - blood/plasma
• veg, non-veg, 100% pure veg, etc. - vegetarian

I Learned

• "Unauthorized" shops and stands are everywhere. Along popular roads, what in America would be "park strip", and about half the sidewalk, is taken up by a never-ending line of merchants selling anything and everything. Their rain/sun cover tarps often extend all the way to the buildings, so you're walking through a tunnel surrounded on all sides by shops.
  • Tea, with dozens of types to choose from hanging in little plastic packets. Served in small clay cups that you just throw in the gutter when you're done.
  • Snacks, mostly in packaging, and drinks (lots of bottled water)
  • Fruit and vegetables (I assume resellers, but some might be farmers?)
  • Clothing of all kinds
  • Jewelry, belts, etc.
  • Toys, stuffed animals, books, car parts, and anything else you might need
• Winter weather is excellent there. (Yes, India is in the northern hemisphere)
• No one else in my party cared or noticed of course, but the OSM data there isn't great - I was itching to fix stuff the whole time. I bet good data there would be much more helpful and necessary than in the US.
• Castes are still a thing in India. There is inequality just like anywhere else, but it's manifested differently there.
• Air travel always seems fun in my mind, but in reality it really sucks after the first hour or so.
• British rule seems to have left a pretty lasting mark on the country.
• Many people use bikes, scooters, motorcycles, and cars, but from what I saw, very few seem to view them as interesting or as part of their identity. More as a utility, like a screwdriver. (People don't tend to polish, baby, frequently upgrade, or customize their screwdrivers. They just use them when the need arises.)

Adjustments, cultural and otherwise

From the perspective of a white american dude, lol

• Cleanliness. We were advised not to drink any tap water and to be careful what we eat. The assumption that stuff is clean unless marked otherwise is something I've absolutely taken for granted in the US, and was therefore kind of always on our minds while in India. Even after being (what I thought was) pretty cautious, I got a little of the runs toward the end. Fortunately this seemed to have been cancelled out by the ol' air-travel-constipation™! Haha.
• Non-verbal Communication. We noted that this makes up a larger importance in India. To me, a quick sideways head-tilt signals doubt, "duh", or other mildly rude things. There it means "OK" or "Understood". Once I was aware of that I saw it constantly. It's something I wish we had at home, honestly! Also, while on the street, or anywhere else with other people, I felt constantly in the way. I did notice that in the same situations, locals don't seem to feel the same discomfort. However, we were stared at constantly on the street which made me very uncomfortable.
• English. It's is one of the national languages of India, so many people technically speak it at least partially, but the dialect can be hard to understand at times. The "D" sound seems easier/more common to speak there, so it's often used instead of "T" sound. Example: I was failing to understand for an embarrassingly long time what a guy explaining "dhee" to me meant. (tea) I wish I had taken some more time to learn bengali before going.
• Bathrooms. No toilet paper, instead use bidet-like method: squirt nozzle on a hose next to the toilet! (It's easier than one might think. Just be sure to feather the valve a little!)

Trip Log (kinda dry)

Nov 19-21

• Travel
  • CDG (Paris) ~10h
  • Layover Paris 3h
  • CDG to BOM (Mumbai/Bombay) 8.5h
  • Layover Mumbai 8h
  • BOM to CCU (Kolkata) 2.5h
• Chicken shami, veg paneer wraps at Wrapafella, Mumbai airport.
• Go to family's house, greet, delicious lunch.
• Ladies select sarees from mom's wardrobe
• Men buy kurtas @ markets. Took a long time to decide on style, color, fabric, and haggle.
• Go to airbnb, very (very) friendly host guy
• Dinner - indo-chinese fusion from nextdoor restaurant. Very spicy.
• Shower and crash.

Nov 22

• At about 9, walk to fruit, veg, fish market
• Drive around the golpark area, hosts pointing out landmarks.
• Walk around british castle mansion (built for queen xxxxx)
• Drive around a bunch more, see Hooghly river, Howrah bridge, writers building
• Lunch @ "barbecue" restaurant. Ate a bunch of kebab and stuff, then they told us that was just the starter! Then biryani buffet with various meats, sauces, etc. Good lime soda.
• College Street Book Market - seemed like mostly test prep and kids' picture books etc.
• Briefly go see people who make clay figures for ceremonies
• Belur Math (temple, with big LCD screen for outside viewers)

Nov 23

• Short walk around the area. Then boggle.
• Some went for golf. Chatted for a while, practice wedding dance.
• Drive to markets and malls for gals to shop for jewelry.
• Lunch @ mall food court.
• Get a bunch of snacks, and some clothes at supermarket in mall
• Boggle.

Thu 24

• Walk around Dhakuria / Rabindra Sarobar lake. Nice, pleasant park, lots of people doing morning exercise. On the way back Google maps led us down into progressively narrower alleys until we had to turn back.
• Breakfast @ Junior Brothers (nextdoor to Gupta bros) - eat kachori (crispy donut stuff saturated with extremely sweet syrup)
• Botanical gardens and Great Banyan tree - biggest tree in the world? Didn't get to walk too long before energy was depleted.
• Walk to Spencer's supermarket again for milk, snacks, etc.
• "Pre-wedding traditions" at hotel - henna, choreographed dances, dance party, photos, etc.

Nov 25

• Up at 6ish, everyone go to hosts to get women ready, J borrow yellow kurta from hosts' collection to replace white clothes
• Drive only 3 mins or so to hotel, wait till everything ready
• Pluck marigold petals for later.
• Turmeric ceremony - paste on bride & groom, and everyone.
• Dancing, photos, etc.
• Dump water on to-be-weds
• Lunch - usual Indian stuff: Rice cooked with seasoning, chicken and sauces with tons of flavor
• Rest a couple hrs back at our apt.
• Back to hotel, girls get sarees done up.
• Ceremony with flowers, fire, lots of singing/chanting and so much tradition.
• Light kebab dinner (chicken a little raw, haha! Plus baby prawns, fish sticks, interesting "orangey" juice, soup, great chai)
• Reception, greet, and photos.
• Some not feeling well, and left for the apartment.
• Again we were informed us that that food wasn't dinner, just a starter. Real dinner was downstairs waiting for us (!!) - Ate that, then went home at about 10.

Nov 26

• Up at about 8.
• Walk to grocery store, and "cafe" (more of a restaurant serving coffee)
• Lunch leftovers and chat at hosts' house
• Leave for airport about 12:30
• Travel
  • CCU to BOM 2.5h
  • Layover Mumbai 6h
  • BOM to CDG 10h
  • Layover Paris 3h
  • CDG to home ~10h
  • The flights back home were pretty awful for me. Can't sleep on planes.
• Airline folks @ Mumbai thought we were supposed to have gone thru Bangalore(?) and since we missed that flight, the rest of our travel was messed up. They worked it out after a while.
• Samosa + chai @ Naashto PureVeg in Mumbai
• Other flights felt very long.

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I believe that in general, people are "helpful, friendly, courteous, kind". Every time I travel to a new part of the world, this belief is further cemented.