This post is not intended for pity's sake, but for informational purposes only. All feelings of pity which might incur within the readers of said post ought to be directed at the people of the city of Kolkata who live and endure the bad things, listed hereafter, during everyday of their lives. No pity is to be directed at the author. The author of the following post knows what fresh air tastes like and will rejoice in God's goodness when able to return to it, but the natural born inhabitants of the aforementioned polluted city have no knowledge of this beautiful way of breathing, nor have they the blessing of a physician to advise them in times of illness.
I am having a hard time breathing, and I choke on the pollution in the air here. Others say that they are having no problems it just smells a little bad, yet still others say that it was very bad for them at first as well and that you become adjusted to the level of pollutants in the air in about a month. I find this inability to breath fresh air my most distressing complaint. Volunteers say that it is like smoking two packs of non-filtered cigarettes a day. I think it much worse than that, and far less relaxing. Every time I blow my nose everything comes out black, not dark, but black. The back of my throat hurts and I get headaches frequently.
I have been having some bad dizzy spells and I read on my Mefloquine (anti-malaria pills) that it is a side affect. I don't like it. I have also noticed increased paranoid or "freaked out" feelings where I don't usually have them. Very weird, if I do say so myself, because a part of my brain will be going completely mad and stressing me out so much that I need to do yoga breathing to calm down, and another part of my head will be telling me that this is not a normal feeling and that I need to stop it. I am at odds with myself and I have decided that I don't care for drug induced feelings at all. I am unsure as to how I should go about contacting my doctor in WI as the time change between here and there is so drastic, but I feel I really should change my anti-malaria pills.
God is good and I am happy! Praise be to God for all the goodness, mercy, and love He showers on me and all those who love Him!
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30 comments:
Havilah!!!
Amazing to hear your posts and perspective on things. What a blessing to be there, and what a bizarre and horrible place to be. My friend Penny worked at Prem Dan for 10 mos, I'll get her to start reading your blog too.
Are you working at Shishu Bhavan with the Handicapped kids? If so- this is exactly what I did!! Let me know if it is, I would love to chat with you about it. If you ever need to complain to someone about the chaos- you've got a listening ear here!!
Tell me about the black snot- it's so gross! If you go up north to Darjeeling or east to Puri it will turn back to the clear color.. but otherwise I'm afraid it's with you.
I am praying for you!! Hang in there. :) Also- there's a library at Motherhouse that many don't know of, you can find many a great book (all spiritual tho).
God Bless,
Beth
Thanks Beth!
I found the Oxford bookshop today and
I will look for the books at Mother House maybe tomorrow.
God is beautiful!
Hey Havilah!As a member of Beth's group, the Village, I want to assure you that we'll be praying for you!
God bless and keep you in your travels!
Bad things about kolkata.
Dont know why but this place kolkata sucks.....the pollution...its really horrible...daily after college when i get back to home my eyes are red....as if some acid has been put into my eyes..
Also the cheapness of the city can be very well seen in the mere penniness of people....a city of poor people though but people fighting over amonuts woth 25paise...even ready to physically challenge each other for pennies.....India shines...Really great o hear is it not....a commercial city and hub of the nation and people dont have nything to eat...but then where is the will to work...people in this city rather are happy fighting over trivial issues.....Really sick...really pathetic....FEEL REALLY SORRY FOR THIS POOR CIY AND THE PEOPLE LIVING OVER HERE...GOD SAVE THE WORLD GOD SAVE THE EARTH....AND YES FOR THE BIG THING GOD SAVE KOLKATA...AND GOD SAVE AND HELP THE PEOPLE LIVING HERE.......
dear deepak n the rest of u... By the way u speak..u atleast sound like a Calcuttan...SHAME ON YOU!!! And for the rest..its easy to talk..try acting on what you talk!..Yes, it has a lot of poor people but it also does have 'visitors' like you who are all full of shit, you know why, because you can only talk...try acting towards making this city better than complaining..obviously all of u- cant do that! Mother Teresa worked in Kokata for all those who speak of the poor u must also be knowing that she worked for the poor...try being like that Great Soul, rather than talking crap... And u knw what..u knw her and u work for her and u still talk like this then please go back to your 'perfect land' (however utopian that sounds)because you are not meant for Kolkata.
I have lived in this city for 18 years ..studied there and loved it...If you cant love it then try improving it. Unlike what the author said, feelings of pity do not rise against the people of Calcutta but for you pitiful people who cant feel the warmth of the city!!!
You are right Sharmila, about Mother Teresa helping this city out. That's what this city is actually. Their people can never help salvage it. You would definitely need outsiders to clean the dirt of this city. In fact...it is the outside people who are actually bringing in all the business. In itself, Calcutta is worth nothing. Its not the dirt or filth the city displays, we have more dirt in other cities also; however, the one thing that puts me off is the sheer hopelessness on the faces of the people around. They have just lost hope of any progress here. Lack of professionalism is what really keeps business off your streets. The only thing people know to do here is talk in fancy jibberish, define the problem but not find a solution to it.....everything is overpriced and ask more for what they deserve. Even the finest restaurants serve the most pathetic food i have had across India and behave as though its the best thing available on the face of this earth....they know their rights but not their duties....i can go on forever abt this city but then i wud become like people here..talking more, doing less..overall this city gets a major thumbs down.
Well Deepak, webadi and the rest of you...talking about all the shit in kolkata, tell us one thing you have done to make this city a better place other than complaining(and am sure u refrain from doing that too when u see that can land you in trouble). If you are talking about progress and hopelessness lets look at some facts here...do u know that Kolkata has the second highest GDP in India( well i am hoping u know what GDP is...otherwise pls google, am sure u can do that much...) Do u also know that the Hoogly Bridge is the world's (mind you WORLD's) 22nd largest hanging bridge AND the ONLY ONE in INDIA so far...did u also know that coleges and Universities like Presidency and Jadavpur University are amongst India's most famous education Institues (Jadavpur University's English departmenmt being South East Asia's second best)..
I agree that people talk big here, but thats only because we have big dreams.. learn to dream, only then can they become reality ever...
Here people dont display lack of professionalism, but diplay something that at times matters a lill more than just professionalism..at least to us.. warmth.. warmth like you will never know anywhere else in the world...
As for food...ask me.. am in chennai for a few months now...people there dont serve the worst food as if it were the best, they just make the worst food the best, because of the kind of customised service you get there...and if you say food in Kolkata is bad , i am sorry that just goes a long way to show how bad your taste in food can get...
I agree that Kolkata is not heaven on earth, but for people who know the worth of love its HOME..in a way no other city could ever feel...
Hi Aishwarya,
I am also in Chennai so i can understand the pain.
Just to add to the list provided above:
1. Howrah bridge is the 6th largest cantilever bridge in the world and the only one in india.
2. People in india talk of delhi metro and also the upcoming bangalore metro. They are all running on elivated pillars. We have underground metro since 1986 when it was thought to be impossible in india.
3. Kolkata may have less number of private vehicles compared to other cities. But which city in india has bus, auto, taxi, rickshaw, tram, metro, local train, ferry service in a single city.
The people who say bad about my City, there is one suggestion, either come down to chennai so that they can understand what is hell on earth means, else meet me somewhere in kolkata so that i can give punch on kyour face which will remain throughout your life and remind you of the reason,
If anyone dares to say anyting bad about "Amar Kolkata", please try to solve the situation instead of just blaming.
Signing off as of now.
@Tanmoy.....who gives a shit about cantilever bridges and underground metros? You are off topic my friend, and you are simply validating what webadi said about kolkatans talking jibberish. There's zero civic sense and professionalism among kolkatans, and pollution is the direct result of that. And I've felt that sense of hopelessness as well, that webadi mentions, among kolkatans. Chennai's no better, however I'd give the most fucked up metro award to Kolkata.
Hi Sridhar,
Can you please tell me the reasons what made you declare the most f***ed up metro? I have seen almost all metro cities in India and Chennai is obviously the worst , but kolkata is at par with other metro cities.
Regards
Tanmoy
Funny how the Kolkatans are still desperately trying to cling to a fragile ego. I have seen Bengali people, old and young, pissing away without shame on the walls of buildings and by major roads. These are the same ones that go about bragging about how "great" the city is. The criticism of Bengalis above is valid: Rigid, lazy, over-opinionated without practical knowledge or inclinations, cling to a false sense of superiority to shield their lack of achievements and rest on the laurels of the few geniuses from the state. A city's image is nothing but the standards portrayed by its citizens - Kolkatans, unfortunately have a lot to learn when it comes to unselfish civic coexistence. With the retarded CPM finally falling away, there seems to be a glimmer of hope; but the new govt. has an impossible task of upheaval. They can build bridges, but who'll walk the average Bengali down the path of sound logic and reason?
@Sharmila Nair : First of all, when a Ramakrishna Paramahansa or a Swami Vivekananda couldn't wake up the citizens of Calcutta (oppsss Kolkata...)... what can we mortals do? Yes we can try but I guess people have more lucarative options available than just awakening the dead. Every place like humans have a time for birth and a time to die. Kolkata is long dead now and its going under the process of biodegradation. The bacterias involved in the process are the citizens of the city. People should now turn their attention to living cities like pune,blore,indore,udaipur,etc and invest their hard earned money there. I just wonder what makes property prices in kolkata go up? Kolkata has no roads, no Oxygen, no entrepreneurs who can help india shine, no beauty, no music ( mind you good songs dnt come from kolkata anymore..the old timers just play rabindra sangeet.. people there like to live upon the past ... with tons of false pride...I am a bengali too..but would never allow my daughter to marry one from this region for sure. And to the author, you are correct, people in kolkata can never know how it feels to be free, to be grand,...give a bengali in kolkata a million dollar and he will create a cheap flat with filthy colors of dark orange and blue...yuck... i hate this place and the people so much that i can go on and on for ever...but please dont take it seriously the pro-kolkatan...you are the best in this nation...and be like that for another 100 years till fools like us create a better city for our children and their future...
And to @Tanmoy i would like to say this - when you can answer this old question, as to "Why the Indians could not see Christopher Columbus' ships as they approached?", you will find an answer to your questions too...
FOR THAT PEOPLE THAT SAY THAT ////CHENNAI////is worst than KOLKATA....im soo sorry but that is not true....IS NOT JUST ME a looot of people and friends i know go to KOLKATA and they are shocked....i have lived in chennai and i agree it can get extremely pathetic at times but Kolkata IS WAYYY OVER THE TOP....really.....no words to describe it
well mr real bengali-first of all u r not a bengali.and do u know that right now kolkata has just above 48% non bengali population from bihar,up,north india and also from rest of india-this scums were not present till 1960's-and then calcutta was the city for bengalis-and it was best in entire asia.now since we are living in a democratic country we bengalis cannot kick all u stupid jerks with average iq probably less than african blacks.calcutta was made for bengalis and for british-anglo-philic society and it reached the pinnacle in 19th and early 20th century-the best thing would have been if west bengal would have become a seperate country-then guess what-where we would have been today.the city has in 4 different category as asia's first nobel prize winners-two of most renowned scientist from entire east-science polymath jc bose and one of all time great physicist satyendra bose.one of all time greatest director satyajit roy,legendary musician ravishankar who had a great impact on beatles-and so far with more nobel,oscar grammy than any other city from entire asia-only tokyo can be compared with this luminaries perhaps.your rest of india is simply begger compared to kolkata-mumbai had not produced so far a single nobel,oscar,grammy...so is the case with delhi,bangalore.only tn had produced 3 nobel but two of them are with us citizenship and one fron calcutta.only rahman and legendary mathematician ramanujan worked from there.so all you goats who are bashing kolkata,let me tell u,if we can kick all those dogs from kolkata like what raj thackrey is doing in mumbai,within a day kolkata will become hell lot better.
I was born and brought up in in Mumbai for 32 years. Now currently living in Kolkata.
Both cities more or less the same.
But Kolkata people have very less exposure to outside world. Maybe because of too much political inteference and dominance with peoples personal lives here.
Due to this 50% people are not professional and dont know the importance of time.
Mumbai on other hand is very fast with no heart. Mumbai has worst traffic and absolutely no humanity. People in Mumbai are rude, have no respect for women, follow no bus queue lines, shit everywhere openly and behave like hulligans always using abusing words.
In mumbai, even educated people ue abusive ma bhen galis at home.
That hulligan culture is less in Kolkata.
Kolkata lacks unity. Bengalis are like crabs in the basket always fighting each other. If Bengalis become one then Kolkata will improve.
Kolkata has been spoiled by illegal immigrants from neibouring countries. This should be stopped.
Well,since all Indian Nobel prize winners and over dozen Oscar and Grammy has come from Kolkata I have to ask what rest of India really had done?Kolkata has been spoiled by illegal immigrants from outside and huge non Bengali population of rest of India.For foreigners I would say rather go to other parts of Bengal i.e Santiniketan or Darjeeling where the population and crowd is less and hence less pollution and less vibrant.
Guys ,
Seriously .. i would love to meet and debate " y kolkata should even be coined as a metro " /... I mean this city sucks from every possible angle... Police dont have any clue of what they have been doing and what they need to do .. taxi/ auto services are far from satisfactory... Taxi cabs sounds as if they were manufactured by Adam and never touched thereafter... airport stinks .. roads are awful... civic sense not worth commenting ... the whole city stinks .. people eat on the footpath.. where would others walk .. on the roads .. then these Busses.. govt police they dont have any control over their operations and the way theu ply on the road... Quality of apartments is bad ... overall quality of life is so bad .. you just want to run away .. in my 36 years i have been to almost all the cities in India courtsey my father .. but ill never ever ever ever come back to this place and would seriously request anyone even remotely thinking of visint this place .. please go to nigeria or may be nanded ... dont come here ... this city is not of Joy ....
Well as intelligent bengal has already pointed out the Indian immigrants(dumb with IQ 81) who are 48% population of the city are mostly living in footpaths,slums,defecating in open place as it is found in other Indian cities like Slumbai where more than 50% people live in slums.
But Bengali Hindu,Christians,Anglo Indian,Chinese(intelligent and high Iq) are living quite well.
The great Bengali polymath and of the greatest inventor Sir JC Bose of Kolkata has been honored by IEEE for inventionof wireless communication,Radio...Bengali Physicist Ashok Sen won worlds biggest science award in the inaugural year 2012-Yuri Milner prize...a 16 year old Bengali boy Sourya Ray from Kolkata solved 2 unique puzzles set by sir Issac Newton 350 years ago and a bengali named Shami Chakraborty was one of the distinguished member who carried the London olympic opening ceremony flag...There were two Bengali in Nasa's Mars mission...
Wonder why dumb Indian(iq 81) can not achieve anything.
Read this blog-Indian Chinese Iq puzzle about dumb India(except intelligent Bengal) where I have commented and this resaearch was carried out by some American named Rushton-read this blog and enlighten yourself about how dumb Indian are and how much they are inferior toi BengaliI(IQ 93-95)
I also think that Calcutta can be saved by making West Bengal a seperate country from dumb 81 IQ India because that time we can kick all Scumdog filthy Indian with low Iq and also all illegal Muslim from Bangladesh...Then Kolkata and entire West Bengal will be a great place...simple mathematics but unfornutaly those dumb 75 Iq anonymous Indian guy doesnot understand it.
Kolkata what a shit it is. The name itself tells right shit. Whole city is filled with filth, shit, prostitutes, maniacs, I pity ppl like tagore are from this place. What an ass hole city is it. pure shit. the only place filled with scum on the earth is calcutta.
This anonymous guy is the same low IQ dumb Indian/Muslim but you should know there are 30% Muslim scum and another 30-35% dumb Indian are living in Kolkata.The Bengali Hindu who are only 35% population of Kolkata have 100% literacy and basically all those Muslim scum or predatory Indian are doing slavery of their superior Bengali Hindu master.
Actually this anonymous guy is a Barenaked Muslim scum who is trying to create a fight among us.
Hey you Muslim scum,we will burn 30% Muslim dogs alive here in West Bengal.
I agree wth Sharmila Nair.....but hey u anonymus go fuck ur ass & ur city....who the hell r u 2 say my city as shit. wat u know abt kolkata ha?
kolkata is the capital of rich cultural in india.It iz known as city of joy.centre of Trade and Commerce.worlds 2nd biggest city.We bengalis gained our name and topped in many sectors.listen all of u Every ppl in india have their own prblm,behaviour,attitude in their states but it doesnt means tat v shud degrade othrs states...although v belongs 2 othrs states but v our indians...understand tat...y v comment bad and degrade others states...rather tat v shud think how 2 mke our states as a good develop state.
i love u bro for the lovely reply of yours. lemme share mine here, im from sweet gujarat, been to kolkata while moving to bangkok, and at the airport of kolkata the immigration department just sucks they talk shit they don have any sense how they should behave with visitors or travellers. secondly my dad had been here 20 years back, while stepping out of the station few kolkatans tried to loot him, and then he returned to motherland from the station itself, never even though of going to kolkata anymore, fuck you kolkatans _|_ u people suck to the core even being so literate lmao.
@ as visiter
still bengalis are think about puzzles and radios come to reality think about situation and fix it
I wish my Best wishes it will happen by early
God has to come and save the bengalis
I think You are a Mero,I mean typical money minded poop marwari
I don't think You belong to a cultured area
Yes the only bad thing about Kolkata is it's education but other than that it's no less than Mumbai or Delhi
Get a life
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