Day Nine - শ্তভযাত্রা (śtabho jātrā) - Bon Voyage

Our last day in Kolkata, India. We had to board the bus to the airport at 5pm but that meant we were free for the rest of the day. I went with Lili, Mike, and Atisha to see Howrah in the morning. Howrah is on the west bank of the Hooghly River and is very often left out when any discussions arise on the topic of Kolkata. It is frequently omitted from maps as well. This neglect is physically evident when you're there in person.The stench on this side of the city is overwhelmingly worse than in any other place in Kolkata. We purposely went out to see the bustees but I don't think we found them. What we did find were narrow streets, tall buildings, and a densely packed atmosphere. Raw sewage flowed openly in the channels on the edges of the streets. There was little regard for hygiene. Black flies were everywhere.
The photographs I chose to post here do not illustrate the things I describe. I was not feeling up to the task of documenting such things, but the others did so.
I spent the afternoon with Mike and Atisha at a mall. Atisha noted that we saw a highly one-sided perspective of India and she wanted to show us another side. I was surprised to see Baskin Robbins there. Mike and I had pizza from Pizza Hut Express. I think we felt quite saturated eating Bengali/Indian cuisine continuously for nine days. Perhaps it would be fitting to end this trip with an image taken on our way to the airport...

In the interest of present-day time synchronization, Day Nine was Saturday, March 28th.

Day Three - Digestive Flows

This early morning found ourselves in the East Kolkata Wetlands, a constructed wetlands of an immense size to filter some of the polluted water of the urban area. It also provides sustainability to the fishermen in the area -- while the water is cleaned, fish are raised which provide substantial income.

There was a pleasant breeze this morning. The air was substantially cleaner than in urban Kolkata.A water filter, probably for prevention of siltation.

A bamboo bridge crossing one of the channels. It's quite bouncy.An elevated view of the wetlands.

After seeing the wetlands, we were herded off to see the fishermen's market, which as with other markets in Kolkata, was a chaotic carcophony of yelling, haggling, basket carrying, cart pulling and truck driving.

We then drove over to see the argicultural production area and what I believe we are seeing here are garbage trucks. We didn't get out of the bus on this one.
Our next destination was the Nature Park which was a constructed water filtration project that later became a nature park. I don't think the sheep here are a common feature. Shepherds with their flocks can be seen throughout the city.A view of the park and filtered water holding tank.

Crossing a filtration retaining wall.
We had the afternoon off. I went with Matt to find the metal artisans on Kansari Lane but, alas, although through some difficulty we found them, they were not open because it was a Sunday. So we made our way down to Kalighat by walking through Alipore. This is taken from the Alipore side of the Adi Ganga Canal looking at a river ghat north of the Judges Court Road bridge.
Another shot from Alipore. What is interesting of note in the photograph is the sluice gate which was streaming out water, but, from the construction, could support a mass volume import of water into the canal.The view south from the Judges Court Road bridge onto the Adi Ganga Canal. Not quite discernable in the photograph, but just at the vanishing point of the river is the boat bridge of Kalighat, which is adjacent/inclusive of our site.

A peculiar garden next to the Burning Ghats (the cremation shrine) whose principal function seems to be remaining prim and proper without any human interaction. I could imagine the "do not step on grass" signs here.
The cremation pyres. Matt and Jessica (we are in a much larger group now with 15 of us) decide to stay behind and we later learn that the cremation that they were preparing for was for a well revered Bhuddist monk.A detail of the entry columns to the Burning Ghats.

Stars in the Ceiling

Dubai Int'l Airport - We almost didn't make it off the ground. There was an electrical problem and they had to shut down the entire plane. No lights save for flashlights and because the JFK power unit failed, no AC either. After an hour and a half, problem fixed, we began our flight on the Airbus 380 – billed as the largest passenger plane in the world. And was it amazing. I felt like I was flying business class! I could finally cross my legs, we had our own personal movie screens with movies on demand (free), and there were 110V outlets built right into the seats!

Emirates, as an airline, treated us like hotel guests. We received an actual dinner and breakfast menu! They gave out stickers that you could put on the top of your seat to let them know to wake you for a meal, for example. We had dinner, snacks (twice sandwiches and fruits/snack bars once) thrice and breakfast. Not to mention the half-dozen? times they served us soft drinks. Yep, all free. Free headphones too (and not those annoying ones that go into your ears).

For dinner I had 'Lamb korma': 'tender pieces of lamb cooked in a fragrant and creamy sauce, served with steamed basmati rice and assorted vegetable korma'. It was excellent and did not taste dehydrated at all. They also had smoked salmon available and grilled chicken breast. Vegetarians had the option of the aforementioned sandwiches, though I noticed that vegetarians also received some of kind of salad. The desert was quite good as well: “Bluberry crumble”: 'served with vanilla sauce'.

For breakfast you had the option of either scrambled eggs or paneer bhaji (they pronounced it pah-NEAR bunGEE). I chose the latter. It's Indian fare, and it most closely resembles an American food that you'd find at brunch. The description was 'with filled paratha and aloo bhaji'. Don't know what that means but it was good.

Other things of note: the bathrooms were really nice – something you'd find on at least a 40' sailing vessel. They had wood trim! You could have literally spent the entire flight glued to your movie screen – it also had games, TV (The Simpsons, The Office) and radio. We flew over Iraq at 41,000 feet. Thought that was interesting. The Flight Information feature was unique – it was much like Google Earth showing where you are in 3D as well as whether you're flying in night or day. You also had live feeds to the front, bottom (no more jostling for window seats!) and tail cameras.

Oh, and when they turn the lights off at night, you can see stars in the ceiling... :)

Go East, Young People!

It's come down to the last 24 hours before leaving for Kolkata. I thought it would be fitting to list our itinerary. The vast majority of the 29 people [this number includes three faculty -- Elizabeth Dean Hermann (Landscape Architecture), Nick DePace (Architecture), and Jonathon Highfield (English, Dept. Head)] are traveling by bus, while a few of us have made other travel arrangements to JFK. The flight leaves at 11pm and with a few hours layover in Dubai, we'll be arriving in Kolkata on the 20th.

This morning we'll be compiling our individual atlases into the atlas-- sorry, THE ATLAS. :) We have the afternoon off to pack.

Schedule updated Wednesday, March 18 @ 12pm:

Mar 20 (F)

Arrive at Lytton Hotel (Sudder Street) mid morning. Walking tour of Park Street, Park Street Cemetery, Nature Park, Shakespeare Sarani, Kansari Lane artisans, Kalighat (overview) with Maitreyi Brahmachari (ISUS)

Mar 21 (S)

Walking tour of Dalhousie Square area (former British city); flower market; Howrah Bridge; Kumartuli artisan area in North Kolkata (in front of the Great Eastern Hotel gate, 7:00am). Walk the Adi Ganga canal (as time allows)

Mar 22 (SU)

Departure 4:30 AM - tour of East Kolkata wetlands and Mudialy wetlands/Fishermen’s Cooperative with Supriyo Nandy (Centre for Built Environment/CBE) and Maitreyi Brahmachari (ISUS). Afternoon return to Kalighat (including Kali Temple, cremation ghats, individual neighborhoods). Walk the Adi Ganga canal (as time allows). Evening work session – document first impressions

Mar 23 (M)

Early morning taxi ride to Dakshinishwar Temple complex and Belur Math complex (North Kolkata). Afternoon visit to Horticultural Society (w/ Mahua Ghosh, landscape architect and member of CBE; Anupama Mitra and Subhojit Lahiri, Agri Horticultural Society), 1A Alipore Road, Kolkata. Late afternoon /evening program (mapping flows – part 1) for New Light NGO, Kalighat. Those not at New Light work on presentation for CBE and American Center/US Consulate

Mar 24 (T)

All-day transect charrette - Kalighat. (Lili meet with Anjan). Evening program (mapping flows - part 2) for New Light NGO, Kalighat. Those not at New Light work on presentation for CBE and American Center/US Consulate

Mar 25 (W)

Morning meeting with Anjan Mitra (The Appropriate Alternative), architect in charge of Kalighat redevelopment effort
4:30-7:30 Seminar: Water & City @ CBE (water resources, ground water, waste water recycling, canals, rainwater harvesting, drainage and flooding in Kolkata). Academy of Fine Arts, Cathedral Road, Kolkata (conference room open from 4.00 to 8.00 p.m.)

Chairman: Prof. Santosh Ghosh, Centre for Built Environment

Sobhanlal Bonnerjee, Secretary General, CBE

dinner with Centre for Built Environment/CBE members

Mar 26 (TH)

river tour of ghats, temples and industrial waterfront, foreign tradingposts and outlying village craft community (led by Calcutta Walks)

evening discussion in preparation for American Center presentation

Mar 27 (F)

10:30 presentation at American Center)

• Kolkata Municipal Corporation (Anindya Karforma)

• West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation (TVN Rao)

• Centre for the Built Environment

• US Consulate representatives

• Indian Institute of Management (Public Policy and Management

group; Entrepreneurship and Development group)

• Students from local Architecture and Business programs

(Jadavpur University etc)

• reporters from Times of India and the Telegraph

Mar 28 (S)

tour of Howrah bustees (informal settlements) with Sobhanlal Bonnerjee (CBE)?; tour jute mill

final site documentation through photography and sections

possible afternoon visit to the Weaver’s Studio exhibition

depart Kolkata 8:30 pm

Mar 29 (SU)

arrive JFK 7:45am