Flagellation and a Trip to the Sea Side

Hey Ho,

I hope everyone is fine and dandy. James and i are well. We have just spent a long weekend out of Kolkata.. bliss!

It was much needed after a crazy week. There was a Muslim festival on celebrating/mourning the death of the profit Ali. Someone had told us to go along as "it will be bright and colourful". So we went... there weren't that many people at the beginning, just groups of kids playing the drums and dancing. Another volunteer brought a small drum and joined in. It was all good but were attracted a lot of attention as we were the only non Indians there. Everyone wanted to talk to us or have a picture. Without realising it turned dark and the crowds were out in force. There must have been thousands of people there. Many people had Gurkha hunting knives and were swinging them around, then a bunch of young lads pushed past us knocking us flying, suddenly the place was mental and we were stuck in the middle of it.

The police dragged us to the side (there were 5 of us) and told us not to move until the end. I've never been so pleased to see the kolkata police until then! As we watched the festivities a white flag was marching towards where we were. The flag was covered in red dots. It turns out this is the festival where some people flagellate themselves. The red dots were blood and they were heading our way. I was petrified! There was around 15 men all slicing themselves with razors. It was madness. Blood was flying everywhere. Luckily we were just out of spraying distance.

Although i would never repeat the experience it was fascinating. What was also amazing was the kindness of the people there. They could tell we were uneasy about it all and they were all looking after us. This was another display of how amazing people can be in Kolkata.

After all that excitement we had a calm week. I got a cold that turned into sinusitis. I had traffic light snot that would not shift so i ended up taking antibiotics. Nothing clears on its own in this city! We went to see Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Nights Dream' at the theatre. This was ace; it was Shakespeare done Bollywood style! They broke out into song at least 3 times. Awesome.

Now we're in Puri waiting for out train to take us back to Kolkata. Puri is India's version of Skeggness! It's very small and a little grubby but it is great to get away. It is also a pilgrimage site for Hindus.

There is an amazing Temple called the Sun Temple. It's fascinating as it's covered in pornographic carvings. Our guide told us it was to try and bring people back to Hinduism after they had converted to Buddhism in the 1300's. It was quite funny (and a little embarrassing) as our guide insisted on describing what the carvings were of.. exactly. After the 30Th time of him saying "she is lick and he is suck" i couldn't stop laughing whilst James tried to stay straight faced and interested! If anyone ever comes here. Please get a guide, it will make your day!

We only have 3 weeks left to work and in that time we feel we have so much to do. We are setting up a 'Friends of Arunima Hospice' blog site at the moment. I will post the address as soon as it'd done. Please do check it out when i do because it is a fantastic organisation that needs publicity.

We miss everyone lots so keep in touch. Much love Amy xxx