Kolkata, West Bengal - 18th Feb 2011

“Kol Kol Kolkata! Amar Shonar Kolkata!”

Wow what a day! By far, it has been the most spiritual day on the journey! Really, the places we visited and the whole experience today has just been out of this world. Still feeling a little spaced out.. But in a good way..

First off, we visit Mother Teresa’s Tomb and hold a short prayer service there. Oh wow! What a place! It was soooooooooo calm and peaceful there.. It reflected the vibe of Gandhi Ashram in Nagpur. Just so quiet and serene. Without even trying.

Everyone prayed at Mother Teresa’s Tomb and also put in an intention into the intention box there. With the prayer that it manifests. I think that was a really cool thing to have. With the clean vibes and energy there, it’s sure to build on that. Seeking Mother’s blessing..

This was also called Mother House as this is where Mother Teresa lived and established the Missionaries of Charity organisation. We got to see the room where she stayed and the museum of where some of the things she used were kept. Such few things. So simple. And yet so complete within itself.

To understand the fact that the reason for the simplicity is the lack of the desire for material things, for wealth, for power.. Rather the only desire is to love, love one another and every living being around you, and spread that love further and further.  It’s not something everyone can grasp easily. When you see it so plainly here it’s so clear.. It’s so stark and there’s nothing to confuse it with.. It’s a very profound understanding..

It was very interesting here. We were all in a group, but collectively having a very unique individual experience. Like if you light a bunch of candles and keep them together. They all have their own light, but they share light in common collectively too.. I dont know if that makes sense, but ya.. That’s what it was..

We then move on to the Ram Krishna Mission closeby in Narendrapur. It was the most beautiful campus, 7 km in area, self sufficient with schools, colleges, gardens, an academy for the blind and so much more, I wish we had more time to explore. There were flowers in bloom everywhere and the variety was just astonishing. The colours were all so vibrant and so well thought out with their placement and combinations. And so well cared for. It really reflected the whole culture out here..Discipline and nurturing..

Our guides were some of the college students here. They showed us the museum and the school and stuff, but the most impactful was the visit to the Academy of the Blind. It was training institute for the visually challenged for developing skills in many different areas to make them self sufficient and get employment anywhere. To let them and everybody know that their impairment isn’t a handicap. It was really awesome. They were trained to operate heavy machinery, sort out spices and so many other things and their level of skill was phenomenal! One of the staff of the academy was taking us on a tour of the whole thing and showed us the workshop where some of the students were working. Rakesh wanted to test whether it was actually true and he asked one of the students to switch the machine on and off. Without missing a beat, his hand went straight for the lever. And this is a dangerous machine, with rotating parts and places where your fingers can get caught and all, even if you can see what you’re doing. But it wasn’t a difficult thing here.

We’re walking to the place we’re having lunch and some young students of the academy are passing us on their way there, and they’re not even holding walking sticks and they have like no visual nor touch reference to guide them, but they are so well trained, they know where there is a turn in the road, or whether there are people in front of them, they’ll stop  and wait for the crowd to part, they’ll stick to the left side of the road and it actually feels like they’re just like us and walking among us. It is so inspiring to see..

Here, again, the vibe was a very peace inspiring one.  With all that nature and positivity to surround you, you can’t help but feel clean, inside and out.

After lunch we hold a session here at the school, and the most insightful points that this one young person raised were something I had been thinking about for some time. Especially on this trip. It was so weird. I was thinking them. He just said them.

He said, “There are 2 things that we should strive to do. One is to eradicate the use of surnames. Surnames are an indication of what region and caste and religion you are from, and the very first cause for divide among people in our country. If we only use our first names, I can assure you, there will be peace and harmony among us right from the start.

Secondly, I believe we should have a partyless democracy. So many problems arise because there are too many people with responsibility and power and resources and they lack the collective vision and intention to lead a country or region. If we choose 1 individual to represent us, who has the qualities we want to see and ideology that matches ours, then we should elect them. There will be no corruption this way and we would have a stronger country also.”

We should seriously consider implementing these things.. I mean really..

In the evening, we all walk to the Gurudwara, somewhere in the center of the city. It’s the first time that we’ve walked around in a city, wherever we’ve been. It was so pleasant with a soft breeze and it was fun to walk around with the group and enjoy the sights and sounds.. Made us slow down in a sense.

We reach the Gurudwara and spend some time there as they sing the devotional songs. Again,  connecting with and basking in the silence within was calm inspiring and very refreshing..

I remember telling Fr. Sukumar who organised the Kolkata programs, after the Gurudwara time how, although the language and customs are different of different religions, it’s easy to understand them coz they’re all saying the same thing, and yet we still keep fighting with each other. And he agreed, saying that all religions are special and should be respected and the reason why they are all special is because they all preach things like love and peace. Is there any language for love? Any language for peace?

Our last visit is at a church which just takes your breath away at the sight of it.. Needless to say, it was so tenderly peaceful inside as we prayed..

On the way back we get to see the trams running on the roads. We saw the train tracks while travelling through the city and thought it was for the non functional trams of long ago, but they’re all running and very functional. You’re in your car and you look out the window and you’re running along with a tram. Gave a very quaint feeling to the city. Also I felt that Kolkata was a very different place from everywhere in the sense that it was definitely a city, with its modernisation and pace and all, but it had a tenderness to it, in its people and its language. There is a lot of patience here and the accompanying madhubani, as they say. The sweetest manner of speaking.

Outside the Gurudwara, there were the coolest things.. And you'd find them only in Kolkata:

At dinner, took this random picture of Heera.  Just really like how it came out..

We reach Seva Kendra at the end of the day and I know, tonight, we’re gonna get some killer sleep.

Kolkata, West Bengal - 19th Feb 2011

We’re all ready bright and early this morning for our program, and Deepika comes out looking exceptionally pretty today.. Couldn’t resist taking a picture of our very own fashionista..

Our day begins at Don Bosco School with a Peace March around the neighbouring area with our team and the youth from the city. It was really nice – we had a whole police escort and everything. It was peaceful in every sense of the word, the pace was slow, there was hardly anyone speaking, just walking quietly through the city, holding up banners for display which said things like “there is no way to peace. Peace is the way” and ”When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.” And really inspiring stuff like that. It was real fun to get so much attention from all the people on the street passing by, pausing for a few moments and reading something before smiling and driving past. At least people are taking notice.. (Smile)

There’s this whole huge program at the school when we return from the march. Apart from the cultural program, which, by the way, had some of the most captivating dance performances, there were talks by various people on so many things under the sun, but mostly on our themes. So insightful and inspiring! It’s happened like this before that each one of us has a certain way of looking at things and that’s pretty much as far as we see it. Here so many perceptions on the same thing were presented and it made so much sense and really helped open your eyes to broaden your horizon of thinking. That was a very enriching part of the program.

Also there was an inter—religious prayer service where representatives of the Christian, Hindu, Sikh and Muslim communities were there, with special guests from Turkey also from the Muslim community and they presented some jewels of lessons from their respective scriptures and way of life. It was a very powerful thing to see this peaceful co-existence and acknowledgement of another’s belief. There should be more such prayer services. And everywhere. Like totally.

Our girls performed their Mother Teresa themed dance here. They’ve performed it a number of times during the trip before, but it was just more special here. I remember Jennifer telling me once that it had always been her dream to meet Mother Teresa, but it was never fulfilled. But being able to perform this dance here, in the place where Mother spent so much of her life, Jenny said it was a deeper emotion while dancing and it just felt so much more powerful.

[FYI, Jennifer plays the part of Mother Teresa in during the performance.]

After lunch there was a musical performance and CD launch by The Messengers, a really awesome gospel band from Kolkata. They really brought the place down with their music and the best part was that it was propagating peace and harmony and all.. And in rock music.  They had even composed a theme song for our campaign. It was like the most awesome tribute..

In the evening, it starts to rain! It’s the first time we’ve got caught in the rain anywhere since we left Kanyakumari. And it feels divine! It gave the whole city another charm completely.. You know how they say, a romance of sorts fills the air. Something like that, only more quaint.

To more such romance, rain, peace, positivity and light and happy feelings.. What a great way to end the third phase of our journey. We’re all in high spirits as we push on forward to Jamshedpur!