Blistering Bolpur!

It's been and hot and sunny Sunday so far. And why not? It's SUN-day! But somewhat unexpected considering that there's been lots of cloud cover and an occasional shower every day. I know whay it hasn't rained today -- it's because I brought in the washing before taking my afternoon nap! The days I leave the washing on the clothesline, it rains. Not for long... but long enough to wet the dry clothes.

I woke up to some good news. The three new volunteers are definitely arriving in Kolkata tomorrow and meeting Mitali. Great. They can also meet Tom and Roisin at Mitali's place. In fact, Mitali is busy planning lunch for T and R. Wonder if she'll put on some extra rice for the new arrivals.

It's still not very clear if the transport strike is on or off. There's nothing about it in the papers and there's nothing about it on tv. It's so bloody hard to plan anything in this country! And right now I'm quite upset with everything... the Corrupt Wealth Games, the numerous strikes in the name of the public and yet with scant regard for the public inconvenience.

Now that I have gone and made such elaborate arrangements to get volunteers to the project and also to the airport, I'm almost wishing that there's a strike on from the 10th till the 12th! That's terrible. I'm obviously not thinking of the enormous human suffering these strikes cause. The only people who seem to benefit from strikes are politicians and their "political workers" who have nothing better to do anyway. I am yet to see any strike benefit the common man. The poor rickshaw puller, the roadside stall owners, the cobblers, the labourers... these are the people who suffer. Even some white collared workers miss out on schedules and deadlines. The economy suffers. And all in the name of fighting for the rights of the poor people.

Anyway, here in Mission Compound -- that's where I live in Bolpur -- it's very quiet at the moment. It's about 400 metres to the main road. So the streets sounds don't reach here. But the rain tracks are quite close and so once in a while one can hear the diesel engines lumber by.

For those who are interested, today is Rabindranth Tagore's dead anniversary. There may be memorial programmes going on in some places, but since I don't know many people here, I don't know what's happening. But I've been listening to a lot of Rabindra Sangeet -- songs composed by the bard -- on tv. In a way, I'm glad I walk on the same land that was once tread by such a great man.