Kolkata

Hi all,
Was about to leave here knowing I was missing some pretty great stuff when I met this kind gentleman who worked at one time with Mother Theresa with the dying and he offered to show me some places that I still wanted to go....plus other stuff....if anybody is thinking of coming here I can deffinetly recommend that you get in touch with him....
So I've spent the last 3 days going to Ramakrishnas Kali temple and mausoleum which is really incredibly a peaceful place. As soon as I walked through the gate it was as if all the energy was dropped into the ground. Sitting in the mausoleum is also truly incredible....just sitting there...sitting, sitting...then the guards start telling everybody to scoot forward and sit between the pillars and all of a sudden the doors to the shrine open and everybody is up and prostrating and bowing and I'm just sitting, sitting...and hearing the shuffling of bare feet and there is still such a stillness with all these feet rushing forward past me....ahhhhh. Then just as suddenly the doors close and the lights go out and everybody is headed for the door and guards with bells are telling everyone it's time to leave the grounds....ohhhhhh.
Then its time for the ferry ride back to town...on the river it's cooler you know. The humidity is really beginning. Again with global warming. Fishermen mending their nets, kids diving into the river from the ferry, herons flying past, dead dog floating by, people asking me where I'm from, school children laughing and smiling at me and the occasional "hello, how are you?" I'm fine. How are you? "ummmm I'm fine! ahahahahahaha"
Today we went to the Jain temple...my what a gorgeous place. all tile and mirror. like candy inside. We also visited the area where all the sculptures are made. One master sculpture let me sit and watch him for awhile....he was deffinetly a master at 65 y.o. and could totaly impact the expression of his figure in about 1.5 seconds. Everything is made with bamboo structures, rice shearings and clay. Left to dry and then the final clay layer is put on and sculpted with small wooden spatulas....the newer houses are using fiberglass molds....worrisome....no one was using a mask. Finally my favorite restaurant here is run by a Sikh guy...no surprises there....if anybody gets to Sartaj back home tell Basi and Balbeer I love and miss them.

So for now that's it...I'll be in bodhgaya tomorrow...till then take it easy.