First day out in Calcutta.

Our guide Bonney and our driver were ready and waiting this morning.

We had a couple of things on the agenda, and the bad news is that the traffic slows things down.  The good news is that just being in the traffic was getting to know India. Looking at the streets is an unending series of surprises.  It was crowded, noisy - with bigger volumes of traffic and jams than I have seen previously.  I guess this is a bigger city.  There are the noisy horns (the tenors) and another set of "beep beeps" (the trebles) to be heard.   Non-stop.  The only way to cope is to have faith in your driver!

We saw a potter's neighbourhood - or a statue-making area.  Quite interesting after seeing the marble workshop in Italy last year.  You know all those brightly coloured statues on Hindu temples? I thought they were concrete, but we saw them being made - they are straw and mud and paint!

The first step is the straw base.  The worker uses straw tied to the shape he wants.

Then covered with a layer of mud.

Then smoothly coated with more mud.

Then painted, and decorated.

We also went to Mother Theresa's.  She must have been a very charismatic woman.  It seems bad to speak anything slightly critical of such a saintly and admired woman, but as our guide said, she had the capacity to raise funds and there is discussion as to whether these funds could be used more efficiently.  I always think that the degree of inequality a society will tolerate is a largely political decision.

Pictures limited, but this is her tomb.

We also went to the South Park Street Cemetery, which was used from1767 to 1790.  It is interesting to think that this was around the time when Captain Cook first sailed up the east coast, and the first settlement.  So Australia was just a twinkle in England's eye at the time.

The death rate among Brits in India was high - but they still came - the lure of money.  This cemetery was for Brits, and there were frequent references to "the Company" - presumably the East India Company.  A couple of scenes and memorials below.