Oh, Calcutta!

I’ve become ever more irregular with blogging and what’s even more a travesty is that I downloaded the photos from my field visits and holidays since September from my memory sticks to my laptop all in one go only this past weekend. Because the title to this post was recorded on the said date, it appears that I’ve posted this entry on October 13, 2010, but in fact, this entry is being written on December 16, 2010. Yes, I’m well behind in every way!

The end of September through October was an intensive and busy period work-wise (though, does it ever seem to slow down?), and I spent a bulk of my time yet again in India, initially in Gaya, Bihar, our project site. Our VPs for Microfinance and Technology had wanted to see how down market Grameen Foundation was going in terms of the clients we serve, and a trip was arranged for them to visit the typical microfinance clients of our partner, followed by a visit to a village to meet the women of self-help groups who might be considered middle field- not quite credit worthy and income stable for mainstream microfinance but still not considered poorest of the poor. The trip concluded with a visit to our target households, who are considered the ultra poor. The contrast between this group and the clients they had met earlier in the visit was quite stark. Household income streams are extremely volatile and irregular, average income per household member per day often amounts to a mere 18 Indian rupees (U$D 0.38), and living conditions are extremely crude.

The design of our financial and non-financial products and services to holistically address the causes of poverty for this target group is still underway. It has really been one of the most challenging assignments I’ve had to date, primarily because of the novelty around this thinking within the microfinance industry at large, but also because of the impact that these interventions can have on the lives of so many people. Our planning and strategizing continued in Patna and then unexpectedly carried on in Calcutta or Kolkata, the culture capital of India and where our partner institution’s regional office is based. The timing could not have been more opportune, I thought, as I eagerly made my way there via air. It was Navarathri, and the middle three days of the nine day festival are best celebrated in Bengal. To witness and experience Durga Puja, a celebration of the triumph over evil by Durga or Kali, the supreme form of the mother goddess, felt like a once in a lifetime opportunity!

Adverts proclaiming the victory over evil theme

Kali Mama is watching you

Durga Puja is the grandest event of the year in Calcutta and the cause for much celebration for both religion and capitalism! The streets and temples are decorated in grandeur, dominated by hues of red, the color of the goddess. The city of joy and its residents are watched over by her painted, upward slanting eyes depicted on posters and other works of art hanging from billboards to traffic lights. On the eve of the celebrations, I was taken around by colleagues to see various versions of the puja pandal, which typically is comprised of a series of statues made of mud, clay, plaster of paris, and other materials and adorned with colorful cloth, painted faces, and jewels. At the center is Durga or Kali Amma, surrounded by Ganesha, Muruga, and others forms of the divine. I learned that every year, the city of Calcutta gives recognition to the best pandals under an array of categories, and this has really propelled innovation and artistic creativity as worshippers and artists, alike, vie for these prizes.

Classic Durga pandal for Durga Puja

Durga with Ganesha

Another grand pandal

Fertility goddess at entrance to another puja

Kali Ma does it again

Last pandal of the day...much competition this year!

Shoppers flood the streets of Calcutta on the days leading up to Durga Puja, on which everyone is dressed in their newest and finest apparel-women in grand saris and men in slacks and shirts. Around our planning and meetings, I went around exploring the city in a hired car and was overwhelmed by the size (and traffic!) of the city. The Salt Lake and Ballygunge neighborhoods leading up to Park Street are some of the most posh, and remnants of British colonialism are still apparent in the architecture situated on wide, shady, tree-lined streets. I stayed just off of Park Street, within walking distance to the Victoria Memorial, where the Taj Mahal meets St. Paul’s Cathedral, and the Maidan, a large, lush park in the middle of the city, where many sporting events and public meetings and celebrations take place. Some of the oldest establishments are located here, including the famous Flury’s bakery, where I enjoyed some of the most divine cakes and pastries.

Dakshineswar Kali Temple in Calcutta

Victoria Memorial across from the Maidan

If you love fish and coconut, then this is certainly the place for you! Bengal is known just as much for its sweets as it is for its scholars. The most famous are the roshogolla and mishti dohi (sweet yoghurt), which usually follow a meal of rice and coconut and mustard seed fish curry (machcher jhol) and mango chutney.

After wrapping up work during a very intense and colorful time in Calcutta, I began the journey home to the US. This time, I opted to fly via a very different Indian city and take a break from the politically overloaded Delhi. Bombay, here I come!

Magic in India

I saw magic today. Or in other words, I was doused in the history, traditions, and divine energy of some of the eastern world’s richest and most significant holy sites. Bihar presents a fascinating juxtaposition of an unusual wealth of religious and cultural treasures amidst a disproportionately high rate of economic poverty. I was brought here for the fourth time this year through my work and am blessed to have taken part in rites and rituals of traditions whose followers aspire to but never get to experience in an entire lifetime.

With a pilot project being launched in Gaya district, I was taken back to Bodh Gaya, home to the Mahabodhi temple where one can find the bodhi tree under which Buddha attained enlightenment. We spent several days there, analyzing data that was collected from the households we hope to enhance the livelihoods of by building their skills and linking them to more sustainable labor opportunities. As we brainstormed possible interventions, products, and services and how these could be customized to meet the needs of the poorest, the one thing our team could agree on was that we couldn’t have, by chance, ended up selecting a more opportune and symbolic target area.

Before leaving Gaya this morning, I was finally able to visit one of the oldest temples of Hinduism- Vishnupadh- which means foot of Vishnu. The construction date of the original temple is unknown, and believers claim that once Vishnu set foot here, the temple sprouted from the ground overnight along the banks of the Falgu River. The temple itself has no mulasthanam or central shrine that typically houses the primary deity of a temple. Rather, Vishnu’s footprint, known as the Dharmasila, which has been incised in a block of basalt within a silver-plated basin, serves as the center of worship. Interestingly, it is also believed that Rama and Sita visited this temple to perform the last rites for King Dasharatha along the banks of the Falgu river. To this day, every year, specifically during this week, Hindus from all over the world make the pilgrimage to Vishnupad to perform the last rites for their deceased parents (Pin-Daan).

Adhimoolam of the Vishnupad temple

Family performing pindaan in the temple

Many families performing pin daan on the banks of the Falgu river

Another family performing pin daan for their forefathers

Sri Vishnu statue in a smaller temple at Vishnupad

One of many merchants selling items for use in pujas or to be blessed to take home

My day was not over yet. After making the 4 hour drive back to Patna, I figured I’d make the best use of my last evening in town and visit one of Sikhism’s five most significant sites or takhts- the Sri Darbar Sahib Patna Sahib. The journey took about one hour, as the site is located in one of Patna’s oldest quarters, previously known as Kucha Farrukh Khan, but now more commonly known as Harmandir Gali. After driving through a series of narrow lanes crowded by local vegetable markets, rickshaws, autos, cyclists, and pedestrians (so we were the only ones in an actual car), we finally reached the gates to Patna Sahib.

The enormous, white marble gurudhwara here was constructed to honor the birthplace of Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth guru of the Sikhs. Until we passed through the gates, I would have never guessed that there could be anything of significance in this bustling but secluded town that could attract so many from far and wide. Once inside the premises, it was an entirely different world. Sikhs from all parts of the world had gathered in masses to engage in worship. The bhajans from inside the gurudhwara flowed throughout the grounds of Patna Sahib. I entered the gurudhwara after removing my shoes and washing my feet in the common basin for all worshippers. Though I’ve visited a few gurudhwaras before, this was an entirely unique and awe-inspiring experience for me as I observed worshippers streaming in one by one, many with their kirpans (sword or dagger) strapped around their waste, bowing down before the holy book before being seated, women and men on separate sides of the room.

Patna Sahib Gurudhwara

Pilgrims making their way around the mandir

As I approached the white marble gates of the gurudhwara, azaan or the call to prayer from neighboring mosques rung through the air as the sun began to set. I gazed upward into the sky, which by that point was strewn with hues of blue, purple, and pink, and felt the magic that makes India the divine and timeless masterpiece that it is.