[meteorite-list] Oh, Calcutta

[MARSROX]

Dear fellow travelers,   I've been to Calcutta twice on my trips to Nepal and since there seems to be some interest in the city I'll contribute a few written snapshots. Mike's a lucky guy to be there.   Mike has already noted the flooded streets. Like many Asian cities that are at or a few meters above sea level, the streets flood after almost any rain. And it is still monsoon season in India. They have sewers, but the volume of water overwhelms the capacity. You walk around in ankle deep water, the water is mixing with a fetid soup of human and animal (think free ranging cows in the city of Calcutta) "stuff." To make the act of walking more challenging, some of the manhole covers have been stolen to sell the metal to recyclers and every now and then someone falls into "The Black Hole of Calcutta." The natives definitely have "home court advantage" as they would know where the missing covers are.   Watch your step, Mike.   To Westerners, accustomed to their "space," the density of humanity is off the scale. Think of New Year's Eve at Times Square combined with  New Orleans Mardi Gras Final Night, and add extreme heat and humidity to rotting garbage and other "exotic" odors. You are constantly jostled, constantly rubbing elbows and knees. And it's a bustling city, people are moving fast.   The sense of poverty, again by western standards, is overwhelming. At night, people lay out a slice of cardboard onto the sidewalk, reserving their space, and camp out. A measurable percentage of the population has never tasted an ice cube - too expensive. The water vendors sell a common glass of "room temperature" water for a rupee.  A family will survive on less than $1/day.   Hand pulled rickshaws compete with taxis. Buses and trains go everywhere, heavy fumes, so crowded that people hang on such that they are outside or riding the roof. There's competition to give you a massage in every city park.   Of course, things are changing, getting better. A middle-class has evolved, cell phones are everywhere. Employment is growing with the tech-based economy. There are "good neighborhoods," a few Mercedes. And people like to burn incense, how bad can it be?   Calcutta is hardly the "worst" city in the world, (my vote for that today is Kabul) since the crowded masses and visitors have spectacular museums (Calcutta's National Museum has a huge meteorite collection), archeological splendors, gold-leaf covered Hindu temples, and delicious curries to sample. Most business people speak English. Signs and menus are also in English.   Were I Mike, I'd spend a couple of days being a tourist in Calcutta on the way home, immersing myself in the culture, checking out the good (see the meteorites-including the main mass of Shergotty, 3.6 kgs.), and pondering the relativeness of human existence.   Om padre hum,   Kevin Kichinka