Bows, ribbons and blood.

Monday, December 01, 2008 10:47 PM ♥

Day 04 (Monday, 17 Nov 2008)

It was a nice sleep in our new room. In fact, I didn’t want to wake up that early at all cost. But I have no choice. Recalling about the party we had at Fiona’s room, I just cannot stopped laughing. I cannot imagine how we started talking about the ‘lanterns’ in my room, which was way too hilarious. In the morning, our new tour guide whom I do not know her name brought us for the Dalhousie Square Heritage Walk. She was a short lady after all; even I was taller than her. Basically, I only enjoy visiting the Saint Paul Church; I am not very into other buildings. So, this long heritage journey brought us to the many different places in the cultural city, experience the cultural filled city. After the walk, we head to the Ankur Kala. Seriously, this was the place which left me the most memorable experience. I really sympathized the women in Kolkata, women suffers from gender discriminations! This is so unfair! Some of the women there suffer from abuse or etc. Fortunately, Ankur Kala has educated them with the knowledge and the skill to help them to provide for themselves. This was also the place I bought several hand-made gifts from their store in order to show my little support towards them. I am glad that at least I could do a little part to contribute to them. The people there brought us around the place and explore the different departments where they were allocated. I was amazed by their handicraft, especially the files I bought. Can you believe that everything was hand-made? Even the drawings were drawn by the women there. The Ankur Kala is a non-governmental organization working for the welfare of Women; I strongly felt the importance of promoting gender equality there.

After that, we then have our lunch. If I am not wrong, we had our lunch at the restaurant named ‘Flavor of India’. I love the restaurant a lot, especially the na-an. They have the best so far. Na-an looks simply to a roti-prata, except it is slightly thicker and less oily. The food was simply wonderful.

We went to Shishu Bhawan, one of the Mother Theresa’s Homes, for children. Our group went there to register for volunteer service at the Mother Theresa House. We wasted a lot of time there waiting for our turn to register with the sisters there, so most of the time was spent there. At that moment, we were so afraid of going to one of the homes in Kaligat. The home was meant for those who were dying, and we heard from the sister there that 2 to 3 patients died there a day. The fear of death suddenly overwhelms me, I was so afraid to go there. Fortunately, we were not allocated to the home in Kaligat, instead some of us went to Shanti-dan (female), and some went to a home for the males. I was not kind of looking forward to the next day because we got to work.

If I am not wrong, I remember we had our dinner at a shopping mall. We were given the opportunity to shop for stuff! I mean food comes second as compared to shopping. I shall skip the part about the shopping and jump right straight to our dinner. Basically, we did not have the time to have dinner. So, we went to pack 4 sets of pizza instead. With these pizzas, we could have our party!

This time round, we went to the ‘birdcage’ room for partying instead. In fact, we party also every day. Even though the day was tiring, but it still worth it.