Rahul Doloui

I arrived in Kolkata at about 8pm on the 26th evening. For those of you that don't know, I was actually born in this city, so I felt it was my duty to come and visit before I leave for Nepal. I'm staying with my Dad's friend Rajiv and his family who have been very kind to open their home to me. Actually the majority of my travels in India are spent with family friends of my parents. The entire Delhi trip was organized by my dad's very close friend Uchil who not only provided me with a place to stay, but also a car and driver to travel in. A big thanks to him as well.

On the 27th morning I headed to small village on the outskirts of Kolkata, about a 2 hour drive. I sponsor a child through Christian Children's Fund of Canada and specifically chose one in Kolkata because I was born here. Mr. Ghosh (a CCFC associate) accompanied me to the village. Upon arriving I was greeted in a way you would only reserve for foreign dignitaries and celebrities. The children were dressed in ceremonial clothes and almost half the community had gathered around the community center to see me. "I'm kind of a big deal."

Then, after looking through the crowd, there he was. No taller than maybe my hips, little Rahul was dressed in his finest clothes sporting a CCFC baseball hat. He was very shy but came up and greeted me in the traditional way of touching my feet, then his face and head. It was adorable. After a brief stay in the community center, which is little more than a large garden shed, I was taken on a tour of the village. It looks like something out of National Geographic. Straw huts dot the village with cows, chickens and the occasional goat roaming about. On either side of the 2 foot wide brick path are either a big man made pool for growing fish and shrimp, or rice paddies.

After the tour we went back to the community center for lunch. I was not looking forward to this part since my stomach wasn't feeling great, and we all know what that leads to in foreign countries. Luckily I was armed with a bottle of Pepto Bismal. Lunch was rice, dhal, shrimp, more shrimp, and fish. It was quite delicious, but for the sake of my stomach I took it easy. They women kept trying to put more in my plate and as bad as I felt, I had to finally just take my plate away.

After the lunch, it was time to finally meet Rahul's family. I thought it was just a case of walking there, the community had other plans. Making me feel like more of a big deal, there was a huge procession. About 30 kids and some adults all dressed up. One boy was banging a drum and two girls in ceremonial dresses on either side of me throwing flowers on the ground and in the air as I walked, pretty amazing. When we arrived at the house, there was a sort of stage set up out of various tarps (it started raining) where some of the children did some dances and sang some songs, very cute.

Finally I met the parents. They honestly could not have been more than 25 years old. The mother looked really young. But they were so sweet and the mother even went so far as to make a Saree for my visit. It was beautiful, a red one with embroidery on it which I was told is usually sold or exported. This for sure looks like something you could get on Main Street, I'm sure for about 10x the price though. I gave Rahul and his sister Riya their gifts, a t-shirt for each and a Team Canada soccer ball for Rahul. Next I was shown their home, which after stepping in I immediately thought "I'm truly blessed". The entire house was no larger than my bathroom at home with a "porch" the size of a walk in closet. But they make due. That was the fascinating thing, amidst all the poverty in this community, everyone was still so cheerful, hospitable and just all around happy. I never saw anything but a smile.

Finally it was time to leave. I was going to take the father to the nearby town to buy him and his wife some bed sheets as well as a Saree for her and a shirt for him. Before getting into the car I learned my first Bengali words "Ami arash bo" - I will come back, which they really urged me to do. In all, a very humbling experience.