When I arrived in Calcutta it was early June and the monsoon season hadn’t started yet. That meant the air was thick and hazy blue with humidity on diesel.
I looked out the cab window, amazed at the India before me. Never had I seen so many people – hoards of humanity. Animals too seemed everywhere – boney cows, scruffy chickens, flea-bitten street dogs, dirty naked children.
Rickety cars, scooters, bicycles, push-carts, and other wheeled contraptions weasled through the streets. In my weakly air conditioned cab, I could take it all in.
I’d be staying here for a month, after thumbing through a book called ‘Volunteer Vacations’ and deciding to work with Mother Teresa’s organization – the Sisters of Charity. I was attracted by the description in the book – simply ‘show up and begin work’ with address of the Mother House.
Many of the other entries for ‘volunteer vacations’ had some sort of application, screening process or skills needed. I liked Mother Teresa’s approach – simple, direct and no talents required. She would take anybody who had a desire to help. Her winning of the Nobel Prize led me to believe this would be an authentic experience. I didn’t really expect this to be a vacation at all. Read the rest of this entry »