Most Rotten Hindi

Kolkatta is still my most favoritist city in all of india. It has hardcore leftist political leanings and a great "network" of mass transit systems. It is the most western and least hindu of the cities that we've visited. Occasionally I'll miss seeing ferdinard the bull blocking my way on a sidewalk, but for the most part, the cow-free streets are a big boost for pedestrian management. For the last two days we've been walking everywhere. Today we made it to the Milenium Park, BBD Bagh and the Writer's Building.

At Millenium Park, we ran into boatloads of young indian lovers. It was nice to see, as this country does not have any tolerance for PDAs. Most people here live with their large families with little if any private space of their own. There are not a lot of private cars that young lovers can use to get away from it all, so it is in little nooks and crannies in Public parks is where the few that aren't engaged in arranged marriages get it on. In public life everything is usually segregated by sex, so it was nice to see couples hanging out (Not that we actually caught folks in the act of anything particulary nasty). Millenium Park has a nice view overlooking the river Hooghly (pronounced like ooogly). So alongside hundreds of couples and many dragonflies, we watched the sun melt into the haze of humidity and polution of the western bank.

On the train from Varanasi, I met a German woman named Saucho. We talked a little bit and it turns out that we shared a hindi instructor, Mr. Binit Mithra. Binit is 21 and speaks Russian, Japanese, Hindi, English and probably a handful of other tongues (just for fun). He is on fire when he teaches a lesson. It is very exhausting to try to keep the pace he sets, but his teaching style is palatable in small doses. He taught me my favorite Hindi phrase: "Mai sabse kharab hindi boletaa huu." -- I speak the most rotten hindi.

Maybe I am self-effacing to a fault, but I like to drop it on most people we meet.

Most conversations go:
Indian: Hi from what country are you from?
Me: USA... United States of America (I'm anal, but I hate it when people just say Amurica.)
Indian: That is a great country!
Me: I like it, but India is a great country, too.
Indian: How do you find this country?
Me: I love india! I am very happy here.
Indian: So, what do you think about this thing that Bush has done in Iraq?
Me: Um, I think that it is bad. I don't like Saddam Hussein, but I don't think that my country has acted in the best way.
Indian: Mr. George Bush, Junior has hurt the reputation of America in the eyes of the world. Many people think that your country has abused your status as a Super Power...

You can see the direction that this is going. I've well documented previous conversations with random indians and their opinions and experience with US/World politics.

So, to lighten things up I add in a flourish of Indian sounding ahs and ums (Achche - Good! and Tikhai - Okay. Of course, nobody is impressed. It is like taking on a spanish accent and continuing to speak English. But what really gets them is towards the end of the conversation, I throw in a "Dhenyavad, Dhenyavad... Mai sabse kharab hindi boletaa huu!." This usually knocks them out of their seats. They laugh and disagree and pat me on the back. Sometimes, I get a blank stare.

Michele and I spent an hour at an really nice AC bookstore this afternoon. I got an Architecture Book, a Hunter S. Thompson collection and the second book in the "No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency Series." We drank coffee and decided that we are going to go to Bangladesh. We bought the Bangladesh lonely planet guide (a hefty $25 for a slim book) so we have to go now. So we are soliciting any advice for traveling in Bangladesh. We may fly ($120ish roundtrip from Kolkatta) or we may go by bus (12hour ride, $40).

We have a hook up for a decent pizza place this evening, so dear reader, I'll leave you to your own devices. I hope that this note finds your environment's temperature adequately controlled.