Slum Pirates. PART 1

overwhelm _verb (EMOTION)
​[usually passive] to cause someone to feel sudden strong emotion: They were overwhelmed with/by grief when their baby died./ I was overwhelmed by all the flowers and letters of support I received.
Cambridge English Dictionary

_{Kids near Calcutta Rescue Telepark Clinic and School}

There are some days in my life which are not imprinted in my memory by any other ways than the smells, the colours, the sensations, the noises and the tastes. Whether it is because nothing noticeable or too much happened in that day, there is no clear memory of anything precise, and everything, faces, people, facts merge into one big muddle which will always remain there in my spirit.

That is what happened in my first week in India. I know that this whole first week will always be brought back in my memory whenever I hear similar noises, smell similar smells, taste similar tastes. If Proust had been brought up in India his madeleine would have probably been a chapati and the tranquil rhythm of his wordly childhood would have been transformed into the hectic flow of Indian cities.

We landed in Kolkata about 2 weeks ago. @astralliam has already told our chaotic arrival in his latest post (https://steemit.com/travel/@astralliam/5-days-railroading-north-india-calcutta-gutter-to-it-gurugram). I have been trying to write about my experience of the Slums for the past week but it took me a while to digest it and actually be able to write anything.

_{Our friend Rachel with one of the patient's mom she had referred to the Telepark Clinic the day before. Her kids suffers from malnourishment.}

We were blessed enough to be in contact with Liam’s friend’s Rachel when we arrived in Kolkata. Rachel works as a nurse with a charity called Calcutta Rescue which offers healthcare and and education to the people of the Kolk Slums.

We took our Astral Camera and went to visit one of their main clinic and the school attached to it. We were able to understand the functioning of the charity, all of the different projects that are ran under the Calcutta Rescue umbrella and to have an idea of what were the main health issues encountered by the people of the Slums. The most obvious one is probably the children’s malnourishment and severe diarrhea that are a daily fight for most families there. We popped to the school, and as it was a Saturday we were able to audience the kids singing and dancing lessons, which they were so happy to perform in front of us filming. Filled up with their smiles we set off, following Rachael through two of the Slums that benefit from the help of the NGO.

_{A family from the first slum we visited.}

It was one of the richest walks of my life. As soon as we got closer to the first one a group of little boys came to grate us and they accompanied our journey by running, dancing, jumping around us. Once again the presence of the camera was a great source of fun for them, and they were offering their best moves knowing that they were going to make it up on our screens.

Reaching their houses and their families we started to interact with the women, who started bringing their babies to us so we could carry them. Sign of blessing and good luck, way to introduce compassion?... I only can speculate on the intentions of the moms when they were handing their child over to our arms. Although it did occur to us that they were ready for us to take them away, in the hope of a brighter future. Or even more sadly, being conscious that these babies were only more pressure for them and yet another mouth to feed. Only a few could speak little English, and I have to say I let Liam and Rachael do most of the conversation as it was already so much for my eyes to handle, I did not want to hear the sound of my own voice.

_{Rachel holding a baby}

The second Slum was based quite a way away from the school and clinic. It was built along a train track which was the kids playground, used to the dangerous occasional train passing. Here they had their clothes hanging, here a plastic bag full of stuff was the sign that it was someone’s place. There they built a sort of a shrine which was the suggestion of a temple.

Most people are smiling and playful, they all want to be photographed and they come to us willing to chat away in the little English they know. Not far is a river where we can see them bathing or doing laundry. Rachel explains that she attempts to prevent them to wash in this water that is too polluted, as she has seen cases where some wounds were getting so infected that they were infested by worms.

_{A kid at Telepark Clinic}

We carried on our walk and headed towards the metro through some narrow streets of Kolkata. There we witnessed a water ritual, where a few people were bowing all the way to the ground, surrounded by a crowd who were spreading them with water, on their way to a temple… Drums were being played and I swear I could touch the spiritual energy around me. The crowd was really cheerful and solenel at the same time. I appreciated this moment. Others’ spirituality encourage my own mindfulness and it allowed me to feel a bit more grounded after this day of intense emotions.

The same night we got on a train to Bodhgaya were we met up with Pappy who is building a school for the Dalit kids of his village. This also was an amazing experience and I will relate it in my next post, please check it out.

_{Rachel, Liam and me.}

The 6th episode of our Astralpirate Adventures set in the slums will be published in the next couple of days. I will keep you updated.

Sail on. X