Day 1
Landed in Calcutta and took a taxi to a guesthouse, horribly overpriced, the driver wouldn’t take me anywhere else; tired and in need of a shower, my tenacity waned. Driver disappeared into the next room to accept his share of my overpayment. Ate dinner at a roadside café. Slept easily with a full belly.
Day 2
Last shower before two days of coach class, breakfast at another roadside café. Then, jumped a bus directly to the train station. Less than twenty-four hours in country, from the safety of a bus window, saw my first fistfight. Arrived at the train station with plenty of time to spare. Found the appropriate line; curious how the line is in orderly fashion up to the point where I stood. Surrounded by people, as the line progressed, so did the crowd. When I reached the teller window, approximately twenty or so people crowded to the window, realization dawned. With a quick swing of my duffle, weighing roughly twice anyone in the crowd, the window was cleared and tickets were bought. Early afternoon, off in the distance, the Taj Mahal came and went. Water and food vendors at every station stop, again, slept easily with a full belly.
Day 3
Though sitting on a train, this was quite a busy day. Early in the morning, the train stopped at a station like any other. Vendors made their rounds, provisions were bought. However, this time, when the vendors returned to the platform, the train remained. The water vendors scurried about their business with all the passengers to watch. Quite a remarkable system they had worked out. All the water vendors collected the empty water bottles out of the trash cans. Sorted by brand and condition, the used looking bottles were given to and old man for recycling, while the new looking bottles were divided amongst the vendors by brand. About fifteen yards away, in the middle of the platform was a statue in the middle of a large fountain. The reservoir, approximately twenty-five feet across, was just large enough for everyone to sit on the edge and refill their bottles to sell to the next train-full of unsuspecting customers. A few children emerged from the station house, wearing long strings of bottle caps; with in-tact safety rings, all bottles were returned to a saleable state. The vendors smiled and waived as the train left the station.
The remainder of the day, attention was focused on cabin-mates. A group of friends, of which I was not a part, decided it would be fun to go through my duffle. Smiling and nodding, while making direct eye contact, trying to unzip my bag for closer inspection. With one hand on my bag, direct eye contact and a smile returned, I offered a quick knuckle-tapp to the back of the offending hands. Hands retreated, words exchanged, a few minutes lapsed, and the cycle began anew. Long after anger toward my cabin-mates resigned, the game continued. Several hours of watching flat-land desert pass by, what once presented itself as infuriating, became a game. My new found friends had offered something far more interesting to pass the time. Once they realized my appreciation for their willing participation in this game, where I was having fun and they sat clutching bruised hands, they decided to find another compartment. Once again, slept with a full belly.
5 comments:
comma use...wordy, too many "the"s.
I liked the style of writing that was used throughout the blog. The sentences were short and succinct. It seemed like you gave a broad, general description of several days, which was good, but I found myself wanting to know more about some of the events, like the fight, and the ticket booth; whether you want to say any more is up to you though.
I thought this was a very good first blog. You obviously chose to write about this experience because it was an important event in your life. Though not the most captivating detail to someone who was not there, you explained the sights and sounds around you pretty well. You could probably give a little more description at some instances but all in all a good job. I am not sure what else to say...ok bye
Its all very tied together with how you've set up your itinerary. Even with direct, spliced sentences, this seems to flow into a logical rhythm. I most enjoyed the subtle humor--such as mentioning the 'bruised hands.'
If anything, I needed more of an attention grabber in the beginning. I got a little confused and bored with the few sentences.
"Long after anger toward my cabin-mates resigned, the game continued. Several hours of watching flat-land desert pass by, what once presented itself as infuriating, became a game. My new found friends had offered something far more interesting to pass the time."
Middle sentence left hanging the idea of the whole. Tie it in more quickly (drop a tag where "what once presented itself as infuriating, became a game" to something like "this game which once presented itself as infuriating, became humorous." or anything to wrap it up.
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