Week Ending 13 January
We look forward to our Tuesday night "Family Home Evenings" with the girls from two Udayan Care homes in Mehaurli, a neighborhood about a half hour drive from our apartment. They are sweet, loving and just lots of fun.
On Saturday morning we flew to Kolkata and arrived early enough to explore a bit after checking into our hotel. One of our first stops was the Motherhouse of the Missionaries of Charity where Mother Teresa lived, worked and died.
It is not a grand affair, in fact it took some searching to find the entrance, tucked in an alley off a busy street. It is still the headquarters of the order. Besides a cloister, it contains Mother Teresa's simple tomb and a small museum. The austerity of it all underscored the power of pure charity that guided her life. We were impressed by the unique combination of love, administrative ability and eloquence that made her such a force for good.
Kolkata is fascinating in terms of its culture and politics. It was the capital of British India from 1757 until the British moved it to Delhi in 1911. In the late 19th century it was the center of the Bengali Renaissance (led by the British educated middle class) and seedbed of the Indian Independence movement. Kolkata experienced a horrible famine in 1943. Approximately 3 million people died in West Bengal when the British redirected food supplies from the region to support its troops.
After the war the creation of East Pakistan in 1947 resulted in the migration of about 4 million Hindu refugees from East Bengal to the city. In 1971 a second wave of refugees arrived during the Indo-Pakistani war. In 1977 the Left Front won the state assemble elections, and the state was ruled by communists and other left groups till 2011.
On Saturday we went with President Saha to visit his family in a semi-rural "suburb" about 45 minutes outside of the city. Along the way we passed marching bands and people gathered along the street listening to speeches to celebrate the birthday of Swami Vivekananda (b. Kolkata1863-d. West Bengal 1902). He has a huge following in India and was key in introducing Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the west. There was a celebration going on when we pulled into the village.
This man was chanting and putting offerings of bel leaves into the fire.
A follower of Swami Vivekananda.
We had lunch and visited for several hours with President Saha's family. His father Sanduosh (far left) is from Bangladesh where his family owned quite a bit of land. He left in 1968 during the unrest between the Indo-Pakistani wars of 1965 and 1971 and began driving a cab to support himself and his family. His wife, Sandhya (second from the right) is also from Badgladesh although she was born in India. They settled in Malda Town, about 300 km from Kolkata on the border with Bangladesh. President Saha was an excellent student, earning a degree in computer engineering. He eventually moved his parents, two sisters and niece to Kolkata where he now works and built a nice home for them. He lives in the city close to his work and comes out on Saturdays to visit.
On Sunday we attended Church at the Kolkata Branch with about fifteen other people. We gave both talks and taught a combined Priesthood and Relief Society. Pictured here are from front left Sayantanee Saha, wife of President Saha, Manosse Kundu and her daughter Amrita (they learned about the Church from their son/brother who joined in Lubbock where he attends Texas Tech). In the back are Soumya Kumbahakar, nephew of the first branch president and second missionary ever sent from the branch, a random visitor, and President Sujal Saha.
The branch meets in the bottom floor of this house on a quiet street in a part of town called Salt Lake City.
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