Calcutta

A few of us headed up to Calcutta for the weekend for a bit of a break. Calcutta is only 7 hours away by train - that feels like nothing after the Delhi commute.

Calcutta was the former capital during the British Raj, before it was moved to New Delhi. It is a huge city that has some beautiful colonial architecture, wide, tree-lined boulevards, and, much to our delight, footpaths. 

The main reason for the trip was to see a game of IPL Twenty 20 Cricket at Eden Gardens. The local team is the Kolkata Knight Riders and they played the Chennai Super Kings. There were some stars out on the field with MS Dhoni (India's captain) heading the Chennai team with help from Mike Hussey and Doug Bollinger. Brett Lee was bowling for the local team which is owned by one of Bollywood's biggest stars, Shah Rouk Kahn. It was a pretty slow game with Chennai struggling to get 130 in the first innings. Most of the attention of the crowd was focused on Mr Kahn and his Bollywood cohorts. Kolkata came in firing and was clearly going to win the game but it was delayed after about 8 overs due to rain and then called off. Kolkata won by 10 runs under the Duckworth Lewis method which means they've got a chance to reach the finals series.

One of our friends here in Bhubaneswar also planned a new social movement activity for that day. International Day of Service, conceived right here in Bhub, is a day where people can go and volunteer at a local orphanage or aged care home. The aim is to motivate and mobilise volunteers. The first event was held on Saturday and due to us being in Calcutta we hooked up with an orphanage there. So after arriving at 6am, showering and getting breakfast, we were off to the orphanage loaded up with face paints and big smiles. The kids were just gorgeous and once they warmed up we had a ball. I think the photos say it all.