The journey from Bombay to Calcutta in 1966 was memorable....The only thing I knew about India, thanks to Japanese TV was poverty and misery....but on that journey what I noticed at age 7....was beautiful landscapes....smiling people at railway stations.....great food....
And I told my mom and dad....India to eto bhalo....(India is so great...)
In Bombay/Mumbai, we stayed at a hotel in Marine Drive...Big rooms, high ceilings...and of course lovely view of the sea...
Am trying to remember the details on the train....we had our own coupe for the family....
The countryside through the train window was a feast ...I laapeed it all up and asked by parents why they talked such bad things about India on Japanese TV.
The train chugged along right through from Bombay ...through Central India upto Howrah Station.
Howrah was scary ....very noisy and crowded....my mamus(uncles) came to the platform to whisk us away in a delapidated taxi through narrow cnoisy streets after crossing Howrah Bridge.
Once at my grandparents home in South Calcutta nest to a pond(pukur) full of noisier ducks...we were treated to plates full of the best veggies and fish that Bengal could offer....not that I made a difference to me. I was just enchanted by the coconut trees, the pond, the ducks, the cows ...the vegatable garden....
The following two years ...studying in a local missionary school and spending magical days and weeks in and around my grandparents house were some of the best days of my life.
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