This morning the North Cal gang i.e. Explorers Anupam, Ritesh and Sue went walking around Kumartuli. Anupam has got a route chalked out and the logistics are almost entirely worked out. They spent a lot of time looking at the people of the area and the lives they lead. Here are a few things that they found interesting:
There is a certain quiet street which has some wonderful old buildings, in utter disrepair. They entered this one, and found a little weaver’s workshop inside. The building also houses some interesting portraits and is fascinating, with its many nooks and crannies.
As they walked down the alleyways they also saw a clever little pump used all over the locality but which they had never noticed before. The setup was simple — the municipal water was being collected by a bucket placed under the outlet; a little pump, attached to a pipe dropped into the bucket from the floors above, pumped the water up. The water in the bucket always remained level since whatever flowed into it was immediately pumped up. The whole outfit looked cheap and economical and extremely useful.
Since the walk was fairly early in the morning it was quite chilly. But the local slum children were running around barefoot or partially naked and there were quite a few who were being oiled and therefore almost entirely naked in the biting river wind!
The explorers took in a bit of Sovabazar as well and visited the beautifully appointed Roy house. The family were very friendly and explained a lot of their history to the explorers and also gave them a comfortable sofa to rest on after all that walking. Apart from the old furniture and lovely architecture (clean lines, high ceilings, wide verandahs and large rooms) the house is also worth visiting for the model ship it houses — a memento of the source of their wealth — and for the unusual pet they keep.