A change in conversation.

I can just imagine how regal Kolkata must have been when it was rich and clean... can you imagine a maharaja leaning over the balcony, adorned in beautiful colours?

I have picked up embroidery - I am beginning with tracing fabric patterns I have here with me. It helps to pass the time here on a hot afternoon.

Can't go wrong with a good tea in an elephant mug, with Rs. 50 biscuits.

Fried, peppered, and salted green-beans Anna cooked up for a yummy snack - so good!

I love this crow. This crow is very wise. And it likes to sit in its nest and laugh at the other crows who are scrambling around trying to fashion a quick nest, as this one made its one a long time ago.

Up close, I think they are quick remarkable.

Yay for spring!

Occasionally we will see a couple of different birds - very occasionally.

Like these pigeons that inhabit our roof-top.

Anna and I decided to explore the roof of our apartment building early yesterday morning - we were rewarded with this view, and of Howrah Bridge. So much peace from up so high.

Judy just returned from Malaysia and Agra (India), but she missed out on Holi celebrations. So while we were sitting around for dinner, I snuck to the kitchen, grabbed the left over metallic-green powder (that turns blood-red with water!), and spread it all over her face! I love this photo.

Only recently have I begun to recognise a slight shift in the way introductory conversations work here in Kolkata, especially between two people from outside of India.

Instead of asking whether they are working or studying, and delving into the preferred option, it tends to begin with, "Hi, where are you from? How long have you been in Kolkata for? And how much time have you got left here?" Then usually some form of what the other is doing, or how the other person is adjusting to life in a dirty, and strange city, unfolds.

It seems that we are all just looking for someone else we can relate to, in a city that will never relate to us. If we are staying in Kolkata for a year, and the person you meet is too, then there is an immediate understanding and acknowledgement for how the other might be feeling.

It is only a slight difference to what I would usually begin with, but it just makes me more aware of just how these things pan out in different circumstances.

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