I had expected Kolkata to be an extremely chaotic city, one of the worse. It is, after all, the 2nd largest city in India by population. But I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find Kolkata to be a very friendly city with little hassle, though the traffic is horrible. I feel right at home again, almost as though I never left. Slowly my limited Hindi vocabulary is coming back into use. I’m re-adapting my head wobble/tilt to replace my use of the words “yes” “maybe” “ok” “I don’t know” and “thank you.” And I’m fully enjoying the fact that everyone speaks English!! Well not everyone, not nearly everyone, but compared to my past 2 months in SE Asia I can have conversations with a complete with so much more content and friendliness. I appreciate what India offers a traveler so much more now than I did when I was here 2 years ago, the sense of humor, the clothes, the cheapness, the food, the silly bargaining, the English, the Hindi (no tones!)… Coming from SE Asia I am already used to the intense stares from men, the pollution, the heat, the noise, and the horrible traffic. And this all leaves me with generally positive experiences around each corner.
I flew into Kolkata mainly because I had hoped to spend some time in Bangladesh. On Tuesday it ended up being too late for me to go to the Bangladesh Consulate to apply for a visa. On Wednesday morning I took a taxi there only to discovered it was closed for the day to celebrate the birthday of the honorable Sir Reallylongname Reallylongname Reallylongname. On Thursday I returned, but I knew I would only bother to apply if I could get the visa back by Friday. This would only give me about 5 days to head into Dhaka, stay, and leave before I would have to make my way to Delhi. I promised Arman I would be in Delhi before his birthday on April 3 and I intend to keep that promise.
My interest in Bangladesh is to see a different part of Indian culture and visit a Muslim country for the first time. Being a Muslim country I wanted to get the visa in my Netherlands passport. I have two passports for good reason; sometimes I’d rather not be American. Also, I knew the visa would be cheaper for Europeans (about $20 vs $100). At the application counter everything seemed to be in order, they said I would get my visa the next day. I had to come back at 11:30am, in 2 hours, for an interview.
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After asking and receiving different directions from 10 people I find a cyber café to pass the time until my interview. As I pay for my hour ($0.30) the guy asks me, “Are you Muslim?” “Excuse me?”“Are you Muslim? Or Hindu? What is your caste?”
“No I’m not Muslim. I don’t have a caste.”
“What is your religion? Christian?”
I shake my head, “I don’t have one.”
“Agnostic?” he asks with shock, “why?”
“Because I wasn’t raised with a religion,” I smile.
“Why do you look Muslim?”
“How do you mean, because of my face?”
He nods.
“I don’t know.”
“You look Muslim.”
“Well, thank you” I smile and take my leave. I’m always flattered if someone identifies me with a particular ethnicity, especially if it is their own. I don’t know why he should identify me as Muslim, even after having seen my American passport as ID. Occasionally in the states people have asked me if I am Persian or they just ask “what” I am, usually after hearing my name. It was an interesting exchange to occur just as I am in the process of getting a Visa for Bangladesh, a Muslim country. I head back to the consulate to be early for my interview.
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I waited for my turn to be interviewed. When I was called forward the man began to shuffle through my application and copies of my passport and Indian visa. I could tell he had no intentions of actually asking me questions when he began to name the fee for the visa for Dutch citizens ($18). But then he asked if I had the passport with me that contained the Indian visa. Was it an old passport? No, I said, it was a different passport. I had no intention of lying about my American citizenship; I just wanted the visa to be for my Dutch passport. He asked to see my American passport so I showed him.
He then proceeded to tell me he would have to put the visa in my American passport. I was afraid of this. My Indian visa is in my American passport because only Americans can have 10 year visas to India. I try to ask him why it is a problem. He has a photocopy of my India visa, he has both passports in front of him, until just then he didn’t know I had an American passport, why couldn’t he just put it in the Dutch passport? Because these were his rules, he says. I plead with him, saying it shouldn’t make a difference, all the information is available, but he doesn’t care. He asks me why I care, is it “because the American visa is more money?” “No, it’s because I feel safer traveling on my Dutch passport,” I say. This seems to change things. He then says he can write to the office higher up and ask them for permission to glue the visa into my Dutch passport. How long will this take? At least a week. I tell him I don’t have that kind of time, I will have to go with my American passport. But when I find out that an American visa will cost more than $170 I change my mind. For me to pay $170 to go Bangladesh, which honestly is not completely safe for a single female traveler due to political unrest, and for less than 5 days doesn’t seem worth it. I take both of my passports and leave the consulate. I’ll have to visit Bangladesh in the future when I have more time to actually see the country and hopefully someone to travel with. Travel lesson no. 79: Don’t be too honest with government officials, hide your extra passport until you actually HAVE to show it to them.
On the street I stop at a street vendor for a glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice. As I’m drinking my juice a woman orders her own and smiles at me. “What country are you from?” she asks. She asks me about my trip plans and if I am going to Delhi. I must stay with her family in Delhi, she tells me. They are very nice and would be happy to have me. Not wanting to insult or reject this stranger’s hospitality I tell her that I have some friends in Delhi that are waiting to host me. But she’s persistent, “my family is really outgoing, really! You must go and stay with them! I’ll give you their address.” I finish my juice quickly and say, “It was nice to meet you” with a smile and walk away. I don’t even know her name! I had forgotten the intense hospitality sometimes shown to foreigners in India. As I walk to the metro I’m bummed I won’t get to go to Bangladesh but also relieved that now I won’t have to rush the next 10 days of my trip towards Delhi. I’m also appreciative that I came to friendly Kolkata as my reintroduction to India.
By the way, I'm staying in Hotel Palace, just off Sudder St, across the street from Fresh & Juicy restaurant which is in the LP. It's a decent hotel with high ceilings so the rooms stay cool and private bathrooms. I recommend it. Or at least I recommend room 111.
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