For the
last few months I have been living in Calcutta Calcutta
Amidst the huge trucks,
luxury buses, cars, speeding ambulances, screeching police jeeps looking for
right of way I see a new form of conveyance – the van, as it is known
locally. This is an amazing piece of
vehicle and I wish I could upload a picture (sorry my laptop camera is dysfunctional)
but I shall try to describe it as visually as possible. The front part is half a cycle which pulls a
flat plank of wood propped up on two huge wheels; the driver of the van sits on
his cycle seat and gaily carries 4-5 passengers sitting on the plank behind him
without a care. Little children are made
to sit in the middle of the wooden plank and are invariably surrounded by adult
passengers – safe and sound. Even though
called a van it is absolutely open to the skies and now during the rain the different
umbrellas covering the passengers make a pretty picture. Honestly!
More on
Barasat and the cat who adopted me as the caretaker of her newborn kitties
coming up in my next post. Goodnight.
