Travel Day 877 – Kolkata, INDIA
Today was finally a resting day for me and for the first time since I had arrived in India, I could sleep-in and have an extended breakfast with my hostel mates…
Kolkata Chai and Sweets in Leaf and Clay
My teacher had left town already to prepare to tomorrows Tablaphilia concert and so I found myself for the first time with no scheduled surprise program for the day and I could just do whatever I wanted. Actually what I wanted to de besides sleeping in and enjoying my breakfast was to practice some Tabla on the sunny roof and then savor on the delicious goodness of the surrounding treats in the local shops…
or cha as it was called in West Bengal was definitely one of my expected favourites when I arrived in India. The prospect of being able to drink chai from the little unfired clay pots in Kolkata was especially exciting to me as it seemed to be the most sustainable of the available cups. Glasses rinsed with dirty water were never really appealing to me and vast amounts of plastic cups were already lining the streets and they definitely didn’t need more company…
The clay pots on the other hand were sustainable and designed to follow the cycle of life. They would hold the goodness of the chai for a while and then when tossed on the ground they would dissolve into earth again with the arrival of the next rain. Pretty much the same was true with the leaf tray for the sweets…
One of the many Sweets Shops in Kolkata
While the chai was already something familiar to me, the many sweets shops in Kolkata with their amazing treats was a new discovery for me. Really only after being offered some sweets, I finally dared to buy some in the numerous sweets shops myself. After realizing how good they were, all of them, and that my stomach was able to handle them without any major disagreement, I started visiting sweet shops every single day…
What hat initially been a little chai break here and there, had by now become a passionate hunt for new sweets that I had not tried before and an extended chai and sweet break whenever possible. Today’s resting day was such a great opportunity to visit a couple of different sores and sample a bite here or there and the fact that the treats were delivered in sustainable leaf or clay, made me feel much better about my unusual yet delicious passion for consumption…
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