Let's cross the bridge when we come to it

Dear people, time flies by. I was just in Sri Lanka and now I have already spent four weeks in the Sundarbans. And on December 30th, it was exactly one year since I first came to India. I still remember sitting with Eric at Mumbai airport at night, drinking chai and eating samosas. Both of us suddenly had some 'cold feet' and little motivation to dive into the urban jungle. I have spent almost 10 months in India since then, and Kolkata and the Eco Village have become a second home for me. Just before Christmas, a woman from Berlin visited the Eco Village and I told her a little bit about my journey. The next evening she approached me again and said that she had been thinking about me the whole day during the safari. She wanted to know how I could endure it here for so long, if I ever get bored, and if I miss the luxury from Germany, like a hot shower, food, a washing machine, and more. I am often asked what makes the Eco Village so special for me that I spend so much time there, and if I ever get bored since every day seems the same. I always struggle to give a concrete answer. It is mainly a feeling; the feeling of being somewhere I belong. The people who live and work there contribute a great deal to it. Of course, there are moments when I don't feel so good and I miss some people from Germany. But apart from that, I am simply content with what I have there. No, I don't usually miss a hot shower or a washing machine, and the food is great. In fact, it has been very cold in the last few weeks, sometimes only about eight degrees at night. So I just warmed up water in the kitchen and had a hot shower. It takes some effort, but in the end, everything I need is there. I believe that this experience is very important for me. In Germany, I often feel like I need this or that to feel good, mostly some material things or something special to eat. So many temptations and offers everywhere. And I admit, I was always quite susceptible to all of that. The time I spend in the Sundarbans or in India in general is like a break from all of these things. I really hope that I can take this feeling back to Germany and not lose it quickly in everyday life. I can't say yet that I am getting tired of village life and have the feeling of wanting to move on. I hope you don't get bored reading this. I am certainly not bored.

So, just before Christmas, I went from Kolkata back to the Eco Village. I was only away for 7 weeks and I was very surprised by how much had changed in such a short time.

A completely new dining area has been created, with enough space to accommodate the upcoming large tourist groups so that no one has to wait long.

When I left, only the foundation area had been leveled and a few pillars were already standing. Now there is a whole new house with several rooms. When I arrived, Rajesh, one of the three bosses, greeted me with the words, 'This has to be finished in five days.' 'Okay, sure...,' I thought, 'that will never happen in a million years.' Many of the mud walls were not finished, there was no electricity and water yet, windows and doors had no panes, and the roof was not finished. In addition, there was rice harvesting going on everywhere in the Sundarbans, and many of the workers were in the fields and not able to help in the Eco Village. The next five days were really exhausting. Everyone who was available worked on the house. And I had a German children's song stuck in my head the whole time. Guess which one... 

Beside me, Frederica from Italy was also there to help. Our main task was to mix clay with water and straw and then hand it to the women. Later, we painted some walls white. And actually, on the planned day, guests were able to sleep there, even though not everything was finished yet. Mud walls usually need three layers to be stable. But that could wait until the rush was over.

After those intense work days, Christmas was just around the corner. And even though the temperatures were only autumn-like and I even had an Advent calendar thanks to my dear mother, I didn't feel any Christmas spirit. It was difficult to explain this to my Indian friends, who have no idea what Christmas spirit means to me. And the word 'contemplative' probably doesn't exist in the Hindi and Bengali languages. Just like there is no word for 'melancholic'.

Anyway, I had a few Christmas stars from Germany in my luggage and I really wanted to hang them on a tree. I asked Frederica to help me and in the afternoon of December 24th, we decorated a Christmas tree in the Sundarbans.

Later, Rajesh's sister arrived from Kolkata with several bags of Christmas decorations. And together we made the tree even more beautiful. Suddenly, I felt the Christmas spirit that I had been missing, at least for a moment.

A German-Indian Christmas tree - it has something special. However, I didn't necessarily need the small plastic Santa Claus under the tree who croaked English Christmas carols with a nasal voice. The rest of the evening we spent by the campfire with nice people after a good meal, just like every evening.

This South Indian family, who was our guest for three days, was especially friendly.

Unfortunately, on December 26th, I had to say goodbye to Frederica, who wanted to continue her journey to Sri Lanka. But I am sure we will meet again someday.

The days between Christmas and New Year's Eve became really busy. The groups got bigger and bigger. In India, there are some days off around Christmas and many families use the time for a small trip or just a day trip from Kolkata. Western tourists hardly came during those days. Most of them prefer smaller groups. And on some days, 80 or more people came to the small village. The main task was to prepare sleeping places. The hammock terrace was turned into a multi-bed room, and tents were set up. Even before Christmas, Frederica and I had left our little house and moved to the 'stargazing terrace'.

At first, I was worried about freezing there, but with two blankets below and above me, it was cozy warm and really comfortable. Only on one night, I was woken up by strange noises. I turned on the light and caught the two dogs Mini and Dada trying to eat most of my luggage. They were chewing on clothes, socks, and shoes. They even ate the marzipan potatoes from Germany that I hadn't eaten for some reason. How cheeky! The next morning, they acted like nothing had happened.

Even my place on the stargazing terrace had to be temporarily vacated after Christmas. So, for the first time, I spent a night on one of the boats. That was also very nice. However, the boat left for the safari the next morning at 6:30 am, so I had to get up at shortly after 5 am. But in return, I got to enjoy a beautiful sunrise on the river.

However, the next night, I had probably the most unusual sleeping place. There were about 150 people in the village. There was no free bed. At first, I thought I could just sleep on the boat again. So I waited, already quite tired, after dinner at 9:30 pm at the boat jetty to go on the night safari and then go to one of the boats from there. However, it turned out that all the seats on the boats were also booked by tourists on that night. In the end, a few of the men prepared a sleeping place for me in the storage room, where they also spent the night. The next day, the rush was fortunately over, and after trying out all possible sleeping places, I got my own house back. However, I found it so cozy on the stargazing terrace that I usually prefer to spend the night there.

The week between Christmas and New Year's Eve went by very quickly. One year ago, I was at a huge New Year's Eve party in Mumbai. The New Year's night in the Eco Village was a complete contrast to that and certainly unique. After dinner, like almost every evening, I went on the night safari on one of the small boats. Manjit and one of the tourists from his group told me that they wanted to go swimming that night. Because of the bioluminescent plankton in the water. 'You guys are crazy! It's way too cold!' I said. But when I sat on the boat, I suddenly felt that this was exactly the night to do something crazy. And what can I say: it was an unforgettable experience. Thousands of stars above me and me in the water among the glowing plankton - it was beautiful! The cold was quickly forgotten. And the more I moved, the warmer it became, and the more the plankton glowed.

Back in the village, we spent the rest of the night sitting by the campfire, grilling chicken and potatoes.

It was a really nice evening.

The next morning unfortunately started with a rather unpleasant surprise for me. Rajesh called me over and said that there were a few men from the FRRO, a kind of foreigners' registration office, in his office in Kolkata, asking for me. I actually already had difficulties when I entered India from Sri Lanka. The immigration officer asked me a lot of questions about my stay in India. He was very polite, but it was obvious that he suspected that I was working in India and thus violating the conditions of my tourist visa. He wanted to see photos on my phone and names and phone numbers of some of my Indian friends. It was four in the morning, and I was quite overwhelmed. In the end, he let me enter. However, he told me that I had to go to this foreigners' registration office in Kolkata and register there. Otherwise, I might never get a visa for India again. I did that on the very day of my arrival. However, the officers there checked my visa and said everything was okay, I didn't have to worry. So, I didn't think about it further. Until January 1st. These people then called Rajesh. They wanted to know if and how long I stay in the Eco Village and what I do there. They asked if I earn money there and if I work with children. Apparently, it's just a routine check for the safety of tourists. I hope so.

After the shock and the hectic days, everyday life quickly returned. It became calmer in the village. For a few days, there were no specific tasks for me. I spent a lot of time in the kitchen, where it was always warm due to the stove fire. Finally, I was allowed to use one of the big knives. During my previous stays, I was only given a dull potato peeler.

On one day, I was supposed to help Mowgli, another one of the three Eco Village operators, to bathe his dogs. After two of the dogs were freshly washed, he said, 'Hey, you love Lucky. Go get her. She should also get a bath for the new year.' Fortunately, Lucky obviously didn't really like this special treatment but I was very happy about it.

In the last few days, I started painting the doors and windows in the new house. This will keep me busy for a while.

But I also have enough free time to take a walk through the village now and then, drink a fresh coconut, or participate in activities for the tourists.

I usually sit by the riverside at least once a day, mostly for the sunset.

After the rice harvest, everything looks completely different here.

About a week ago, Manjit came with a small group. By now, I usually know when I see the new guests if the boat trip in the afternoon will just be a small bird-watching excursion or if it will end with a surprise. That day, I thought it could be fun, so I decided to go on the boat. It's always fun when the boat stops in one of the smaller canals and the tour guides tell the guests that there is a little walk through the mangroves ahead. Most of the time, the reactions are rather subdued and you can see from their faces that they think it's just a joke. But when one person starts and gets off the boat, usually almost everyone follows. Just like on that day. Of course, nobody knew in advance that the whole action would end in a big mud fight.

But afterwards, everyone is happy and happy that they just did something silly for half an hour.

On some evenings, we go to a family in the village who, like almost all families here, makes rice wine themselves. Recently, Arif, one of the tour guides and now a good friend, sent me and his group out ahead, and he joined later. So, for a short time, I pretended to be a guide and told the guests everything about the rice wine. It was fun.

Last Thursday, I went to the market on the island for the first time, which is quite far from the Eco Village. Actually, we wanted to go there by electric tuk-tuk, but it broke down after 100 meters.

I was already a bit sad, thinking that my spontaneous trip was over. But fortunately, in India, there is always space for more than two people on a motorcycle. 

...loaded with great things...

Oh, and of course, I also go to the cockfight almost every Friday, which is certainly a pretty barbaric custom, but I like to watch the people there.

Photo: Manjit

Photo: Manjit

Since weeks, Arif has been saying that he really wants to go out for biryani with Manjit, Sailesh (another tour guide), and me. Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult to find a time when we are all in Kolkata. It didn't work out again yesterday, and so Manjit was absent. But we still went for biryani anyway. And for the first time, I was in a huge shopping mall in India. It really doesn't fit here in Kolkata at all. But it was interesting to see this part of the city as well. Fortunately, that was just the meeting point. We had the biryani in a restaurant outside of this incredibly large building.

Afterwards, we went back to the Quest Mall. I learned that people who cannot afford to shop here at least meet here to take selfies together. As Arif says, 'We say we meet at the Quest Mall because it sounds cool. But then we go outside to eat and drink chai.'

To finish off this lovely evening, we had sweet paan, a beetle leaf filled with dried fruits, nuts, and some sweet paste.

After three days in Kolkata, I will be going back to the Sundarbans tomorrow. Let's see what the next few weeks will bring and if next time I can say that the time has come to leave. I can't really imagine it at the moment, just like I can't imagine starting my other life in Germany again in May. That's why I liked the saying that a man from Canada told me a few days ago in this context: 'Let's cross the bridge when we come to it!'

Take care, my dears.