On Tour in Northern India

December 26, 2015

At 3:30 I awoke to shower, an unavoidably cold shower, to make room for others of the Natya Chetana company.  We needed to leave at 4:45 to catch the train to Kolkata, and there were at least a dozen members that needed to share just two bathrooms.  At 5 we tightly packed ourselves into a small van.  The driver was a little disoriented and we had to stop to ask directions from a man out poking fruit from a tall tree overhanging the road. At 5:30, newly arrived at the station, we found the train delayed.  We waited amongst the growing crowds. At 7 the train arrived and the company scrambled to get set, props, costumes luggage and people aboard, sticking things through windows and dragging boxes between exiting passengers. We had just 5 minutes to complete the task.  As the train set off, several members of the company ran along the aisle, desperately peering out the windows. Did they not get all the props, I wondered? The truth proved a little more frightening, as the company director had accidentally collided with another passenger while boarding, knocking him to the ground. The company sprang into action to get him safely to his seat. There was a lot of tussle and pull as the group found places for all the baggage, while catering to the director.

Not to ignore the various people traversing the train begging for money, selling food, wares, and chai, as well as women playing music for change, men dressed as women seeking the same and people missing various parts of their anatomy.

At 7:10, we started on our journey.