SEP 25, 11 .. ‘ZILLA ASKS
I may need to begin a new line of writing.. I have played with ZEN AND THE ART OF .. so will think on the following..
TODAY’S SIXTY FOUR THOUSAND DOLLAR QUESTION.. goes to.. taa-daa (the envelope please)..
Jim 92307 KNOWN to many of you for over twenty (21) as Godzilla or “Zilla .. asked me a great question and I ‘paraphrase’ it this way.. “Cap.. I can’t tell IF you are really enjoying all of these adventures or enduring them or REALLY WONDERING “What AM I DOING HERE?” and Jim goes on to say “Is your love for India so great that these adventures are all in the day’s work'”.. and concludes basically with “Cap.. I don’t think I could put up with the illness.. water in my room from the hallway outside your room.. the cockroaches.. and etc.. and etc..”
AT THE END OF THIS WRITING.. BELOW.. I WILL CLOSE OUT ON COCKROACHES.. FOR NOW AT LEAST ..
Jim.. Mother India (as a nation) and all of her daughters (the many cities I visit) ARE INDEED.. the collective penultimate Femme Fatale..
THIS IS INDIA.. last night I stayed the night with Dayal in Kitty Brinnand’s room.. things went to-hell-in-a-handbasket yesterday with Kitty.. and I could NOT leave Dayal all night alone with the situation..
TOUGH.. REALLY TOUGH.. NIGHT.. I was tired this morning.. THANKS TO MANY MANY CALLS WITH PATTI.. I WORKED MY WAY THROUGH THE NIGHT..
So good news and bad news.. GOOD NEWS.. I immediately.. upon stepping outside of Shantidan (Mother Teresa’s Mission where Kitty is being cared for) GOT ONTO AN EMPTY CALCUTTA BUS (empty is only 75% full.. lots of seats) and I was thrilled.. talked to Patti while on the bus.. almost a tad ‘giddy’.. Jim.. it was FUN FUN FUN.. THRILLING TO BE IN INDIA..
BAD NEWS.. I was SO TIRED FROM LAST NIGHT.. THAT FIRST I MISSED MY BUS STOP AND WENT PAST MY HOTEL ABOUT A MILE.. THEN.. AFTER WAITING ON AN EARLY (6:30AM) SUNDAY MORNING FOR A BUS.. I ALMOST MISSED MY BUS STOP AT MY HOTEL GOING BACK TOWARDS SEALDAH RAIL STATION..
Do you see.. MOTHER INDIA WILL KILL ME DEAD WHEN I AM THAT TIRED.. SO WIPED OUT THAT I MISS MY BUS STOP AT MY HOTEL.. TWO TIMES WITHIN TEN MINUTES..
ONE LAPSE IN ATTENTION AND I AM DEAD JIM.. THIS DAUGHTER OF MOTHER INDIA CALLED CALCUTTA WILL KILL ME DEAD..
BUT MAN ALIVE JIM.. OH THE ATTRACTION FOR MOTHER INDIA AND HER DAUGHTERS IS THERE AND IT ALWAYS HAS BEEN AND I THINK IT ALWAYS WILL BE..
Last Friday.. after politely pointing out to a young.. 20ish male.. sitting in the reserved-for-seniors seat on a bus.. AFTER HE POINTEDLY IGNORED ME.. after several other passengers told him in Bengali and they too pointed to the sign indicating reserved for seniors..I physically picked this young man up and I physically wrestled him OUT OF HIS SEAT IN THE RESERVED FOR SENIOR CITIZENS ONLY seat.. I mean I reached down and I slipped my hands under his arms and I pulled him up and I pulled him out of the seat and I sat down.. and I was applauded by others on the bus INCLUDNG HIS BUDDY WHO SMILED A WIDE SMILE AT ME ..
THAT IS INDIA IN A NUTSHELL.. FUN AND GRIM AT THE SAME INSTANT..
“Geez Cap you call THAT fun”.. fun in that I can STILL DO IT..
BOTTOM LINE JIM .. THERE IS NO EXPLAING A FATAL ATTRACTION.. AT ONE AND AT THE SAME TIME..I AM HATING (to hate) IT AND I AM LOVING IT MORE THAN I AM HATING IT.. it shore ain’t pretty all the time..
COCKROACHES.. I have my little systems.. one is this.. I make my own waste baskets by cutting water bottles in half (the two litre larger ones) and using the bottom half to throw my trash into.. the waste buckets in India Hotel Rooms are FILTHY DIRTY GRIM DISEASE FILLED HORRIBLE.. I disinfect them with Dettol liquid and then use them to wash clothes in to clean them up but do not use them for trash..
I have read that a cockroach can actually live and survive on the film of grease left by wiping down a counter top of cooking oil.. so I am overly careful to keep things clean with dettol cleanser..
The other night.. the little BEASTIES are night creatures basically.. I found my water-bottle-waste-basket running over with cockroaches.. evidently wanting inside the empty packets of used Electral or inside of the empty cookie packages which I shake out completely.. HELL I WANT THE CRUMBS.. HELL WITH YOU LITTLE FRIENDS OF ARCHY..
So I took them all.. trash and multiple cockroaches down the hall and threw them all away.. KNOWING they were laughing at me KNOWING they would just come back to my room.. so I then fashioned a tightly fitting lid from the bottom of another water bottle slipping it carefully over the other one to make an almost air tight lid.. no more roaches inside my water-bottle-trash-buckets.. I MAY GET SOME PRODUCT TO KILL THEM.. they threaten my life.. I have seen them wandering around INSIDE the upper part of my toilet bowl in the bathroom.. THEY GO ANYWHERE and track disease on their feet and legs.. MY ATTITUDE IS TURNING AGAINST ARCHY’S LITTLE RELATIVES..
JIM.. I DOUBT YOU WOULD PUT UP WITH COCKROACHES IN YOUR ROOM ALONG WITH FLOODING ON THE FLOOR INSIDE OF YOUR HOTEL ROOM FOR ONE, SHORT, NEW-YORK-MINUTE..
GOOD.. SIXTY-FOUR-THOUSAND DOLLAR QUESTON JIM.. THANKS FOR YOUR INTEREST IN MY WRITINGS FOR NOW OVER TWENTY ONE YEARS..
Over and Out with LOVE.. Cap from Kolkata (Calcutta)..