Udayan - a new beginning

After our 7 o’clock start we were greeted by Robert, one of the house brothers at Udayan, and went on the coach to Udayan where the march was beginning. We arrived to find the children lined up full of anticipation and a readiness to carry out the march to raise the awareness of leprosy as part of the National Anti-Leprosy Week. We started the crusade with Kathryn and Caroline waving flags to encourage the children and lift spirits. As we marched through Barrackpore streets many of the locals came out to support the cause and they appeared interested in the leaflets handed out by the children. Sadly we couldn’t stay with the protest as long as we would have liked as we had a coach awaiting to ferry us back to the hotel ready to begin our tour of Kolkata. As we made our exit we got to look back at the long line of children following us through the town, and we could see all of them were very happy. We left Beverley with the rally as she is staying at Udayan to make preparations for us so our time there is put to best use.

After a quick bite to eat, we met our tour guide Sujoy who took us on a tour around some of the sights Kolkata has to offer. We made our way towards the northern part of the city to visit the house of renowned novelist, painter, songwriter poet and philosopher, Rabindranath Tagore. On the way we were stuck in the unusually busy Saturday traffic but this allowed Sujoy to tell us more about Tagore and his accomplishments such as writing the Indian and Bangladeshi national anthems as well as being the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. We then piled back into the mini van and continued to the Queen Victoria Memorial Hall to tour the galleries of art, historical artefacts and the blooming gardens. The British architecture was evident as features such as its dome bore resemblance to St. Paul’s cathedral and many landmark sites in the U.K as well as its white marble reminding us of our recent visit to the Taj.

Tomorrow we’re off to the Missionaries of Charity Motherhouse for early morning Mass and to visit Mother Teresa’s tomb. We’ll be coming back for breakfast before heading off to Udayan at 9am where we’ll be spending a few days with the children.

We look forward to filling you in on our time at Udayan tomorrow, technology permitting!