Let It Be

Today marked our last full day in Kolkata, the City of Joy. Tomorrow we will check out of the lovely Hotel Emirates, sad to leave cold showers and solid beds behind before heading to Darjeeling. Today, however, was difficult for other reasons. We visited Brooklyn, a slum community about 45 minutes from our hotel. It was confronting and challenging and, followed by the fun and laughter had at Future Hope last night, it left each of us struggling for words and reasons why. However, the boys must be congratulated for their strength and unity as they looked out for each other brilliantly through a tough day.

Before I rip in, all of us here want to wish Nicki Boswell and Zac Lerner a big happy birthday. Thinking of you both today.

Saturday 9 December

Sickness Update ​- Rowan Burns, Ryan Donovan, Matt Illing, and Sam Lindberg are back to full fitness and were amongst everything today. Rowan especially really appreciated all your love on the blog and is in good spirits once again after a dark couple of days. Josh Roberts was feeling well enough to come out to the Mother House this morning but returned to bed later. Mr Crook has flown under the radar but has been ill the past couple of days. Michael Derevianko and Ben Lerner fell ill today but with Michael coming to dinner tonight and Ben, Josh, and Mr Crook in good spirits we hope all will be back in the game tomorrow.

5am ​- Early wake up. Reuben had to physically break into the boys' rooms and slap them on the face with a roti to rouse them.

5.25am ​- We departed for the Mother House, Mother (Saint, now) Teresa's home where she carried out her life's work; the boys were told to walk in silence and simply appreciate Kolkata as it began to wake up - a totally different atmosphere to what we've been used to. Side note: it was raining! Pouring. Persisting down. Cats and dogs. (Or were they already there?) Why am I making such a song and dance about this? Today was the first time I have ever seen it rain in India and, considering the pollution, it was worrying. Raymond Zhou was seriously concerned the rain would burn a hole in his fresh Ali Baba pants.

5.45am ​- We arrived in time for a 6am Catholic mass which lasted for 50 minutes. The peace of the mass juxtaposed with the horns blaring and crows squawking outside was something quite surreal. A truly humbling morning.

6.03am ​- Leo Smith lasted 3 minutes of mass before becoming so inspired that he quickly rushed out to decorate the plants for the Sisters of the Mother House. Good on you, Leo. You are the inspiration, my friend. Seriously, though, he is. After fighting a bug the last couple of days, recovering, and then not looking too good this morning, Leo has bounced back almost immediately and seems fine once more.

7am ​- After mass, we visited Mother Teresa's tomb (on-site) and paid our respects to this incredible woman. Some of her famous quotes were displayed near the tomb; the boys especially liked "Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love." Quite relevant considering our recent and time-limited interactions with the children of Kolkata.

7.30am - Since the museum dedicated to Mother Teresa did not open until 9, we departed for our favourite breakfast at Blue Sky Cafe where we were greeted with a hearty "Yessss! Hello, Boss" and big hugs.

9am ​- With full stomachs and considering the early wake-up, the boys took the opportunity for a quick nap.

10.30am - Some of us - those finished napping - departed for the Mother House by taxi to check out the museum. Mother Teresa's life story was on display and what an incredible story it was to read, one of phenomenal selflessness and devotion.

12pm - We returned from the Mother House to the hotel, where 3 members of the Jungle Crows were waiting to take us to the next appointment on the agenda. 

12.30pm ​- Packed like sardines, we travelled by public bus for 1 hour (7 rupees - 15c per person) to the Jungle Crows / Khelo Rugby headquarters. I appointed a council of men to count the total number of people on the bus:

Roni Chapman - 82

Ryan Donovan - 80

George Skinner - 85

Cam MacFarlane - 83

Lachie Dickson - 81

Richard Boswell (forever the conservative) - 75

Ollie Schnauer did some "quick maf" and determined for me that this gave a median (Ollie suggested this would be the best metric, of course) of precisely 81.5 people on the bus which was supposed to seat 40.

1.30pm - Chlaustrophobia setting in, we arrived and immediately began games of cricket and football with the kids from a local community which Khelo Rugby supports. The power of sport to transcend barriers of language and circumstance was once again on show.

3pm - After lunch - provided by the Jungle Crows (what great hosts these guys have been to us!) - we took a short, more comfortable bus to Brooklyn, another local Khelo community. Once a suburb that housed workers who were labourers both on the dock and for government expansion projects, nowadays Brooklyn and its grimy, abandoned buildings (without running water - except for a hacked water main that provides a pool of water for bathing, drinking and clothes washing - 3 in 1) plays home to over 80,000 inhabitants. The place was raw and supremely tough to visit but must be unimaginably tough to live in - although you wouldn't know it from the children's smiles.

4.30pm - We left soon after playing an Indian version of Simon Says with the children of Brooklyn, tears in a few of the boys' eyes. Many of them put a comforting arm around a mate's shoulder as we walked.

6pm - We arrived back at Hotel Emirates and had an hour to shower, relax, process, write blogs, and nap.

7pm - Dinner at the nearby Hong Kong Restaurant. A break from Indian food was warmly welcomed and everyone enjoyed momos, chow meins, chop sueys, and fried rices.

9.30pm - Debrief tonight involved the entire group, the task being to finish the sentence: "Life is..." Answers included "tough", "unpredictable" and "too complex to summarise in a single sentence" (my favourite one! Props to Rowan for that).

10pm - We packed up our rooms ready to check out tomorrow and headed to bed.

Thought ​- There are times when we can't simply fade or fix someone's pain. Today, at Brooklyn, was challenging, uncomfortable, even brutal. As tears flowed following our visit to the Brooklyn community the best we could do was stand with the members of our group, acknowledging their sadness, but not trying to 'remove' it. For ultimately some things in this world are bitterly unfair and to be upset in response is perfectly natural. The challenge after sitting with such sadness is to then respond to the injustice in active ways. What are each of us doing to advance the causes of those who cannot advance themselves?

MVP - George Skinner. Today this man accomplished the impossible. Packed into this 40-seater bus with 80.5 other people, the effects of waking at 5am clearly became too much for George and he decided to have a nap. However, this was no ordinary nap. Most of us would struggle to sleep sitting down on these buses as they swerve left and right, bounce over potholes, and stop abruptly every few metres. Not George. George managed to fall asleep standing up, somehow managing to balance as he cradled his own head in the crook of his arm in a pose that somewhat resembled the popular 'dab'. We love pushing the boundaries on this trip and today, George, you have done that. So, congratulations, you deserve all the accolades in the world today and a good night's rest.

Tom