So Nandan and I went to Kolkata to retrieve that 250kg of books I sent there from Seattle back in January. It arrived March 3 but no one contacted us or became aware of its arrival. I had the American shipper track it and he found in it Kolkata. We hired a customs house agent who told us to come to Kolkata and sign some documents, so we went to Kolkata. We sorted that and the people we hired seemed cool, but let’s wait and see how the books arrive in Benares.
Nandan is very lazy. He sleeps like 9 hours a night, and sometimes lounges around in bed for an hour after he wakes reading the paper or watching TV or drinking chai or making phone calls.
I sleep about 7 hours a night so in the mornings when we are out of town and I am away from my office what I can do except wake up and leave the hotel and explore the streets?
I went out and I saw these two guys speaking in sign language while they were walking down the street. I give one of them the cruising look and he gives me the maybe look so I go talk to them. As it turned out, Abdul was deaf and he had been friends with Sarukh for about five years, so Sarukh also knows good sign language now. Sarukh spoke good English and it was apparent to me that he had spent a lot of time with foreign tourists because he did not have the grammar problems which students who learn English in school have.
They invited me to tea and we talked about HIV issues and Abdul told me he was positive and both of them had a certain amount of HIV education because this was a personal issue for them. We talked about a lot of things then they took me to this gym in the middle of this field where lots of boys were playing cricket. They had this guy open the door to a back room and then he locked us in there and that was really weird but we just chilled and talked for a few hours. Abdul showed me a letter that someone foreign had written to him saying how much fun they had hanging out. We kissed and hugged a little and I made out with Sarukh and then I left but told them I would see them the next day.
And the next day we did go out and have adventures. After the adventures were over I asked them if they would come visit me in Varanasi and they said yes. I gave them train fare. Nandan said I was crazy because they would take the money and run, or come to Varanasi expecting more money. I am not sure what to think. They obviously did not have much money, but they were a lot of fun and a lot about both of them interests me. The train fare meant nothing to me because it was a small amount and because I wanted them to come visit me anyway, and it seemed like a good idea for me to have fun relaxing company in Benares.
I guess I will see what happens if or when they arrive.
This video has nothing to do with those two, but it is one of several which Nandan made in Kolkata. Others are on his YouTube page.