Calcutta.

We exited the train station to a sea of large yellow taxis. It took a while, but finally found one at the right price. The turbaned sikh driver threaded his way through more taxis, bikes, pedestians and buses towards the first piece of impressive engineering I've seen in India. The Hawath Bridge. It spans the murky river just visible in the early morning smog, rose hued by the rising red sun.

We made our way accross the city. Two young men washed themselves in the gutter where water gushed from somewhere. A dog was pissing on a discarded newspaper. A boy was scrubbing a metal plate in the gutter by a food stall on the side of the roads. A rat was pulling meat off a dead rat in the road. A barefoot middle age man relaxed on his hand pulled rickshaw. A crowd hussled around a tea stall. A large well fed man threw water over himself from the gutter as he showered. Children run barefoot and laughing over the broken pathways.

India. Incredible India. Where people live and die on the street. My mind is numb. My stomach churns. My thoughts and emotions are struck blank.

It's hard to find the right words. I think it will take time. From Chennai, where we saw helicopters, tanks and guns bought from Russia for no less that $12 billion ( yes 12 and that's billion, not million), to "God's own country" : Kerala where rats run unabashed over uncovered feet, to Calcutta where I'm now tired and lost for words. India really is incredibly mind-blowing.