Burn weekend Burn! Part #2.5 (continued)
In case you missed the first two parts here are Part #1 and Part #2

I remember the Sunday morning after Triin's arrival was a VERY nice day.

Maxime, Beyhan, Triin and I minus Alvaro (WHERE was he?) decided to explore the nearby areas of the city.

Unfortunately, NOTHING was open on Sunday, and we wound up wandering the unfamiliarly empty and suddenly uncomfortably quiet streets of Central Kolkata but we had fun anyway.

(This is in complete agreement with Marcus's great-grandstanding Theory on life #1: It's not the place you go to that's fun, it's the company you keep).

We wanted to see Eden gardens, that was closed indefinitely. We wandered near the Cricket stadium, nope, closed. Even the darned museum was closed. Where WAS everybody? The whole place was eerily silent and deserted.

We did see a few things though. A cricket match was taking place on one of the streets. We stood there for a good 15 minutes watching and trying to understand the game. My colleague tried, once during Prasendjit's wedding to describe to me the basic mechanics of the game. I must admit, the lure of a game requiring 22 players taking a minimum of 8 hours, waiting their turn to pitch and bat a gazillion number of times escapes me.

Of course, then again, one can say the same for any number of sports involving a ball. But gawdammit...8 HOURS minimum (games have been known to last for DAYS). One thing's for sure, elephantine patience and excellent bladder control is a pre-requisite for enjoying the game.
We kinda bummed around, walking past a number impressive looking buildings and, I think it was the parliament house. Walked into some kind of amusement park. At least I think it was. Had lunch. Talked mostly. Enjoyed the scenary some.

The evening was a lot more interesting. Our friends from AIESEC arranged a special little "something" for the people living in our flats. Indian Cultural Night!
That week was a special time for brothers and sisters throughout India. Raksha Bandhan.

Apparently, this was a time where sisters all around India tied a token rakhi around their brothers wrists and the brothers in turn re-affirm their duty to protect their sisters. Of course you didn't really NEED to be actual siblings to do perform this gesture. It was pretty common for even friends to do this.

(I was told this was also a favoured way for a girl to hint to a prospective suitor to back off. Personally I think it's an excellent and very subtle method). This could also be a very cheap way for a girl to suddenly gain the protectin of a gazillion brothers ;p.

By the end of the night Raksha "adopted" the whole lot of us guys. (hmm...was that some kind of hint? ;p).

The photo in the previous post of Me and Keika was taken that night.
The photo with Beyhan, Triin and me was on Sunday morning. The next morning, I went to work, a proud owner of a bright red rakhi. My condolences to Maxime who got a fuzzy neon-pink rakhi. I wasn't the only one in the office to be tied down of course, but everyone in the office was wondering who had "adopted" me. :)).

I wore mine for the whole week.

I still have the rakhi in my keeping. I think I shall take it out and wear it sometimes.
I think it will remind me of what a stinky brother I've been so far... ;
Well, I guess my REAL sister doesn't need much protecting. She's got her husband after all.


The next morning the Sunshine left our lives. Stay tuned for the last part of this series! We go to Agra!