My Bollywood Movie Career or Nico Park pt. 3

Sorry I haven't posted too much in the past couple of days but we've been busy busy busy! This will probably have to be a short post as well which is sad but it makes for light reading and writing.

When we got back from Varanasi we got into the Calcutta swing of things full force again which was really nice, it was like that little trip really rejuvenated all of us for this last little home stretch we have with our toes in the Indian dirt. It's been nice to be able to stop myself from being overly distracted and being able to have some great discussions with my friend Skylar the past couple of days, including one or two with a Missionaries of Charity Father about the Catholic church and Jesus and Spirituality and all those things that are so confusing but really make your heart smile (and sometimes cry) ya know?
I also was given the opportunity to 'star' in a Bollywood movie (obviously I use the term star a little loosely, I think the credits will have me billed [if at all] as man in red hat). A grand ol' group of volunteers took sunday night to go to the set of Iti Mrinalini, the new film by director Aparna Sen, a fairly large name in the Bollywood industry. If you don't know what Bollywood is then A: I suggest you get yourself educated and B: It's the worlds second largest film industry based out of Mumbai, India. It was an awesome experience to see how a film gets made and, unlike most things in India, it was very legit. No bamboo poles holding up lights, no, this was a real movie set. There were about 30 westerners there and we each were in about three or four scenes a peice but were on set from 8:00 pm til 8:00 am. It was exhausting but I got to meet a lot of people, some good, some bad, and got 500 rupees (about ten dollars) and a free dinner for all of my acting skill.
Now on to today, yesterday Sr. Johnava (the head sister at daya dan) approached us and told us that a large group of volunteers and Sisters would be needed tomorrow because we're going to take the boys to Nicco Park. This was exciting news for me (touch of sarcasm) seeing as I had just been there on Thursday to ride the paddleboats and escape the noise of the city with a few friends as well as having been there about a month ago for the same reason. Nicco Park is Kolkata's theme park, which I may or may not have mentioned in this blog before, either way it's worth another general recap. Normally when I think of theme parks I think of DisneyWorld or Universal Studios or even Six Flags, but to Kolkata, Nicco Park is the premiere ride and attraction destination. It has two rollercoasters, one that goes about twenty feet in the air then does a gradual downward slope and ends after the car has gone around the 30 second oval track one time, the other is a slightly more legitimate wooden rollercoaster that looks like it was made in the 1930's with all the Indian ingenuity the designers could muster. While Nicco Park would barely pass as a children's public playground in the U.S. it does have paddleboats to go around a little man-made lake, a 60 ft. replica of the Eiffel tower, a toy train that goes around the park, and a carousel plus a few more rides that you might find at the Central Washington State Fair. So when the kids heard that we were going to go to Nicco Park they flipped everyone was so excited and could, literally in some cases, not control themselves. It was all they talked about yesterday and getting Benoi to practice his drums was in fact an impossibility.
The other thing about Nicco Park is that if you happen to look around in the context of an American horror movie you would realize that this would be the perfect set. It's the kind of place you absolutely would not want to be at night. As you walk in the main gate you're greeted by a fairly realistic looking clown sitting in a glass box and as you pass by he utters the most meniacal and terrifying laugh that you can possibly imagine. Think every nightmare you have ever had about clowns and put them in this glass box and you might have an idea what I'm talking about. Next to the clown is the park's mascot, a 14 ft tall yellow and black cat that is standing on two legs, his eyes and head move left and right and his arm waves greeting children into the park. This in itself is not creepy whatsoever, what is creepy is that there is a speaker emminating his voice that seems like a toy losing its battery. "Heeeeelllooooo. Weeeeeelcome to Niiiiiiiico Paaaaaaark. IIIIII aam your beeeeeeest friend.", the cat says in a monotone voice that chills you to the bone. It seems like every ride with music or speakers, from the carosel to the Eiffel tower replica, was meant to scare american horror movie fans out of their minds. Not to mention the shoddy construction of many of the rides and the way that broken toy train cars and paddleboats are half-hazardly stored, leaning up against the fence or simply sitting in the middle of a walkway. You wouldn't catch me trying to break into Nicco Park after hours that's for sure.
So today (FINALLY) rolls around and we get to Daya Dan to shuffle all the kids on the bus and there was not a single face without a smile on it. It was great because we had enough volunteers with us that we could take a lot of the boys that don't get to go on the normal outtings, literally I think we had 40 children with us (keep in mind they are all mentally and mostly physically handicapped). The first thing we did was ride the toy train around the park, and of course for some it was amazing for others terrifying. There were screams of joy and of pure horror as the train moved (at about 3 mph) around the broken or decrepit looking rides.
After the toy train we all ran to the paddleboats and took all the kids around the little lake on a boat. You could tell by the looks on their faces that it was something they had never experienced before, floating on top of water! Let alone so much water! Isn't it amazing the things like a simple boat ride that we take advantage of, that we can lose the ingenuity and beauty that it took for the human mind to realize that we could if we work hard enough cross land on top of water instead of walking around it? We took all the kids on the boats, even the ones that are wheelchair bound or whose legs and arms are twisted and contorted, and you could tell from the smiles that graced their beautiful faces that they loved it. After a short boat ride we walked and wheeled the kids around the park and got some lunch, but the only thing they could think and talk about was, "THE HORSES!!!"
Of course, everyone's favorite was coming after lunch. The carousel. The only part of the park that resembled an american ride or attraction was an ornate and beautifully painted carousel, the kind with 50 horses that all move up and down very slowly and gracefully as the whole platform spins to piano music and makes you think you're dancing. We get everyone (including the sisters!) onto a horse and as it started to move every child started screaming with joy, no one was scared, no one was tired, nothing hurt. Everything was perfect in the world for a minute and a half for these children who have suffered so much. It was truly amazing. They were all in open fields riding horses made for kings to go save a princess in one story or another that they've . There was screaming and yelling and laughing all around, every boy, every girl, every volunteer, and every sister was truly truly happy.

That's something you don't see everyday.

I love you.
-heath