Bamboo Bridge

to get home everyday, i ride in 2 auto rickshaws (i usually take the metro too, to get to where i take the autos). and i get dropped off about a 10 minute walk from my house. Its a nice walk...actually, i often "unwind" while i walk. Its not at busy there, i walk on a small road with very few cars, and mostly other pedestrians, and some bikes. its funny, but once i get to that road, i feel like i'm home already...and its good to just walk (i saunter more than the hurried pace i use most of the day). I think about my day...and in general, i really enjoy that walk...expect for the mosquitos and the bamboo bridge. Every day i have to cross the Bamboo Bridge...its for foot traffic, and bikes. And i know its strong enough to hold me...but it doesn't always seem incredibly sturdy, and the "river" smells REALLY bad. sometimes where you step the bamboo isn't nailed down really well, and the bamboo gives a couple inches before hitting the support "beams." but once i get past the bridge, i keep on enjoying my walk :)

i think this bamboo bridge is pretty typical of Kolkata...new and old mixed all the time. a few weeks ago i saw a man carrying wood on his head, and right behind him was a man carrying a 30 inch TV on his shoulder. there is just a constant mix of new and old...kinda like the fact that in a city of 14 million (with the world's busiest bridge, "Howrah bridge" - 1 million people cross it every day) i walk over a bamboo bridge. and just down the road from where i live there's a spot where there isn't a bridge at all. there's a boat that ferry's people across!