Today was bag fixing day. Darryl needed a bag repair as the material had torn on both sides. We decided the best person to attempt the job would be one of the men in a sewing shop. We took the bag along to a stall and showed off the tear / fraying material. The man didn't speak much English but he seemed willing to have a go. He first tried to fit the bag under his sewing machine but realised this wasn't going to work. He threaded a needle with double thick thread and hand sewed the 2 parts together. It looked fairly terrible and we were not convinced it was going to hold. We paid for his time and had a rethink. How could we get a stronger repair? We decided a shoe repair man may have stronger thread so we took the bag to a little ' shoe' man.
No English spoken here but he took a good look at the bag and hatched a plan. First, he cut a leather patch for each side very accurately using his extremely sharp scissors. He then added glue to the patch and bag and waited for it to become tacky. He got some super strong thread which he held with his toes whilst waxing it with beeswax. Next, he pressed the bag and patch together, pressing it down with a little tool. The thread was then passed through both the patch and the bag and sewn in a very neat line. This was a proper repair job and took some time and a lot of effort. When complete, he tested the zips to ensure they worked and handed the finished masterpiece back. A job well done!
Lunch today was back at yesterday's street stall. We needed to try the Indian pizza bread and we did. It was really good and went well with the rice and butter paneer.
Part of the afternoon was spent figuring out the Kolkata metro system. We bought 2 Smart cards and loaded them up for lots of 5p and 10p journeys over the next few days. It is quite pleasant underground. An oasis away from the chaotic, noisey city above.
We wandered the streets and headed to new parts of the city we had yet to explore. We found a great chai stall, where a little coffee was sprinkled on top. This was our chai latte for the day.
We stumbled across a crowd of men on the opposite side of the street and wondered what was going on. We asked a smartly dressed Indian lady what was happening. She explained that her husband had just had his phone stolen by a pick pocket and everyone was crowding around the suspected pick pocket to find the phone. 5 mins earlier we had been speaking to a man at the chai latte stall about the imminent festival. He warned us about pick pockets and gave us some good advice. We asked him what happens if someone catches the pick pocket taking something. He explained that usually they are badly beaten by a crowd and then handed over to the Police! As we watched the crowd, there was no aggression on this occasion but no phone was found.
As darkness began to fall, we noticed some of the streets were starting to prepare and test their lights for Durga Puja. We even managed to get sneak previews of some of the Pandals to be revealed in a few days, when the festival starts. We were in awe of the size and beauty of the decorations plus the vast quantity of lights! WOW, really impressive ... plus no one around but a few children playing and wanting our attention.
No English spoken here but he took a good look at the bag and hatched a plan. First, he cut a leather patch for each side very accurately using his extremely sharp scissors. He then added glue to the patch and bag and waited for it to become tacky. He got some super strong thread which he held with his toes whilst waxing it with beeswax. Next, he pressed the bag and patch together, pressing it down with a little tool. The thread was then passed through both the patch and the bag and sewn in a very neat line. This was a proper repair job and took some time and a lot of effort. When complete, he tested the zips to ensure they worked and handed the finished masterpiece back. A job well done!
Lunch today was back at yesterday's street stall. We needed to try the Indian pizza bread and we did. It was really good and went well with the rice and butter paneer.
Part of the afternoon was spent figuring out the Kolkata metro system. We bought 2 Smart cards and loaded them up for lots of 5p and 10p journeys over the next few days. It is quite pleasant underground. An oasis away from the chaotic, noisey city above.
We wandered the streets and headed to new parts of the city we had yet to explore. We found a great chai stall, where a little coffee was sprinkled on top. This was our chai latte for the day.
We stumbled across a crowd of men on the opposite side of the street and wondered what was going on. We asked a smartly dressed Indian lady what was happening. She explained that her husband had just had his phone stolen by a pick pocket and everyone was crowding around the suspected pick pocket to find the phone. 5 mins earlier we had been speaking to a man at the chai latte stall about the imminent festival. He warned us about pick pockets and gave us some good advice. We asked him what happens if someone catches the pick pocket taking something. He explained that usually they are badly beaten by a crowd and then handed over to the Police! As we watched the crowd, there was no aggression on this occasion but no phone was found.
As darkness began to fall, we noticed some of the streets were starting to prepare and test their lights for Durga Puja. We even managed to get sneak previews of some of the Pandals to be revealed in a few days, when the festival starts. We were in awe of the size and beauty of the decorations plus the vast quantity of lights! WOW, really impressive ... plus no one around but a few children playing and wanting our attention.