Ali of Calcutta

This is a picture of TG and Ali. We ran into Ali our last night in Kolkata on Chowringhee St. as we were on our way to use the toilets at the Oberoi hotel (it was worth the walk). It's not strange for two goofy white guys, walking down a bustling street in Kolkata, to be stopped or called at to come into a store or check out a vendor's stall. We didn't think much when Ali ran after us through the crowd or when he started walking alongside us talking.

TG and I kept walking and dodging our way through the crowds, assuming the new stranger would give up as soon as we got far enough from his stand. As we walked, Ali kept claiming that he knew TG from the last time he had been there. It seemed like a common trick so we kept walking, dodging oncoming traffic, and ignored him like all the others. After a quick stop and a frustrating back and forth, TG finally asked, "ok then, what's your name?" As soon as he said Ali', both faces lit up.

Ali was one of a hundred little kids on Sudder St. when TG first came to Calcutta in '95 as a freshman in college, and now he was a 23 year old man. As soon as Ali said his name, TG immediately remembered who it was and knew exactly why that huge white smile had seemed so familiar- the same smile he'd last seen on a little 11 year old street kid.

TG and his friends knew Ali from Sudder St, where he lived with his family. The last time TG had been here, they all took Ali to see the Lion King at one of the neighborhood theaters. Ali even remembered the words - 'Hakuna Matada' - and sang some of them as we all laughed over coffee about the coincidence. Ali had kept up with Chris and some of the others but this was the first time he'd seen TG in 12 years. Neither expected to see the other again, especially last night among the tens of thousands on Chowringhee.

In one of the biggest cities in the second largest country in the world, you wouldn't expect to run into a friend you hadn't seen for 12 years. There's been no shortage of strange happenings during our trip to India and this was by far the strangest. And, with another week left in a whole new city, this hopefully won't be the last.