After Saturday's cautious exploration near the hotel I decided that I felt confident enough to brave more of Calcutta.   I had promised Subrata to not go to the Kolkata Book Fair, but I didn't promise to not go anywhere else.  After grabbing lunch at the hotel (I had slept in until about 10:30), I hailed a cab and instructed the driver to take me to the Dum Dum Metro station.  This station is the northern end of the Kolkata metro (subway) system.   With my hand holding the GPS out the window we took off and winded through all sorts of streets that seemed to be almost exactly the same.  From the GPS I could see we were going in the general direction of Dum Dum.

Along the way I ran into the one of the very few things I didn't want to run into in India.  My Lonely Planet Guide, Come Back Alive and the State Department website are very explicit about staying away from political protests.   On the way to the station we got snarled in traffic (not an unusual occurance), but this time I heard lots of loud voices chanting or singing something and I see a scene right out of Doctor Zhivago or Reds.  A column of men, four across and carrying large red flags with hammers and sickles was marching down the street.  I considered my options and decided that staying in the taxi was my best option.   As the procession marched right by the taxi I just kept looking forward.   I really wanted to take a picture, but thought that wasn't the best idea.   I know that the government of West Bengal and Calcutta are leftist/socialists and I had seen plenty of communist symbology already in the city, and I also know that West Bengal is higly prone to labor unrest, so I am sure that this protest was purely a labor protest or something similar.   I also figured if confronted my in-depth study of communism in high school and college would allow me to appear as a sympathetic American comrade.  If all else failed I would thrust my fist in the air and shout "Chandra Bose" as I ran for my life. :)

Getting past that we arrived at the Dum Dum Metro station.  I could only laugh as I looked at the closed and locked gates of the station.  I said to the driver "No Train?" and he said "No Train.."   He called over a bystander who explained that the metro doesn't open until 3:00 PM on Sunday.  It was 1:30.  I considered hanging out with the crowd for 90 minutes, but decided instead to just take the cab downtown.   With the command "Victoria Memorial", the taxi took off and headed downtown. 

Again monitoring the GPS I found a problem with a map in my guide. The map on page 434 of the Lonely Planet Guide implies that the Metro line runs along J Mohan Ave, but in fact it runs along Chittaranjan Ave.  This kept me busy trying to figure out where I was because we kept passing Metro stations and the signs on the shops all listed Chittaranjan Ave addresses.  About the time I figured this out we emerged from the congested streets and were surrounded by a large open park.  I knew that this was Kolkata's version of Central Park, the Maidan.  A few minutes later we were at the Victoria Memorial.

The following are pictures from the Memorial:

Statue of Queen Victoria

Leaving the Vic Mem I headed across the street to St. Pauls and then up Cathedral Street in search of the US Consulate.

Statue of Indira Ghandi, with TATA Steel headquarters in background.

I paid 50 Rupee ($1.25) to see a monkey dance.

One of the many ironies of India.  Noting my mention above of the socialist government of West Bengal, I think it must of brought them great humor to rename the street that the US Consulate is located on to Ho Chi Minh Sarani.  The street was blocked off by armed soldiers, and considering that today is election day in Iraq, I figured that I this was not the safest place to be, but now I know were it is if the opposite were to prove true.

I walked back to Jawaharal Nehru Road and found the Maidan Metro station.   For the steep price of 8 Rupee (17 cents) I bought a ticket back to Dum Dum station and made my way to the platform.  As the train pulled up right on time, I had a moments hesitation as I saw how packed the train was.  But, not wanting to wast 17 cents, I pushed on board.   By the time we got to Dum Dum the train was less packed and I made my way out of the train.  I had a really hard time finding my way out of the train/Metro station and after about 10 minutes made my way through a market and out onto a street.  I found a taxi and returned back to the hotel.

After my initial hesitations and uncertainties I am really starting to enjoy India.

One of the platforms at Dum Dum station, taken from an overhead walkway.