I had posted a comment about "bow barracks", a place where many Anglo-Indians live in a community, but I think I posted it around May, well after your departure from India. They make good beer over there. Kolkata and other Indian cities give us mixed emotions. On one hand, the culture is astounding. On the other, the stark inequality in wealth is heartbreaking. That's why I prefer the forests, they're always positive. A fun fact about Fort William- It is an active military base. I have been posted there. I am under the Eastern command of the Indian army. It has a very good library in an old building which was known as St Peter's Church.
I love your observations. Yes, interesting to see how close to Bow Barracks we were when we visited St John's Church. One thing that stuck with me, was something a lady said to me about wealth when I was up in Glasgow at Christmas. She said if you gave everyone £100 there would always be those with more and those without. Having said that, there has to be a way of helping those without provided they also try to help themselves. I am not sure what we have here in Britain is the solution either as there appears to be more people than ever choosing not to contribute to society by working as the state maintains them at a standard of living they are content with doing nothing. I envy you being able to see Fort William, I would be really interested to see it and try and imagine what it was like 300 years ago, was it that long ago it was created? Thank you as always for your comments and discussions. I would be interested in your comments on the video I have just completed that goes live next Sunday on the early history of Calcutta-Kolkata
@@JamesRattray Yes you are right. When people get things easily, they are not dispensed to work for a better life anymore. For example- At the starting of the video, you were looking at a person going from car to car- that was a transgender who likes to be addressed as a female. They don't have to ask for money, they just go to cars and it is a pan-Indian custom to give them some money (minimum 20 rupees). If she "works" for 2 hours a day, she will easily have a thousand rupees. The Indian government has a system of kitchens that feed people a full belly's worth of food at 10 rupees per person. The quality of the food is good and tasty too, even I have had it when I was a student and in want of money. She can also walk into a gurudwara or a temple and get free food, which is quite tasty as well. Then the government also has night shelters that gives her a safe space to sleep. She doesn't need to work. There are millions like her all over India. They have lost all ambition of a better life. For them, this is their limit. They lack motivation to develop as a human being. You are absolutely correct about how people that are taken care of by the government for free end up completely disoriented. Quality education is the main problem. The competition amongst students is severe (too much population. I got admission in my college after giving an entrance exam; 16000 students had applied and 900 got selected. For territorial army, I had applied with 2 thousand aspirants for only 150 acceptance) In such a severe environment, only the rich are able to afford quality education. I was very lucky to get scholarships on the basis of my rank in NCC (National Cadet Corps- wing of the armed forces that gives basic training to school and college kids). Otherwise it is difficult to get education and when someone doesn't know how to earn, they have very limited options. That's another problem. It's a double edged sword. On one hand, I know that they're fed and cared by the community, but I also know that they probably do not get any other human right other than food, medicine and shelter. In a town called Daltonganj, many anglo-Indians reside who have been caught in the cycle of alcohol and gambling. You can make out some European features in them, but for an untrained eye, they look exactly the same as a random slum dweller in Kolkata. They're also fed and cared by the community, but that's it. India is an unforgiving place, god knows if they have debts and how their creditors treat them. I am anxiously waiting for your next video about the Ganga cruise. I have never been on one, and I would love to know what it's all about. About Fort William- I am no longer posted there (I shifted to Northern command to see some action) otherwise I would have accompanied you into the base on your next trip (same command army personnel can bring acquaintances inside). UK military and Indian military are quite close, if you have any acquaintance in the UK military who knows someone in the eastern command, they can accompany you inside. Trust me, it is worth all the hassle. You would absolutely love the experience. It's a whole different world inside (filled with a lot of history). The Commanding Officer during my time was a generous man, if the same man is still in charge, then he'll definitely allow you guys to visit
@@orion7326 Thank you for the insights on how India looks after those who don't have. Life is a double edged sword, everyone has responsibilities for their own actions as well as the state trying to help. Life certainly isn't fair, but a large part is down to the individual too. Yes, I would be absolutely fascinated to see Fort William. We do have connections with retired military they may be able to help, but first is when we get the chance to return to Kolkata. My next video is about early history around what we could see at St John's Church and South Street Cemetery. May be I should put together a short video purely on the Hooghly cruise. If I do it will be after I have finished this series. My next task is working out the Kaziranga story. Thank you as always for your really insightful discussions.
We have never been to Kolkata before. If I get the chance i would love to return. If we can we would ask Momitta to be our chaperon, is that the right word? To help us navigate the traffic, the transport, to communicate, find the Bengali restaurant etc. I have just completed for next week the video on St John's Church, the Hooghly River and South Street cemetery. I have learnt a lot about our early shared history. Next video to start editing is our trip to Kaziranga and the one horned rhino, followed by Corbett in the north of India, always a favourite Park. Thank you for commenting.
In Scotland, many of the names of hills which had Gaelic names were written by the Scottish Lowland English culture as they again, as with Kolkata couldn't pronounced them correctly too. The good thing is they tried to respect the local names of places.
I had posted a comment about "bow barracks", a place where many Anglo-Indians live in a community, but I think I posted it around May, well after your departure from India. They make good beer over there.
Kolkata and other Indian cities give us mixed emotions. On one hand, the culture is astounding. On the other, the stark inequality in wealth is heartbreaking. That's why I prefer the forests, they're always positive.
A fun fact about Fort William- It is an active military base. I have been posted there. I am under the Eastern command of the Indian army. It has a very good library in an old building which was known as St Peter's Church.
I love your observations. Yes, interesting to see how close to Bow Barracks we were when we visited St John's Church. One thing that stuck with me, was something a lady said to me about wealth when I was up in Glasgow at Christmas. She said if you gave everyone £100 there would always be those with more and those without. Having said that, there has to be a way of helping those without provided they also try to help themselves. I am not sure what we have here in Britain is the solution either as there appears to be more people than ever choosing not to contribute to society by working as the state maintains them at a standard of living they are content with doing nothing.
I envy you being able to see Fort William, I would be really interested to see it and try and imagine what it was like 300 years ago, was it that long ago it was created? Thank you as always for your comments and discussions. I would be interested in your comments on the video I have just completed that goes live next Sunday on the early history of Calcutta-Kolkata
@@JamesRattray Yes you are right. When people get things easily, they are not dispensed to work for a better life anymore. For example- At the starting of the video, you were looking at a person going from car to car- that was a transgender who likes to be addressed as a female. They don't have to ask for money, they just go to cars and it is a pan-Indian custom to give them some money (minimum 20 rupees). If she "works" for 2 hours a day, she will easily have a thousand rupees.
The Indian government has a system of kitchens that feed people a full belly's worth of food at 10 rupees per person. The quality of the food is good and tasty too, even I have had it when I was a student and in want of money. She can also walk into a gurudwara or a temple and get free food, which is quite tasty as well. Then the government also has night shelters that gives her a safe space to sleep.
She doesn't need to work. There are millions like her all over India. They have lost all ambition of a better life. For them, this is their limit. They lack motivation to develop as a human being.
You are absolutely correct about how people that are taken care of by the government for free end up completely disoriented.
Quality education is the main problem. The competition amongst students is severe (too much population. I got admission in my college after giving an entrance exam; 16000 students had applied and 900 got selected. For territorial army, I had applied with 2 thousand aspirants for only 150 acceptance) In such a severe environment, only the rich are able to afford quality education. I was very lucky to get scholarships on the basis of my rank in NCC (National Cadet Corps- wing of the armed forces that gives basic training to school and college kids). Otherwise it is difficult to get education and when someone doesn't know how to earn, they have very limited options. That's another problem.
It's a double edged sword. On one hand, I know that they're fed and cared by the community, but I also know that they probably do not get any other human right other than food, medicine and shelter.
In a town called Daltonganj, many anglo-Indians reside who have been caught in the cycle of alcohol and gambling. You can make out some European features in them, but for an untrained eye, they look exactly the same as a random slum dweller in Kolkata. They're also fed and cared by the community, but that's it. India is an unforgiving place, god knows if they have debts and how their creditors treat them.
I am anxiously waiting for your next video about the Ganga cruise. I have never been on one, and I would love to know what it's all about.
About Fort William- I am no longer posted there (I shifted to Northern command to see some action) otherwise I would have accompanied you into the base on your next trip (same command army personnel can bring acquaintances inside). UK military and Indian military are quite close, if you have any acquaintance in the UK military who knows someone in the eastern command, they can accompany you inside. Trust me, it is worth all the hassle. You would absolutely love the experience. It's a whole different world inside (filled with a lot of history). The Commanding Officer during my time was a generous man, if the same man is still in charge, then he'll definitely allow you guys to visit
@@orion7326 Thank you for the insights on how India looks after those who don't have. Life is a double edged sword, everyone has responsibilities for their own actions as well as the state trying to help. Life certainly isn't fair, but a large part is down to the individual too. Yes, I would be absolutely fascinated to see Fort William. We do have connections with retired military they may be able to help, but first is when we get the chance to return to Kolkata. My next video is about early history around what we could see at St John's Church and South Street Cemetery. May be I should put together a short video purely on the Hooghly cruise. If I do it will be after I have finished this series. My next task is working out the Kaziranga story. Thank you as always for your really insightful discussions.
Super VLOG. Nice break from big cat spotting. Need to visit Kolkata soon.
We have never been to Kolkata before. If I get the chance i would love to return. If we can we would ask Momitta to be our chaperon, is that the right word? To help us navigate the traffic, the transport, to communicate, find the Bengali restaurant etc. I have just completed for next week the video on St John's Church, the Hooghly River and South Street cemetery. I have learnt a lot about our early shared history. Next video to start editing is our trip to Kaziranga and the one horned rhino, followed by Corbett in the north of India, always a favourite Park. Thank you for commenting.
More than a chaperone, she was kind and accommodating. Moreover a lovely smile to go along.
Kolkata was named Calcutta by britts as they couldn't pronounce it properly. Then recently the original name came back
In Scotland, many of the names of hills which had Gaelic names were written by the Scottish Lowland English culture as they again, as with Kolkata couldn't pronounced them correctly too. The good thing is they tried to respect the local names of places.