Mission of Charity

With over twenty millions of population the colonial capital of India is an assemblage of decaying Victorian splendor, droplets of prosperity of the developing Asian mega-state and omnipresent poverty reaching the very bottom of existence.

The sense of uncertainty and fluidity soaks the whole volunteer community of Kalighat and other Kolkatan homes of the Missionaries of Charity. Distant and pretty much isolated from the familiar rational western life they are thrown into the turmoil of concentrated Otherness which doesn't leave any of their senses intact and relaxed. Being exposed to transgressive experiences volunteers spend their days in an essentially uncertain, liminal being.

Sidewalks of Kolkata are not easy to walk on as the street dwellers and poor citizens often make their living by establishing a small trade, a tea stall or a service shop right on the pavement.