Swimming in Calcutta

I'm in Calcutta! Wow, what a mad place - dodging traffic, choked pavements, goat herding in the city centre, streets filled with sleeping bodies at night, fantastic food, friendly people - it is a little overwhelming.

I'm here for the next month helping out the India office and I'll be joining the Rainbow Warrior when it arrives in Calcutta, or Kolkata as it is now known. We'll be sailing down the coast to look at the impacts of climate change and what can be done in India to stop it.

I arrived Sunday night and while I was sleeping off my jetlag the next morning, the local activists were up early and out for a swim in the Hoogly river. They tied more than 200 life rings together to spell "Ban the Bulb" to bring their bulb campaign to Kolkata. Now, I know that doesn't seem like a big deal, but the Hoogly makes the Thames look like a crystal clear spring. First there is the human waste, and if you can get past that, then you might run into the charred remains for someone's loved one who has been set to sea from up river, or if you're really unlucky - the not completely charred remains.

These are either some of the bravest, or the craziest, activists I've ever met. They've been for their shots now, but it will be a month before we know if they picked up anything other than local media coverage from the day. You can support them by emailing the Indian Minister of Power and asking him to take action.

So while they were in the Hoogly, I was tucked up in my bed, thank god, until there was a loud and persistent banging on my door at 7:30. I got up, opened it blinking into the light at a man from the YMCA offering me tea - fantastic - hot sugary tea in bed. I went back to bed. He brought breakfast at 8am. I gave up and got up to try and figure out where I am and what I'm doing here.

Tomorrow I make my first trip to the Sundarbans. This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site famous for its swimming Bengali tigers - apparently the only man-eating tiger left in the world. But it's also an area that is already feeling the impacts of climate change. Sea levels are rising over the flat lands, at least one island has already been evacuated and the local people have moved several times because of encroaching seas. I'll find out more tomorrow.

The Rainbow Warrior is due to arrive Friday and on the weekend we will invite local officials, politicians, journalists and I've heard the GP India staff mention celebrities. Maybe I'll get to meet some Bollywood stars!

So I have a better idea what I'll be doing now. And my new roommate Ruchira from the Indian office told the man with the tea to go away this morning - and not to come back with breakfast - even better.