India by the Numbers: A Poem

By Sienna Sachs Beck / New York City

1 The number of hours in the car

ride from the airport to our hotel,

the Hyatt Centric, in Kolkata

2 The average number of days

spent in each place I visited on this trip:

Kolkata, Kalimpong, Darjeeling, Kolkata, the Sundarbans, Kolkata

3 The number of times

I went to Kolkata on this trip:

once for sightseeing, once for shopping and

walking around, and once more for shopping

4 The number of minors on our

family trip–Me. Willa, Olive and Nina!

5 The number of wild monkeys

I saw on our drive to Kalimpong,

in the foothills of the Himalayas

6 The age in weeks of the most

adorable golden retriever puppy

on the same drive

7 The number of pictures I took of the view

of the sunset when we made it to Darjeeling

AND of the view of the Himalayan peaks

8 The number of scary drives we went

on in Darjeeling, with hairpin turns and barely

any barricades between us and the cliff

9 The number of animals I saw during my trip:

white spotted deer, stray dogs, goats, cows,

crows, monkeys, wild boars, fish and crocodiles

10:30 The time difference between

India and New York City. I celebrated New Year’s Eve twice,

once at 10:30 in the morning and once at midnight!

11 The number (with a zero in the middle–101)

of Sundarban Islands, one of which we resided

on in cabins for two nights

12 The total number of hours that

the four 3-hour car rides we took in the span of

six to eight days added up to–more than I’d done in my whole life!

13 Taylor Swift’s lucky number. She kept my sisters

cousins and me entertained during the car rides–

and also drove my uncle insane :)

14 The number of people with whom we traveled:

my immediate family (5), my uncle and first cousin (2),

my grandparents (2), my aunt and new uncle (2),

my new uncle’s parents (2), and my second cousin (1)

15 Times that I really wanted to eat something raw

like a tomato but couldn’t because

our stomachs are fragile

16 The number of times I

ordered a chocolate milkshake for breakfast.

I love vacations for this reason!

17 hundred–The number of rupees I spent

at a store named Sienna. I wonder why

I felt inclined to spend so much?

18 hours–The flight time from New York City to India.

We flew Etihad Airways to

Abu Dhabi, then to Kolkata

19 The number of souvenirs

that collectively made my dad SO ANGRY

because he was the one who had to pack them :)

20 hours. The flight time

from Kolkata to New York City.

We flew Qatar Airways to Doha, then to JFK

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Sienna Sachs Beck, 13, is an eighth grader in Manhattan. Although she enjoys all kinds of writing (except for research papers), her favorite form of all time is poetry. An active environmentalist, Sienna especially loves writing poetry that raises awareness about global changes. And best–or worst–of all, Sienna enjoys doing Eka Pada Sirsasana (her favorite yoga pose) to excess, even while writing her next piece.