Days in national capital

Days in the national capital have been against the backdrop of a rising/revising election pitch, with comments as sharp as this one that this election wonder would remove all the prevailing hitch. Never in the history of independent india has been the emergence of so many independent analysts coming with seamless analysis that breakthrough is round the corner as national poll would be taking place in months that are warmer.
Four months in the national capital with no dearth of campaigns on whom to project and whom to connect, the rally on the ground and in the stock market suggesting the cruise to happiness is tied to play for the visible bet. Four months ago when national elections were still eight to nine months away to acquire the requisite national glow, the next year was being projected as one when each participant would get his/her share in national fare. In the midst of rallies and rejuvenation lollipops , primarily defining the assembly poll sops, much credit for trustworthy turnout was not traced to nota clout.

Day in and day out tv and tea break conversation veer to election and emotion
Nota was one among different options for voters to exercise primarily dictated by their candidates shape and size. sunday being the counting day with persuasive kills being employed to those tasked with the responsibility and this is one among few occasions when they can showcase their creativity. For another sizeable chunk who don't have a weekly holiday on sunday would take this as a presumed holiday presuming that keeping a tab on counting and those courting success would be something  that would be discussed the next day when office functions and they would well be part of this race.

Reflections on Kolkata

Reflections on Kolkata

Kolkata has colour and clamour to keep it simple. A pace and perseverance defined by those who reside here, the walking template is the best way to bring circulation to legs and keep you in the best frame of mind. Pedestrian space may be hard to define at some places, still the walk vault can hand you immense immunity. Mornings tend to begin early, with conversations setting the tone around tea stalls and those adjacent to big halls.
Lodge botheration taken care of, most day to day enterprises would be a smooth ride. Sweet shops could be discovered here and there with fewer willing to divulge the lull and liberated existence the contents have and their share. Rush to these flavour of fortitude, given the likeness the residents have for them, could still make some spell the truth; likely way for people to release their pent up emotions is better illustrated following a dose of tea and cake.

In and around Bentinck Street
In and around bentinck street tea and toast can be spotted in plenty. Even in college street and faraway S P Mukherjee road, the task to trace tea and toast can't be bothersome. Insistence on a tea not laced with sugar may not draw attention as there are collection of those who prefer to have the same with no sugary affection.
Traffic and those in tearing hurry can't missed either. Metros preserve that picture with a clarity in the morning; afternoon/ late evening giving way to a relaxed template. A dash to office and those trying to escape from oscillating fortress defines the rush; some among the adventurous leaving the same enterprise for late night litter and a well drawn list.
Seated on a wooden desk, mornings begin with a toast ; some preferring egg toast which they wash it down with tea and the previous night tale. Similarly toast taken in the afternoon/evening sets in motion the measured response they gave to their seniors and those who vent mobile songs to convey they held no grudge and arrears. Evening toast conversations have rarely adapted to the capacity to hold toast in one hand and cell which some have retrieved from sea adjoining sand. Cell conversations are rare around toast tale bringing to reality a mind that does not waver nor been subjected to wear and tear.

Bipin Behari Ganguly Street has a good collection of tea vendors coming on either side with a sole cyber cafe on the left. Though there are terminals testifying to a large number of clients it may cater to at some point of time,the seat you take and another terminal you stare makes space rare. Anmol restaurant provides you the tea you desire. The restaurant has been renamed. Here trams too can be seen plying coming at intervals when they could be passenger kind. A tram trajectory is a treat indeed for the ringside view it hands you on a platter provided it is not stuffed. A good number of them originate from BBD Bag, a desolate stretch on a sunday. As for College Street, trams too make their way coming along with a handful of buses that head towards Dakshineswar via Hathibagan.  The best way to reach Dakshineswar is through a local taken from Howrah station. Taking a bus that goes through B T Road, one among different junctions which has air pollution that endures. As for Howrah station the roof looks sturdy but some portion could need reignition/strengthening depending the tried and tested the template it has been. People's book centre on S P Mukherjee Road, Ras Behari Avenue has three typists working at any given time and no different is the picture in Surya Sen street.  

The majestic howrah bridge brims with vendors of different scale; some continuing their tale of success right beneath the bridge and some positioned right on the bridge. Vehicle movement is defined by their scale of preference; some at breakneck, some at tuk tuk speed. 

In National Capital

In National Capital

The National Capital comes with its set of advantages/disadvantages.If cyber cafe and tracing the same can be arduous on some occasions,the traffic on the road looks to be humongous. There are more red airconditioned buses plying alongside fewer green buses. Green buses should be the priority with those at the wheels cautious enough to drive slow.If one has been caught in a jam, it doesn't mean one has to overspeed in vacant spaces. Driving cautiously should be the motto. Buses are for passengers/public.Even if they get late, it is desirable than overspeeding in colony roads and vacant spaces.
Safety should be the priority and pedestrians and those driving small mode of transport should be given their desirable breathing space.
On different outings in the national capital, i have across people from the north east, orissa and rameswaram. Meeting the gentleman from rameswaram  was a treat indeed. Though he is settled in Delhi, he just came from Rameswaram on Friday.  

Accommodation in Kolkata; reaching Mumbai followed by National Capital

Accommodation in Kolkata; reaching Mumbai followed by National Capital

Having taken accommodation on the fifth floor of a lodge in Chittaranjan Avenue on a Thursday night, the vendors downstairs are handy enough for those looking for taking anything light including tea. Morning tea was taken from a nearby vendor and if one has to make calls from a phone booth it is all in the vicinity.  Took metro to Dumdum from which one has to exit to go towards Nager Bazar. Here shared auto is the rule, with four to five occupants in one vehicle, and it took 10 to15 minutes to reach Nager Bazar. From here one has to get on to another shared auto that would take you to No 1 Airport auto stand. From here the best bet is to walk to the Airport. At least autos and rickshaws should be allowed to the entrance of the airport if not the portico as it would come handy for passengers/tourists. Fares checked and took a ticket for Sunday with the benefit of a late afternoon departure.

Nearby there is a Calcutta Airport English Medium School. Something looks promising about this school. The return to Dumdum metro station coming as usual with halts at No 1 Airport auto stand and Nager Bazar. By the time one reaches Chittaranjan Avenue, there is a fair degree of clarity on the challenges one comes across while taking a split ride to airport area. Taxi could be handy but if one has time and resilience to put up with a split ride, the dust delivered template won't be much of a botheration. Well that is true of any big city if split ride is tried.

Meals taken from Lakhan lal in S N Bannerjee Road with the premises having shifted to opposite side. By the time i began the search for a cyber cafe in and around college street, it had begun to drizzle. Twister.com was the writing point with the attendance looking to be full house.

On a Saturday a little before afternoon set in visited Ghosh Sweets in S N Bannerjee Road,one of the few eating joints that have handy plain curd. Later visited S P Mukherjee Road and a cyber cafe in the vicinity. A stroll in the Lake market wasn't diluting either as this area has small roads with fewer vehicles plying in the colony. Those inside the K C Das food outlet in Esplanade on Saturday evening left you with fewer choices. As i sought veg roll from a restaurant near Bentinck Street, there was one gentleman who laid stress that maximum amount of oil should be used for his preparation though i insisted i would prefer little. Here what i could gather was food prepared with oil and the quantity does not bother some as some wash it down with rum.

Sunday as well visited K C Das outlet which had comparatively better management. On both days tea laced with high level of sugar was the option one could get, with mishti doi that is dished out in plenty as sada dahi is not on the menu. Other light preparations from K C Das have sound beat .Since tea comes from a machine, i am told the sugar mix is preset.Perhaps tea with mild sugar could be handy as well. And for keeping tea warm, the cup should be placed next to pouring point instead of keeping it on a tray as the space that is left between cup and the machine pouring point makes it lose some of its warm element.
Sunday afternoon left for airport by bus.Perhaps the point where the bus drops you is just one km or less from the airport.And here the taxi would be charging no less than 70rs to reach the destination, making a solid case for introducing autos till the entrance point. It took a little over two hours to reach Mumbai. The tea on flight was great.
In Mumbai the first halt was at Siddhivinayak followed by Dadar. The tea from ShreeDevi food outlet in Dadar was fairly good. Started from Mumbai a little after 9 pm, reached Nashik a little after 12am. The bus ride from Nashik to Nagar lasted a little over two hours. While approaching the bus stand which perhaps during that period was under renovation,the bus was being driven at reckless speed. One should be cautious as roads are not wide and on both sides pedestrians are in large numbers. It was on a Monday i reached Nagar.
Monday night was the first opportunity to get inside the temple, with 21 flower pots forming decoration template. The feet of the Lord looked to be fairly large with the glow on the face quite a wonderful experience. Tuesday evening left for national capital, reaching the same on Wednesday.

Reflections on Puri

Reflections on Puri
Reached Puri on a Tuesday morning. Well the previous night at Howrah station was anxious to note about the accommodation advantage i could be deprived of  if the rush happened to be huge in Puri.One gentleman was kind enough to suggest the point of accommodation near Beach Road and added i could take his name as reference. Once in Puri station, the rickshaw i took and the man riding it was candid enough to declare the rush was not in the roundabout of the temple as proceedings had shifted to Janakpur.  With accommodation ensured the tea one could gain was from a cart next to a road. There would be ample occasions where carts either positioned 24X7 or placed during day and taken to a resting point during night which the residents and those visiting the town could come across. Most carts come with the leverage of snack point, laundry port and newspaper net primarily driven by the fact that a tea offering would be in the vicinity. Having gained glimpse of the Lord at Janakpur (starting from Jagannath temple on Grand Road to Janakpur)  the first day, the ride back to lodge came with a rider that rickshaw could not go all the way to the main Jagannath temple. This led the rickshawman lose sight of the actual direction to the lodge and there were too many twists and turns before lodge could be located.

Wednesday again saw me take another round of Janakpur  followed by a walk in the evening. In between in the vicinity of Mochi Shahi Road a cyber cafe next to a food joint came handy on different occasions.

A walk in the evening towards beach road led me to one Vishwa Das who dealt with frame pictures of the Lord. Hoping that i would be able to interact the next day, i left and took coffee from a cart next to Puri hotel. The search late in the evening for fruits could not yield much as the beach road brims with traffic and tribulations coming after.  On a Thursday morning the train ticket for Dhauli Express followed by a rickshaw ride in search of Vishwa Das could not yield much as the place from which he ran his temporary shed saw another man selling his wares and any query about Vishwa Das had fewer and fewer response. A search for toast proved fruitful with the one from Sai Chandan Residency and the restaurant run by it dishing a fare that was really good.

Other reflections on Puri
- Hanuman Mandir on the turn to beach road is one that has a perfect location and tranquility
- Maa Kali Mistanna Bhandar has good collection of curd and sweets. Curd served in earthern pots come for 30rs; two cups were sufficient enough to keep the circulation in legs.
- Beach road could well be positioned in a way where traffic during day hours should be denied. Vehicles during day time should not be allowed to ply as the pollution that the area embraces is unwelcome. Respite from pollution can happen by closing the road for vehicles during day time; rickshaws could be easy mode of transport.
- While waiting for ticket at Puri station on Thursday i was told that return rath yatra would begin that day and idols won't be placed inside the Jagannath temple before Friday night. This was corroborated by the fact that when i took accommodation in Kolkata, the TV channel covering the return rath yatra proceedings showed the rath outside the Jagannath Temple on Friday evening.

As for laundry, there are carts along road that cater to this service or houses doing the same during limited hours. One near the Sangram Club is handy; the distance from a lodge in Dola Mandap Sahi could be a dampener.

Reaching Howrah
A little before 8.30pm reached howrah, with an urgency to take accommodation. A call from landline from Howrah station revealed i could take a room in City Heart in Chittaranjan Avenue. The room was on the fifth floor with the surety that it came with attached bath. FRiday morning the first thing i tried was to seek ticket for Mumbai. During three days i was in Kolkata, the search for sada dahi could not yield much as mishti doi is all that the city has to offer. There are points where sada dahi is available but they are few.  

Stay in Puri and leaving for Howrah

Stay in Puri and leaving for Howrah

Having met Ramachandra in the national capital, hailing from Balasaore, it would be prudent to look back on the days spent in Puri during Rath Yatra. In all i stayed for three days in Dola Mandap Sahi area, with the surge in the crowd seen maximum on the day the rath yatra was supposed to take a return journey.

It was Baikuntha Dham where i stayed with the room on the first floor spacious enough to accommodate and assimilate. The draft which i had penned during those days not traceable, the attempt would be to divulge from whatever one can recollect. THe rath had been placed in Janakpur and as one enters the premises one could see a semblance of similarity to College Street pandal during Pujo days. Idols had been placed in a hall and seeking a rush-free entry, a ticket of around 20rs was fixed. There was free entry as well, probably beginning after 12pm. The first day journey to Janakpur was witness to waterlogged roads as it rained the previous night followed by a second day where waterlogging was not to be seen.  The first day the surroundings around Lord Jagannath looked to be little sombre and on the second day the surroundings and the lord looked to be as resplendent as ever.

The day i am supposed to leave, the best bet is Dhauli Express which leaves a little before 12pm. AS the train left Puri station, there is no rush in the station but as we glide past one station after another the trains heading towards Puri are choc-a-bloc. Coaches are filled with passengers and a good number managing themselves on footboard. One could visualise the rush that would be there in Puri during the return yatra and one would hope challenges would be handled with utmost precision.   Dhauli Express reaches Howrah a little after 8 in the evening, some suggesting the train reached well before scheduled arrival. During the course of journey came across one gentleman who hailed from Orissa and was working in a food joint in Hathi Bagan area of Kolkata. Doing fairly well the food joint was one of the few enterprises that could manage well depending on the network and credibility it could develop over years.

As for Puri, the weather was perfect enough to stretch the stay. And the areas in and around temple road were equally appealing.

Reaching Howrah from Jasidih; no rooms; taking Puri ticket

Reaching Howrah from Jasidih

Having reached Howrah a little before two pm, it was time to chalk out plans for that day and following days. Pretty confident that i would secure accommodation in and around Chittaranjan Avenue, i began the Kolkata proceedings with a meal at Foodplaza in howrah station. The meal on a previous occasion and that too during night when i was supposed to board a train for Deogarh (Jasidih) from the same outlet saw a huge rush multiplying every minute. That day i had come from Delhi by air with a reasonable-and-not-that ruminating fare, with Dakshineshwar the first halt from airport and taking a local from Bally Halt to reach Howrah station fort.

This time round during afternoon the collection at the meal centre was a fraction but still no less significant. The point from where the queue starts and ending point that nobody knows is a space as little and inconvenient. The food outlet is good but everything looks to be compressed and for those trying non veg preparations the first floor with ample space comes handy. Well the veg preparations you can have on the first floor but the accent is on non veg. First the line on the ground floor is sometimes long and those who are in the line are still to make up their mind on what to eat and what  not to greet. So by the time they reach the counter they are in a dilemma over their preference and those behind them with their share of patience. So as i collected the veg thali, in the South they call it meals, during Monday afternoon one with a black outfit could be seen trying to collect from the same i intentionally forgetting to get the name.

As i moved to the first floor with the thali, two boys who too were at the same counter were helpful enough to look after my baggage as i could not carry the thali and the baggage at the same time. Once i had kept the thali upstairs, i returned to collect baggage and thanking the boys for looking after the same. When i had left the thali there was one about to finish his meals and there were none on that table. When i began to take my meals, two entities joined. One looked to be middle aged and another a young with a liking for non veg brunch. It would have taken half an hour to finish the meals and feel free, pretty confident that accommodation is on the way.

Finishing meals, taking curd
After finishing meals i took curd from downstairs. Here in the food outlet they have curd (misthi doi) but not non sweet curd. And from the counter that dishes out curd, they have a range of sweets with some picking up a huge lot spread in 250 gms, 500 gms and 1 kg running huge bills and with no concern the sweets that they and their members are going to have and what non desirable remnants it is going to leave on their health. Probably i took two cups of sweet curd (non sweet curd not available), each coming for 16rs.

AC Lodges and return to Howrah station
Soon after tea took a taxi for chittaranjan avenue. First i tried City Heart followed by Avenue hotel, both coming with a rider that rooms are there but they are ac types. Stress on non ac simple room with attached bath yielded nothing. I moved to Lipika Inn (here i have stayed for a pretty good time in December 2011) with another taxi driver showing his helplessness to part with the change. First i had to get the change and then move to Lipika Inn. Here the wait was for a hotel personnel who could elaborate the rooms they have and the guests who could not tap. Again the accent was on AC and for all other rooms the situation was akin to RAC. Then i moved to Calcutta Lodge which is within a complex; the authenticity to supply AC rooms here too had depleted in view of guests who had begun to bloom. Four places tried , non ac simple room that could not thrive, i decided to head towards Satish Mukherjee Road/Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Road in Kalighat Area to seek a simple room with a cafeteria. Some four to five minutes later i decided to drop the idea and told the taxiwallah to take me to Howrah station.

AC Rooms 750 and above; taking Puri ticket
All four places were coming with AC rooms, 750rs and above, i failed to understand that in a simple city like Kolkata non ac rooms could not be found. As i reached Howrah station, the taxiwallah had to be given above 120rs, all waste of money since for long i had not participated in a tourney. The taxis i took that day included one from Howrah to Chittaranjan Avenue, second from Chittaranjan Avenue to Surya Sen Street, third from Surya Sen Street to Calcutta Lodge (probably in A J C Bose Road), and the same taxi from Calcutta Lodge to Howrah station. As i reached Rail Yatri Niwas, the man at the desk insisted i need to have a ticket of the train on which i have arrived and a return train ticket. I told him the inability to have the second one and this too reduced the chances to have a dormitory from which one has to check out by 9 the next morning. Now i ventured to the computerised railway reservation centre; for those who have strayed for long can deposit themselves in a corner in this AC hall which though proclaims to be an area under CCTV surveillance, some can park themselves to get a sense. I filled a form for some and took a Puri ticket.

Train number 12837, distance 502 km. Since the train was supposed to depart at 10.35 pm, there were five hours left which could be utilised for going to Kalighat. I made inquiries and took a bus. Going past howrah bridge, strand road, areas adjoining green lungs, judge court and alipore. The bus unnecessarily stops for fuel. It was probably around 6.30 when the bus reaches Alipore and parks next to a petrol station. i deboard and take an auto for Kalighat. It was convenient as it dropped me at the gates of the temple. There was no rush inside. It looks as resplendent as ever and a new construction has been added to the Hanuman place.

The best part about Kalighat is even a fleeting glimpse would be ok as sometimes the rush gets huge. If dogs could be kept away from temple premises one would feel safe.
Again in the Kalighat temple, if one does not get inside the queue and gains glimpse from outside, any offering should be duly put in the box.

I take the road opposite the temple, about 500 metres away, and from here take a bus for Howrah station. Reach Howrah by 8.15, the information coming out that train number 12837 would depart from platforms between 21 and 23, something like that. These set of platforms that begin from 16 or 18 onwards is some half a km away from the old terminal. THe waiting was done in the old terminal where among others was a group hailing from the northeast going to attend a workshop on physiotherapy in Mumbai. Again got a chance to interact with B Das, the soap strips vendor. Adjacent to his box which he utilises to display his collections there is a tea vendor with a stall who dishes out tea, not unfamiliar with deep sugary affection. As the train pulls in and i take seat 54 in B3 coach, all i have to look forward to is a journey that would complete in the morning. In the morning about forty minutes before we reach Puri, rains have lashed the area.
A little before eight we are in Puri.