What Ho!» Bhubaneswar

Fifth Floor, 2 BR Flat in Sudarshan Towers (Sahid Nagar, Bhubneswar) for Rent

gautamsatpathy — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:07:31 +0000

Flat number 502 in Sudershan Towers, Sahid Nagar, Bhubaneswar, will be available for rent / lease starting April 1, 2010.

Specifications:

Flat No: 502
Fifth Floor, 2 Bedroom
1.5 ton, window AC in Master bedroom, Geyser in bathroom
Full woodwork – drawing room, both bedrooms and kitchen (covered shelves and covered storage under the kitchen slab)
Car parking available

Sudershan Towers, a new prestigious multi storied apartment complex, is located in the posh Shahid Nagar area and is a stone’s throw from the Banibihar main road. Conveniently located near shops, hospitals, schools & colleges, with easy access to public transport, Sudershan Towers has come to symbolize the best in luxury living in Bhubaneswar.

Contact:

Shri Binoy Ranjan Satpathi
A-138,
Sahid Nagar
(mobile) 94386-72077
(home) (0674)-254-6562.

Gautam Satpathy
Hyderabad
(mobile) 94407-01095

Maps:

Road map showing Sudershan Towers, Sahid Nagar, Bhubaneswar and the surrounding areas.

Satelite image showing Sudershan Towers, Sahid Nagar, Bhubaneswar and the surrounding areas.

Detailed satelite image showing Sudershan Towers, Sahid Nagar, Bhubaneswar

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Bhubaneswar in the Summer of '09

gautamsatpathy — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 04:13:58 +0000

April 21, 2009, Bhubaneswar

We arrived in Bhubaneswar early yesterday morning by Howrah Puri Express from Kolkata. This was the shortest rail journey of our entire trip this summer and the only one on which we had a coupe to ourselves. All of us were thrilled with that and also lamented the the lack on our other, longer journeys.

Bhubaneswar is hotter than I can tollerate. I am running up my father’s air conditioning bill. He has a very large house in Sahid Nagar, his retirement home, and has lavished enormous care on it. He is an avid gardener and the house is teeming with plants of all shapes ans sizes. Just a few minutes ago he was showing me a cocconut tree that he saved from sort of large bettle that bores into the trunk and kills the tree from the inside. He, my father, effectively operated on the tree, drilling two holes into the trunk, saturating it with some sort of organic insecticide and bandaging the wounds to prevent water loss. The tree seems to ne responding to his ministrations.

Today I have to chase down a number of odd jobs like visiting my bank here, checking on my flat etc. The thought of having to go out in this heat is enough to give me a headache but do them I must.

Sigh.

Such is life.

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Summer Break – Kolkata!

gautamsatpathy — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 18:51:29 +0000

April 19, Day 9, 11.00 pm

I am lying in my second AC bunk on Howrah Puri Express enroute to Bhubaneswar from Kolkata. We arrived in Kolkata early this morning from New Jalpaiguri, returning from our visit to Gangtok. Mandal-da, my uncle’s driver was waiting at Sealdha station and took us to my uncle’s flat in the Queen’s Mansions, Park Street. We had gupchup for breakfast and then lounged around till 11.00 am. Then Padmaja and I were driven to Gariahat by Mandal-da. It was hot, humid and sunny and decided to leave the kids behind.

Gariahat was kind of deserted. At least I don’t remember it being so empty of shoppers. Maybe because it was a Sunday morning and the housewives were at home. I was of course rather disapointed. A lost opportunity. Bengali girls are rather good looking and I like to look. Sad. Maybe next time.

Padmaja was not her usual self too. We hardly did any shopping, only about 800 rupees. Well, what can I say? Women are strange. Champing at the bit to get to Gariahat and when you take them there they hardly buy anything! Or maybe it was my sighs for the missing Bengali Girls. I haven’t a clue.

We went back home about 1.00 pm to lunch and a afternoon nap. I woke up at about 6 pm to find myself sweating and only one the three ceiling fans working. And it wasn’t doing much more than stir the hot & humid air. I lay there for some time gathering the resolve to expend energy to move and generate more body heat. When I finally did, cursing whoever had switched off the other two ceiling fans, Padmaja walked in and told me that there was a power failure and the fans / lights were running on an inverter. Inverter immediately started sweating a bit more

Anyway we had dropped the plan of taking the kids to see Victoria’s Memorial and they were still sleeping. I woke them up and we joined my uncle and aunt for a cup of tea. We sat around chatting for an hour or so, waiting for the power to be restored before realizing that the power failure was a big one. Maybe equipment failure of some sort. Padmaja and I decided to complete our packing while the inverter still held out. My aunt was putting together dinner, chapatis, fish finger, fish in mustard sauce, orka fry, sweets etc. A typical Odiya dinner with three or more curries and plenty of sweets.

The inverter failed while we were at dinner and we finished by candle light. By 9.10 pm we were ready to leave. Mandal-da was waiting with the car and drove us to Howrah station in little over 20 minutes (Park Street to Howrah). Our train was to start from platform number 22, one of the new platforms that have car parking right next to the platform. Also the coach numbers were displayed even though the the train was not in place yet. That helped Mandal-da park the car right next to our coach’s expected position.

The train arrived soon after and we boarded. For this, the shortest journey in our Summer of ’09 Odyssey, we had a coupe to ourselves. If only we hd similar berths on the trip from Hyderabad to Kolkata last weekend!

We will arrive in Bhubaneswar early tomorrow morning, about 5.30 am. My father will be there to pick us up. I have set three different alarms on my phone to ensure I wake up before we reach Bhubaneswar.

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Gangtok Trip – Day 7 – Walking In Gangtok

gautamsatpathy — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 03:43:35 +0000

April 17 – Day 7 – Walking in Gangtok

Today, the last day of our 3 full days in Gangtok, we had kept aside for the city of Gangtok itself. We haven’t seen the Flower Exhibition, the Handicrafts and Handloom Museum and a few other places.

We had a leisurely breakfast in the Mintokling Guest House restaurant. The service was bad, the prices high and the food passable. We had stayed away from the guest house restaurant on purpose because these places are typically low quality high cost. I will post a separate review on Mintokling.

I carried my back pack with a bottle of water, some biscuits and other snacks, along with my camera bag. Everything went over the shoulders leaving my hands free.

Our first visit was to the flower show which was less than half a kilomter from Mintokling and one streer higher. We had crossed it on our way to Enchyen Monastery the other day and I was fairly certain that I could find it again. We used one of the many staircases connecting the various streets in Gangtok to reach the street above Bhanu Path. From there it was a short walk to the park abutting the flower show. Admission to the Flower Exhibition was Rs. 15/- for adults with Bablu going free. The Exhibition is housed in a 50 by 30 feet hall, with moss covered galleries on the sides and artificial pond in the center. The galleries on the sides have burried pots with a wild profusion of flowers, orchids predominating. I am no poet and will not try to describe their beauty in words. I will let my photograps speak.

We spent about an hour at the Flower Exhibition. On the way out is a Sales Counter selling seeds, bulbs and Orchid cuttings. Padmaja bought some for my father. The share a common love for growing things.

From the Flower Exhibition we walked down to the Handicrafts and Handloom museum, a part of the Institute of Handicrafts and Handlooms. The museum is about a kilometer away, at the Zero Point of Gangtok, next to the Governer’s Palace. This too is a must see. The walk from the Flower Exhibition is picturesque and safe. Gangtok seems to have pedestrian walk-ways along the major roads.

The Handicrafts Museum is a small hall containing some excellent exhibits of the artisan’s work, some older than a 100 years. We spent about 30 minutes in the museum proper before walking around the rest of the Institute, to see the students at work.

After that we went to the attached sales counter. Padmaja bought some trinkets for Mamli and to give away as gifts. The sales emporium has a decent mix of handicrafts and handloom articles, including wool carpets, Sikkimise Paintings and wood carvings.

From the Handicrafts Museum we walked down to M. G. Marg, a distance of about 4 km. The walk wasn’t as pleasant as the one from the Flower Exhibition because of the heavy traffic and resuling pollution. At M. G. Marg we decided to try ‘The Taste of Tibet’ for lunch. A big mistake. It is a low end eatery and everything other than the Chicken Momos was bad. The fried rice was under cooked, the chicken curry looked and tasted bad. We ended up ordering cold drinks to take away the bad taste. Cheap enough and I think we made a mistake by not ordering the local dishes like Ghatak (spelling?), a broth with noodles, vegetables and chiken (or other meat or just plain vegetabless. I also noticed people make a meal of a plate of Momos which are served with a spicy cabbage salad and a clear vegetable soup.

After lunch, we took a cab to the Gangtok Ropeway, a cable car that links 3 of the Gangtok hills. a round trip costs Rs. 60/- for adults and Rs. 35/- for children above 5 years of age. The view from the cable car is spectacular! I have taken many photographs and hope they will come out okay. The ropeway is also a ‘must see’.

After that we walked back to M. G. Marg and spent some time just loitering around till it started drizzling. I found a Kodak Express and gave them one of my film rolls for development and printing. They don’t do 1 hour jobs but promised my the prints by 7.00 pm (it was then about 3.30 pm). Bablu and Mamli wanted icecream and Padmaja as usual was most agreeable to any idea involving icecream. There are a few ‘Softy Icecream’ shops on M. G. Marg and we selected one at random. I had a cup of coffee, priced outrageously at Rs. 10/- for a small cup of vending machine coffee.

After that Padmaja picked up another loaf of bread and a 100 gm pack of Amul Butter. I have never seen packets of Amul butter stored on shelves rather than refrigerated

We went back to Mintokling Guest House by cab and collapsed into sofas and beds. I don’t remember walking so much since my college days at IIT Kharagpur, and definitely not in hilly terrain.

It started raining very heavily about 5 minutes after we arrived at the guest house. The rain kept up till about 6.30 pm. I left to walk down to M. G. Marg for rhe photographs and something for dinner just before 7 pm. The roads were clean after the rain but the stairs going down to Tibet Road from Bhanu Path was a mess and smelled of shit. M. G. Marg glistened after the rains and I immediatly regretted not insisting on Padmaja and the kids accompanying me. I tried calling Padmaja’s cell without success (both our cells are AP BSNL, Cell One, post paid, on national roaming). I gave up after a few tries and went to pick up the photographs thinking that I would go back to Mintokling and bring them back with me. This was our last evening in Gangtok!

I then went looking for that ‘Rolls & Momos’ shop I had seen the other day. They only have veg rolls but I went ahead and bought some for our dinner. The rolls were good but not great.

I went back to Mintokling but could not convince the tired kids to go back with me again. I gave up and had a shower bwfore dinner.

Tomorrow we leave the Himalayas and Beautiful Gangtok to retun to the sweltering plains of Bengal and Kolkata. Then on to my home state of Odissa and the temple city of Bhubaneswar. The city our parents have made their home.

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Gangtok Trip – Day 5 – Local Sightseeing

gautamsatpathy — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 04:48:21 +0000

April 15, Day 5, 9.00 pm:

Local Sightseeing.

The entire day today was spent in local sightseeing. Pema, the manager of Mintokling had booked a taxi for us yesterday and Kiran Chettri, our driver for the day, arrived with his Maruti WagonR well before the allotted time of 9.00 am. I got up early in the hope of catching a glimpse of Kanchenjunga from the hotel windows but was disappointed by the cloud cover. Any the good thing was that I was able to get breakfast started with tea brewed in a glass of water with a small immersion heater, sugar cubes, milk powder and tea bags yea i know how to cook! Or at least make tea, coffee and omelets.

We managed to be ready to leave just before 9.00 am, no small feat with 2 small kids to be dragged out of a warm bed and fed breakfast after they brush their teeth and take their baths. We packed my bag with a water bottle, some snacks, binoculars, spare clothes for Bablu, silk scarfs for the kids and Padmaja, and two folding umbrellas. I of course had my camera bag as well as the camera tripod in it’s case.

We met Pema ‘upstairs’ and were introduced to Kiran, our driver for the day. We went over our agenda for the day and asked for a few modifications. Essentially added the Ban Jhakari Waterfall (10 km from Gangtok) and the Ling Dum Monastery (about e4 kms from the waterfalls, in the same diection. Also added Hanuman Tok and Tashi View Point to the itinerary. The price agreed upon was Rs. 1200/- for the deal as against the original Rs. 800/- for the original tour plan of the following:

1. Enchen Monastery 2. Tibetology Institute 3. Handi crafts and Handlooms Exhibition 4. Flower Show 5. Ganesh Tok 6. Stupa 7. Ropeway

We first visited the Enchen Monastery.l, a beautiful place festooned with prayer flags and located at the top of a hill opposite the TV tower. Photography is allowed outside the temple but not inside. We went in and sat for some time behind the monks chanting prayers.

On the way to Enchen we crossed the Flower Show and realized how close it was to Mintokling. Padmaja and I talked it over and decided to drop the ‘points’ inside the city of Gangtok and visit the waterfalls and Ling Dum. The price went up to Rs. 1400/- for the whole day.

Kiran then took us to Hanuman Tok and there we got the best treat of the day – a clearing of the clouds shrouding Kanchenjunga and our first glimpse of that mighty peak. I have taken photographs, both with the digital as well as my SLR with the telephoto. Can’t say how they will come out till I reach Bhubaneswar on Monday. Hanuman Tokk was beautiful with a great view of a part of the Gangtok valley.

After that we visited Ganesh Tok. Again a small, modern temple perched on a hill top, with a fantastic view of the valley. Kiran pointed out some land marks including the old royal palace nestling on top of the same hill as our guest house, Mingtokling.

After Ganesh Tok we visited the Tashi View Point, a hill commanding a good view of the surrounding hills and valleys. There is a souvenir shop on the road side which seems to be organized by the army, or so we were told. Anyway the prices on the regular souvenir trinkets was the best we have seen so far. We also had good veg Momos and Paneer Pakodas at the small fast food stall next to the souvenir shop. Padmaja bought a ton of stuff at the souvenir shop.

From Tashi we started for the Ban Jankri (spelling?) Waterfalls. We had to cross the valley and the roads to the falls are in poor repair. They are maintained by the local PWD while the roads around Ganesh Tok etc are maintained by the BRO, the Border Roads Organization, an Indian Army entity.

The waterfall is a beautiful area. Deep in the forests, the area is beautifully landscaped to show off the natural terrain and to highlight the local tribal population. Ban Jakri (spelling?) is how the tribal medicine man is called. There are walkways that allow you to approach the foot of the waterfall. I have taken many photographs and will use them to describe the area once I get back to Bhubaneswar as I have no way of transfering the images from the camera to my phone for uploading.

A word of caution:- Don’t eat at the veg restaurant on the first floor of the Energy Museum building. The food is BAD! And the service is so pathetic that I would rather not talk about it.

From the falls we went to the Ling Dum (spelling?) Monastery. This monastery is closer than Rumthek and is not as old, being only about a 100 years old. It is a beautiful place and colourful. Also they allow photography inside the shrine whose walls are covered with beautiful paintings of the life of the Budha. The large idol of the Budha dominates the shrine.

Outside there is a small garden and a eatery that makes nice veg Momos. They charge the same for a cup of coffee as a plate of Momos, Rs. 25/-

After the Monastery we returned to Gangtok and stopped at Lal Bazaar to buy me a jacket for the visit to Tsomgo Lake tomorrow. The bazaar has some good bargains.

After dropping off Padmaja and the kids at the hotel, I walked down to M. G. Marg to pick up something for dinner. I stopped at the Square restaurant for fried rice, chicken curry and chowmien. I had some of Danny’s beer, Hit, while I waited.

Tomorrow we are to visit Tsomogo Lake and must start early.

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Gangtok Trip – Day 2 – Odissa

gautamsatpathy — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 06:47:19 +0000

April 12, 2009, Day 2, 11.00 am, Odissa:

We arrived in Bhubaneswar almost on time. My parents have come to the station with lunch and I am sure Odiya sweets. My mother only has sweet teeth, not just a sweet tooth! My mother-in-law was also there with upma, allu chop (another Odiya invention the marathis stole and renamed Vada, as in vada-pao) and mallai chop, a sweet made with cottage cheese like most other Odiya sweets.

The bengalis also have a liking for sweets but they don’t have a culinary tradition like the Odiyas. Rassagollas for example were first cooked in the city of Puri almost a thousand years ago. Odissa has a culinary tradition as old as the land, going back to the days of Ashoka and beyond. There is mention of Kalinga in the Ramayana. Indonesia and other parts of South East Asia were settled by Odiya traders sailing with the Monsoons.

The kids have munched through most of the food my mother-in-law had brought. No dent in the supplies from my parents yet. Maybe in another hour or so. After that crash off the few hours it will take to reach Calcutta.

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Gangtok Visit – Day 1 (cont)

gautamsatpathy — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 16:14:30 +0000

April 11, 2009, 9.15 pm:

Settled down for the night. I managed to get hold of two berths in the coupe next to ours that Padmaja and Bablu were to take. Bablu wanted the upper berth because Mamli had one. And there we were trying to convince hiim that the lower ones were actually nicer. While I was busy fighting this losing battle with the grim determination of a parent who knows that parents are always right, Padmaja convinced the other gentleman in our coupe to take the one next door. Parent child problem solved. Bablu got his upper berth. Yes I know! Parents do know best, particularly when the other parent can be handed any blame forthcoming from decisions taken.

I am lying in my bunk (upper) typing this out on my Sony Ericsson P1i. I think we are running about an hour late. The driver might make up lost time during the night when there are few stops.

I am living up to my stated intention of not letting any food vendor pass by without sampling his wares. That’s part of the fun of traveling by train across India. Tomorrow morning will bring the snacks of Southern Odissa, which will give way to the milk and cheese of eastern Odissa which in turn will give way to the popped rice snacks of southern Bengal. And of course we are all looking forward to sampling the gastronomic delights expected of Gangtok with it’s Tibetan and Chinese influence to enhance the Sikkim cuisine.

We have also placed orders with our parents for our favourite snacks. I don’t think we need to order anything for lunch. Not with the food packages I expect to see tomorrow at Bhubaneswar station, courtesy our parents. Parents always seem to think that they know best about what their child, no matter how old, should eat. And how much.

Will write again tomorrow.

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On The Way to Gangtok (Day 1)

gautamsatpathy — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 12:21:43 +0000

April 11, 2009, 5.15 pm – Gangtok Trip

Padmaja, Durgesh Nandini (Mamli), Jyotiraditya (Bablu) and I are sitting in the 2nd AC coach of Falaknuma Express on our way to Calcutta. The train left Secunderabad Station at 4.00 pm. We will arrive tomorrow evening about 5.45 pm, and stay overnight with my fourth maternal uncle, Shri Rebati Ranjan Dash and aunt, Mrs. Bandana Dash. My uncle is the head of LIC East Zone.

Some shopping in Gariahat and The Esplanade, may be a visit to the Victoria Memorial before we catch the Darjeeling Express from Sealdah Station in Calcutta to arrive in New Jalpaiguri early Tuesday morning. Then a cab to Gangtok, a distance of about 150 kms. I am told this journey is very scenic and will take about 6 hours.

We will stay at Mingtokling Guest house (found and booked on the internet) doing the rounds of the local tourist attractions till Saturday, April 18, when we will retrace our steps to Calcutta via New Jalpaiguri. Then on to Bhubaneswar by Puri Express on Sunday night.. A week in Bhubaneswar before Padmaja and I return to Hyderabad on Apr 26. The kids will stay with their grand parents for a couple of weeks more before retuning to Hyderabad with my in-laws in mid May.

That’s the whole vacation plan.

We started planning this in Jan 2009. In fact today’s train tickets were purchased on Jan 15, 2009, only 4 days after the reservation window opened 90 days prior to the date of journey and we still got lousy berths. Anyway that should be resolved as soon as the TTE completes the RAC assignments. It is just a question of shifting berths around so that our 4 berths are together.

I intend to post regularly during this vacation. Gangtok, here we come!

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Bablu and the Bobbing Man – Bhubaneswar

gautamsatpathy — Wed, 14 May 2008 17:03:43 +0000

During our recent trip to Bhubaneswar, Padmaja, my mother-in-law, Mamli, Bablu & I went shopping to the Bapuji Nagar market. Padmaja wanted to visit the new Kolkata Bazar.

While the ladies were busy shopping Bablu and I walked around the store. Bablu was checking out the toys and I the girls

Anyway, Bablu found the bobbing man toys but was rather skeptical initially. He had never seen one before and took a lot of encouragement to approach it. He soon out how much fun they were

Click for full size image

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Bhubaneswar Trip – Flight from Hyderabad

gautamsatpathy — Thu, 01 May 2008 17:00:16 +0000

Padmaja and I are booked on the Indigo flight to Bhubaneswar. The flight will depart from the new airport in Samshabad. I had done some research on available conveyance and have made a couple of posts on the subject.

We decided to take the special airport shuttle service from Begumpet. Our flight is at 4 pm and the shuttle takes an hour. We left home at 1 pm and took an autorickshaw to Paryatak Bhavan, Begumpet. The auto ride from Srinagar Colony took 15 mins via Panjagutta. I had to tell the auto-walla to take the Panjagutta route and not the Ameerpet one. The Greenlands area has a number of traffic restrictions and this is the best approach route.

Ticketing was straight forward. Two ladies man a desk in the ground floor of Paryatak Bhavan and issue the tickets. Rs. 95/- each.

The bus has lots of luggage space and the attendents are a helpful lot. The A8C does not have much effect from the aircraft type vents above the seats. The bus left on time at 1.30 pm.

The drive to Samshabad took an hour.

The new airport is nice. Looks good with a number of conveniences like direct check in without having to run through a security scan first. But all this is marred by the people manning the airport. The same stupid rules, highhanded and rude security, clueless airport staff and uncoth co-passengers who refuse to respect queues.

We met Sandip Mishra and his family just before Padmaja and I went into the boarding zone. They too were traveling on our flight.

The prices at the coffee shops and fast food joints are atrocious, five or six times the rate I would expect to pay at a Hyderabad Mall.

The flight was packed. My aunt, sister-in-law and her two daughters were also on the flight was, having boarded at Bangalore. I spent most of the flight standing beside my aunt.

We reached Bhubaneswar at about 5.45. My mother and father-in-law came to pick us up. Baba left for Ranchi on an official visit earlier that day.

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