What Ho!» Kolkata

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 8 – Return To The Plains Of Bengal

gautamsatpathy — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 09:33:13 +0000

April 18 – Day 8 – The Return to the Plains

Today we return to the heat, dust & polution of the plains. Gangtok was pollution free most of the time.

We had asked the travel agent in Siliguri who had rented us the cab on the journey from Siliguri to Gangtok to send us a car at Gangtok. The car was to arrive at 12.00 noon. We had planned to stop mid way to go river rafting in the Tista (spelling?) river (Cost – Rs. 325/- per head, adult or child). You can opt to go rafting over various distances, e.g., 11 km, 7 km etc. The price varies with distance.

Noon is aslo the check-out time for Mintokling. I paid by credit card. Pema, the manager put a 10% service charge on everything. Also she told me very clearly that she wanted rhe room vacated by noon. This is the first hotel i have come across that is so insistent on the check-out time. All this happened at a quarter to 12 and one of the hotel waiters / bell boys was waiting outside to take my luggage out. I told him to come back at 12. Rather childish but I was put off. I have often stayed in my hotel room after check out and since Prma insisted on the time, so would I!

So we were tossed out of Mintokling at noon. Pema did not offer us the hotel lounge to wait for our cab. The bell boys just dumped our luggage on the street outside the guest house. That earned them no tips.

Then the secobd nightmare started. We kept calling the cab driver’s mobile phone and he kept telling us that he was stuck in traffic and would be there in another half hour. We waited outside on the street till 2.30 pm when finally the driver showed up with another passenger. Then it struck me that the travel agent in Sulliguri was taking me for a ride. He had no intention of sending an empty car to Gangtok though he was charging me for both legs of the trip. The driver had met the 9.30 am train from Kolkata, picked up passengers and driven to Gangtok to arrive at about 2.15 pm, the same time we had arrived three days ago. He had no doubt charged those people double the fare claiming that he would have to return with an empty car.

Anyway we pilled in and drove off, leaving Gangtok close to 3.00 pm. This driver wasn’t a good one and gave mw a few tense moments on the mountain roads. I had to keep shouting at the idiot in Bengali to slow down. Padmaja and the kids fell asleep in the back seat and slept through most of the journey. I stopped the car ouside Gangtok to buy a loaf of bread, some potato chips, and a couple of packets of biscuits. Mamli & Bablu practically devoured the lot, having missed lunch. I dared not stop anywhere for a bite to eat as we had a train to catch at New Jalpaiguri at 8.00 pm.

We arrived at Siliguri at 6.30 pm and stopped at the LIC guest house on Sevak Road. I called the travel agent (Raju & Tarun) and told them flatly that I would only pay half the agreed fare and they should come and meet me to discuss it. There was a lot of spluttering on the other side and indignant muttering which changed into abuse at which point I disconnected.

Tarun & Raju arrived about 10 minutes later. There was more shouting but I stood my ground. I was the customer and paying for a service with which I was very dissatisfied. Secondly that idiot Tarun of the travel agency was abusive from the first. I would have paid them the whole amount if they had but apologized for their grossly deficient service. I finally left for the station at New Jalpaiguri leaving Rs. 800/- lying on the ground where I dropped it as the idiots refused to accept it. I think this is the first time a customer has stood up to these idiots and refused to be brow-beaten.

We made it to the station in time to catch the Darjeeling Mail to Kolkata which left New Jalpaiguri at 8.00 pm. We will arrive in Kolkata early tomorrow morning, about 6.00 am.

Thus ends our Gangtok Trip in the summer of ’09.

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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 4 – Last Leg, Silliguri To Gangtok

gautamsatpathy — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 05:30:06 +0000

April 14, Day 4, 10.30 am:

We left Kolkata by Darjeeling Express, leaving Sealdah station at 10.05 pm. Did some shopping at Shree Leathers, Lindsay Street and the footpaths of Esplanade.

The train was a hour late, arriving in New Jalpaiguri at 9.00 am. Mr. Chaudhari of the local LIC office picked us up and took us to their guest house in Silliguri for breakfast.

Padmaja had booked a taxi to take us to Gangtok. SAIL has a marketing office in Suliguri and she called the local branch manager. He got her in touch with their travel agent / cab operator. As a result we didn’t have to worry about finding a taxi in New Jalpaiguri.

Our driver is a Nepali who thinks he is driving Formula 1. He also has this annoying habit of braking suddenly in a way that leaves ones stomach about 18 feet behind. Also he manages to jerk the car very badly every time he changes gears.

We should be in Gangtok in about 4 hours. I want to send this off while I still have a GPRS connection.

Will post again from Gangtok.2.

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April 13, 2009, Day 3 – Kolkata

gautamsatpathy — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 08:22:28 +0000

April 13, 2009, Day 3 – Kolkata:

Falakunama Express arrived on time at Howrah. My uncle’s driver, Mandal-da, was there to pick us up and we drove actoss the old Howrah bridge to Park Street where my uncle and aunt have a flat.

I had saved my previous two emailed posts as I was getting an intermittent signal in the train near Kharagpur, my old college. At my uncle’s flat. I tried connecting and received a rude shock. GPRS no longer worked! That is when I realised that what I had taken for dropped connections on the train was actually the loss of GPRS when I entered West Bengal.

I spent a frantic hour trying to figure out what was wrong. My aunt didn’t have a BSNL directory and I went looking for a PCO who might be able to at least give me the local BSNL Call Center number. I did get the number but I somehow kept getting the Karnataka call center instead of Bengal. Finally gave up in disgust and went for a shower morosely contemplating a week without internet access. Till we crossed back in to Odissa again.

After my shower I found that GPRS service had been restored! Well, I am not complaining!

I am not sure what will happen when we cross over from West Bengal in to Sikim tomorrow morning but I am keeping my fingers crossed. If that happens I will continue to post but they wull appear in a rush when I get my connection back in Odissa.

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