Ya… I am bong too!! …though it doesn’t mean ‘ machhi khabo ‘ and ‘from Kolkata ‘.
Have always found it difficult to explain my bong blood to
people, given that am not that fluent in Bengali also. Neverthelesss last December we decided to go homewards exploring
our eastern connections starting with Kolkata.
One place where the local ads caught my attention …on
radio, in cinema hall, the hoardings, the small posters around. Unbelievably most
ads are about diseases and hospitals unlike in namma Bengaluru
where every time you hear a jingle or see an ad …in 80% cases they are about
the so called dream homes. Is there any
connection between the energy of the
city and the ads…I wonder !!
The divide is so obvious in Kolkata. The new town on one
hand and the houses with pukhurs (ponds-bud for bacteria and viruses to
flourish), on the other. I don’t intend to be cynical but Kolkata needs thorough
cleaning from roads to systems. How can
they still make people wait for 45 min- 1 hrs to get a pre paid taxi. Get a
computer for God’s sake instead of using old receipt book with carbon.
I know I know, Kolkata should instead be used as a synonym
for art and culture but treasure should be treasured, really.The fact also remains that I still do like Kolkata, blame it
on my blood.This was my only third visit. Food has always been great here
especially the street food.
Hmmm besides eateries, we did go to Victoria memorial, Dakkhineshwar
temple, Alipore Zoo etc etc
 |
| Victoria Memorial- Kolkata |
.
Next on the list was Darjeeling, the hill station with lot
of associations from British to ‘Barfi'.
 |
| Darjeeling- view from our hotel |
Early morning, come to the window of your room and see the
magnificence of the Himalayan range, kanchenjonga, Wow!! One advantage that Sinclairs has eventhough the uphill walk to reach Sinclairs does kill everytime
one wants to reach the hotel after a long
tiring day.
 |
| Sudeep with Darjeeling tea in his hands near the tea gardens |
Darjeeling tea, fresh vegetables & fruits by the
roadside, kids in all kinds of colorful school uniforms and the mall road which
is where the spirit of the hillstation resides. Walk anytime to the mall is
fun .Cafes, book shops& artifacts !! In fact, the strongest recall I’m
having right now is of Nathmull’s tea boutique.The tea sets on sale are
gorgeous,wish had bought one of those .
 |
| A Monastery in Darjeeling |
 |
| Shanti stupa in Darjeeling |
Incidentally, unique to Darjeeling is its Himalayan mountaineering
institute museum & Zoo which has the
himalayan variety. I really did spend a lot of time trying to perfect my
photography skills in front of the red
panda there, it was just not ready to poseL However this little fellow was curious enough
to see a creature like me.
 |
| At Darjeeling zoo |
After 2 days at Darjeeling we left for our expedition to
Sikkim with a stop over at Teesta for a thrilling river water rafting
experience.
 |
| Teesta and Rangeet |
And ya, best part is you do can take your children along.
 |
| River water rafting at Teesta |
Baiguney, Pelling, Gangtok & Nathula pass. Lots to see
in Sikkim . Houses with flowers, trucks with eyes, traffic jams and hardworking
people with simple hearts .
 |
| The stuck truck with eyes in Gangtok |
Travel is ofcourse not that easy here & it is
comparatively expensive too. Winters, the sun sets by 4- 4.30 when even a 20 km
travel takes more than an hour due to the difficult terrains.
When we reached Baiguney, it was late afternoon and we hardly
had time left for sightseeing. No one wanted to go out but I still decided to
visit Chardham of Sikkim and that too alone with the driver. As soon as I sat
in car our driver, Moses said, ‘madam you seem very scared ’.
Ofcourse, I was .I
had just landed in a new place and had met him hardly 30 min back. I could only
smile for my determination and the risk taking appetite. The journey was 2 hrs
upwards and as soon as I reached chardham, it became almost dark.
 |
| Chardham- Sikkim |
I returned back at 7pm .My husband was right, Sikkim is very
safe eventhough we had continued to call each other every 15 min during my
entire trip. Accidently I also discovered that the driver had fanatic love for
music more than anything but least interest in geography as Bangalore was part
of Kanyakumari for him, until I explained . Not his problem, it is the
disconnect.
Pelling is near Baiguney, so Mr. Moses also drove us to the oldest monastery
in Sikkim, Pemayangtse & Kechuberi lake, the so called wishing lake in Pelling. 'Pemayangtse monastry' was built by monks of pure Tibetan origin.
 |
| From outside- A wall ,Pemayangtse Monastry |
Prayer flags, the bells…and weird structures made of stones, different
ways to accessing God.
 |
| Prayer bells |
 |
| Prayer flags |
2 days of tasty food and complete relaxation by the rangeet riverside at Club Mahindra, Baiguney observing lights here and there on huge mountains that surrounded us, was truly majestic.
Thereafter we headed
for Gangtok following Teesta river. Only thing possible on the first day was Rumtek
monastery in ‘ traffic jam’ prone Gangtok. Evening we spent at Gangtok’s MG Road ,best place to
buy all feng shui stuff.
 |
| Gangtok- MG Road |
Next day it was turn to visit Nathula pass.
 |
| On the way to Nathula |
I can proudly say now that I feel completely fine even at
14000 ft above sea level.
 |
| Nathula Pass |
Every travel has to bring some unique story no… infact no
one makes them, they just choose you to be part of them .And this time it is
about 6 hrs traffic jam on the way back to NJP station from Gangtok, which we
faced on our last day. Now that we are over that experience, am just thinking… what all things
we pray for no… ‘to be able to catch
train, to be able to find some roadside loo, some water to drink’, I mean God
has so many important things to attend to.
Anyways we finally did learn to pee safely on mountain road
where every inch of it was covered with vehicle, take water from a small
waterfall nearby, use loo at a petrol bunk just before NJP and finally pay Rs 5000 extra
to get tickets in another train the next morning when hundreds of passengers
stood there stranded who also had missed their trains. Many thanks to Mr and
Mrs Gosh, parents of our neighbor Mr Joydeep who entertained us even at 12am
midnight at there house at NJP.
Indian culture jindabad and bong culture double jindabad… we got all
kinds of 'rosogollas' and 'bhajas' even at our midnight dinner :-)
Finally Momota didi’s 'Duronto' brought us back to Bangalore
after a fortnight long trip... ...SAFELY!!
Jai Momota didi & Jai Bangla. !!
