GADIARA

GADIARA

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Two of the biggest rivers of West Bengal namely Rupnarayan and Ganges are meeting here on the way to Bay of Bengal. The Ganges flows from Calcutta and Rupnarayan from Kolaghat and they confluence here and then flow towards sea via Diamond Harbour. It is 100 Km from Calcutta. One can come by Bombay Highway from Calcutta upto Uluberia and then turn left for a detour to Gadiara. The highway is excellent and the road from Uluberia to Gadiara is quite good. One can book West Bengal Tourist lodge known as RUPNARAYAN. The tariff for a delux non AC double bed room is a princely sum of 350. Excellent Bengali dish is served in the lodge like posto,sukto,aloobhaja,kasa mangsho,luchi,allor dam,chicken dopiaza etc.Dont expect to get Hilsa dish there, they dont cook as Hilsa is very costly at Rs350 a kg and no one wants to pay high price for the cooked fish as informed by sour faced manager Shankar Roy (no relative of mine).If you bring Hilsa then they will cook it for a price. The best time to go there is either during rainy season so that you can enjoy the nature or winter time.There is ever helping Dulal Chatterjee of the lodge who will take pain to guide you around the lodge and give you the historical background. It seems the property where the lodge is located belonged to some Mullick who was the Jamindar of that place. There are booze shop so no hassle. Ideally one can camp there 2 days easily. We did not like to go anywhere else and stayed put to watch both the rivers in its different hues. An ideal place for honey mooners. There are two AC rooms but one is kept vacant for the MD of the WB tourism,you know the typical Indian VIP hang up at the cost of public .

We were there from 2nd July to 3rd July 2007.The gathering cloud was moving towards Calcutta to cause deluge on 3rd and 4th July,2007. So started the pics with the flooded road of 3rd July at Park Circus crossing.

Me and my book in Calcutta Book Fair, 2007

I authored an English management book which was translated in Hindi in 2003.The name of the Hindi book is "Management ke saral nuskhe", published by Manjul publication of Bhopal. The third print of the book has come out, since 2004 it is regularly available in Calcutta Book fair. These pictures are of the Fair, this year.

Darjeeling during X mas,06

I always wondered about the attraction of Darjeeling.It is like a good book which I always try to leaf through in my spare time or an old Hindi song which I have not heard for a long time and then either hunt that out from collection of my CDs or go out and purchase one.This trip of Darjeeling was something like that,I longed to visit this heavenly place just after my trip to Mussourie,may be that trip to the northern hill station trigerred me to make this visit.Siliguri is the gateway for the hill stations like Gangtok,Thimpu,Kurseong,Kalimpong,Mirik and Darjeeling .One can reach Siliguri by road ,rail or by air.There are taxis available from railway stations,bus stops and airports.Darjeeling is about 76 km from the Bagdogra airport.It takes 3 hours with a break of half an hour.We stopped at Kurseong and had food in Amarjeet's Dhaba.The stuffed parathas are great .My this trip of Darjeeling taught me that before making any long journey it is wise to find out about the availability of toilet.We had harrowing experience in Darjeeling in locating proper toilet to relieve ourselves.We stayed in Sinclair's hotel. It is perched on the top and is meant for sportive crowd,a good amount of trekking is to be done to reach there.The staff there are friendly,accomodative and obliging.
We could see the snow capped Kanchanjungha from our hotel room.It was magnificent.The mall is the real place to chill.You are likely to come across your known friends.We came across Mr.Lahiri and his wife,that was a great surprise.The trip was spiced by the presence of Paramita and her son Ricky.
We were generally hanging around either at mall or in Glenary's.Glenary's boast of a good pub known as The Buzz.The top floor is having restaurant overlooking the valley,the next floor is bakery shop with tea ,coffee etc.There is a cyber cafe in the same floor.Lot of foreigners were either surfing the net or chatting or uploading the pictures taken by them.I too chatted from there. One should not forget to sample cakes,hotdog and chicken sizzler in Glenary's.The advantage of visiting Darjeeling in winter is that one can get a clear view of Kanchanjungha.The temperature was varying between 4 and 8 degrees.We took adequate woolens.
There is a zoo where three rare specis can be seen and these are Yak,Red Panda,Snow Leopard.
We spent most of the time at the mall and watching Nepali youth trying out football with the assorted football made out of rubber bands,they are really good in controlling that rubberry mass.The hill folks are real simple.I remeber when I made my first visit way back in seventies then all the young fellows used to watch English Western movie,strum their guitars and sing Cliff or Elvis but now it is all Hindi song singing crowd.We peeped in Kaventers ,there only I bumped on Mr.Lahiri.
I got many insight about the youth of Darjeeling from the taxi driver Tshering Sherpa who drove us back to Siliguri.
Though I am back in Cal, but the wet musky smell of Pine,Juniper keeps lingering along with the image of the cloud hovering around and the magnificent snow capped Kanchanjungha permanently etched in my mind.The taste of chicken sizzler in Glenary's is still fresh in my mouth,after so many years I tasted Hot Dog again which was our favourite snack at Standards by the side of Regal cinema in New Delhi.Those were the days of juke box,hot coffee and Hot Dog and roam about in Connaught Place.Well that is another place which keeps on pulling me like a magnet.So my visit to Delhi is never complete without visiting Connaught Place.Happy new year to all.

Mussourie,22nd October to 25th October,06,travel tips

The journey to Musourie is about 7 hours by road from Delhi with a halt of about half an hour.One can start in the morning and with lunch in one of those numerous Dhabas you can reach Musourie by 4 pm.It is quite cold in October so take lot of woolens.There are many hotels and so even if you don't book in advance does not matter.You can find hotel as per your budget.It is better to stay near to the mall and facing the magnificent Doon valley.You must be ready to walk a lot.We stayed in a resort and also in a hotel facing the Doon valley.When you are in Musourie then must visit Kemtifalls,now there is ropeway to the falls.The journey to Dhanaulti is quite breathtaking.It is 28km from the main city.The snow capped Himalayan range is visible from this place.This place is not congested ,it is serene and you come across simple hill tribes.Then you must go up to Laltibba,this is the second highest point after Gunhill.There is a beautiful trekking track here.We trekked.There is a bionacular to look at the distant peaks.The charge is 20 rupees,it is not worth.We got lost in the shopping section of Mall,it is a market place like any small town.But we had the unique experience of tasting the famous "omlette" of Rashid Khan in his little shop on the Mall Road.His omlette got mentioned in India Today and Outlook.The real Mall Road is on the otherside where you can take leisurly stroll,.This side is facing the Doon Valley.There are wrought iron benches along the road.One can sit there for hours and absorb the beauty of Musourie and the Doon Valley down below.I was tempted to visit the bar in Whispering Windows because of the poetic name,but when I approached it then I was disheartened as it is bang in the market and not so exclusive.We enjoyed our 3 nights stay.Here are some the pictures of the queen of hill stations.There are lot of British time buildings which gives this place the old world charm.

Calcutta Roads on 21st sept,06

I tried to go to the office but could not,because the roads were flooded...I could go upto Southern Avenue from Golf Green....these are the pics of the road at that time..

Brisbane,Australia on 6th august,06 and others