Posted on by Aranyascope

Kolkata Book Fair: My First Book and Its Journey

Earlier in the first week of January 2026, my first book, a collection of short stories, CALL OF THE WILD & OTHER STORIES got published. A long-cherished dream was realised. The publisher, Mr. Debashish Nandi asked me, “Have you been to Kolkata Book Fair?” then went on, “It is the biggest book fair, if not in the world, definitely in Asia and of the country, bigger than the World Book Fair of Delhi.” Honestly, I had stopped going to all kinds of “fairs” because of the unprecedented crowd and pollution. I think I last visited the World Book Fair or whatever it was called then, at least two decades ago, with my family and it was quite a challenge to navigate through the crowd who had no interest in the books but have come for an outing.

I am kind of paranoid about the crowd/ gatherings that Kolkata attracts, for example the Durga Puja. But Debashish insisted that I must visit the KBF at least once to experience the grandeur. I was in two minds, because my book is a work of fiction that I wrote over the past one year and an easy read, nothing serious that will engage the readers in conversations over a cup of tea. Frankly, I don’t expect it to create even a ripple in the publishing world. So, what’s the point of spending money for the airfare and hotel? However, my better half, Deepika too insisted that I should go.

I checked with my Kolkata friends about the location of the fairground and he suggested to look for accommodation in Salt Lake area which is very close to the venue and “able feet” can walk the distance as well. I remembered another friend from NCR had stayed somewhere there and again requested my friend, Abhijit to help find a suitable guesthouse in Salt Lake. Thereafter, I booked my air tickets and the guesthouse, Smriti Villa in GD block of Salt Lake, a mere 2 km from the venue.

I reached Kolkata on 25th morning, my dear friend Atish surprised me by coming to the airport to pick me up instead of sending the car as was discussed over video call. Atish aka Soni, hadn’t had chance to have his breakfast, so we went to kiosk at the airport to munch something and a cup of tea before going over to the guesthouse.

The guesthouse, Smriti Villa was on the first floor of a privately built house having 4 bedrooms with attached bathrooms, a lounge area and kitchen. It was more like a serviced apartment. The check-in was smooth and the manager was very polite and helpful. We had a cup of tea and left for the fairground. Soni, dropped me at the gate no.7 of the venue promising to join along with Abhijit in the evening at the guesthouse.  

The entry to the book fair was free but there was security check in place. The guard asked me, “Are you carrying cigarettes?” “No, I don’t smoke.” I replied. His next question, more like robot, baffled me. “Are you carrying lighter or matchbox?” “Why should I carry such a thing when I don’t smoke?” I retorted forgetting the advice of my friend to keep my mouth shut when confronting stupidity in Kolkata. I don’t know if the guard understood or not but waived me to enter.

I entered from the gate number 7 and realised the stall of the publisher Nandi Enterprises was at the other end near the gate number 2. I walked through the fair soaking in the sun as well as the atmosphere around me. The day was Sunday, a holiday for most and the Kolkatans, ever eager for festivities decided to throng the place in full strength. It was a family outing for them. I liked it because more people meant more sell of books. However, within next hour or so, my balloon of euphoria was punctured as I realised the majority of the crowd had no interest in the books, they simply drifted from one stall to the another, giving cursory glance to the displayed books. The only exception were the Bengali language publishers, Ananda, Mitra & Ghosh and Dey’s Publishing where there were queues to enter the stall. The only English language publishing house that attracted similar crowd was Hachette India stall.

As far as my book is concerned, it is just a collection of fictional short stories. Not a serious read but more like a book you read while waiting at airport/ railway station or on your journeys. My marketing/ sales instinct got the jolt when I saw, there was no effort on the part of the publisher to push his books, not just mine but whole bunch of his own publishing. And this was not an isolated case but across the book fair where the smaller publishing houses are simply there to announce their existence. I understand that it is not easy to campaign for your products if you are not trained in retail sales but one can perhaps hire youngsters for the duration of the fair to do the job for you, in fact, there were few stalls which were doing it. I spent almost 4 hours at the book fair and the thought dawned on me that it would have made no difference to the fate of my book if I had skipped it. Two people picked up my book while I was present inside the stall, going through the pages and left without purchasing any book!!!

In the evening, I decided to leave for my guesthouse but coming out did not see the familiar “Toto” or e-rickshaw anywhere. What I saw was the surging wave of humanity coming through aimlessly. They all wanted to be there at the Kolkata Book Fair, touted to be the biggest in the country. They were busy taking selfies and immediately posting on the social media. I opened the google map on my phone and started walking the 1.80 km to my guesthouse.

I was exhausted when I reached my room having woken up at 4 am and having been on my toes since then. I put my phone to charge and crashed out. My friends, Atish and Abhijit, as planned came around 7 pm and woke me up. It was a mini get-together of three Abs and turned out very pleasant and relaxing. Atish brought his elixir-of-life along with some Chakhna which we consumed in the space of 2.5 hours and then ordered food from Koshe Kosha, a restaurant I saw while walking back to the guesthouse from the fair ground. The food turned out to be good and tasty. During the evening, my lunch and dinner for next day was sorted out too, with Atish confirming to pick me up around 11 am and Abhijit inviting us over to his home in the evening.

Next morning, I woke up early and was ready for a cup of tea but found the guesthouse inmates including the manager were still sleeping. It was the Republic Day, a national holiday. I quietly slipped out to explore the neighborhood and find a tea vendor. Being in Kolkata, I knew there would be one not far from my location and I found one soon. A group of morning walkers, few years older to me, perhaps were enjoying their brew and vociferously talking amongst themselves, was what made me look at them and the existence of the tea stall. The “Lal Cha” or the black tea was very refreshing in the morning and I set out to explore further. I found a fruit seller at the corner from where I picked up a bunch of “Kathali Kola” or small banana, having very distinctive taste and aromatic, found only in the eastern part of the country.

Atish came around 11:30 am by which time I had my breakfast of Dosa and Medu Vada from Chennai Square having a Zomato rating of 4.4/5.0 and for a change, the ratings were right. We went to the City Centre Mall and had coffee at the Starbucks outlet. Atish reflected at the high price of the coffee there and the relatively much cheaper options available right across the road at the street-food vendor. I sipped my cappuccino and told him, “You can’t compare this coffee with that instant powder coffee, good things in life have a price.” He did not say anything but nodded his head in appreciation as he sipped his coffee.  Thereafter, we took a quick look at the mall and left for our lunch.

The Saptapadi Bengali Restaurant is a theme-based restaurant in honor of the Superstar Bengali Actors Uttam Kumar & Suchitra Sen’s movie of same name. The movie was superhit when it was released for public viewing. I haven’t seen it. In fact, I haven’t seen much of Bengali cinema beyond the masters, Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen and Ritwik Ghatak in my youth days. The restaurant was small having around 24-30 pax capacity but the service and food ensure regular footfalls. We found a table for two and settled down. We ordered Muger Dal, Posto Bora, Mangshor Jhol and Sada Bhaat. And rounded it off with Nolen Gur ice-cream. The main course was excellent, light and yummy, the mutton soft enough to fall out from the bones. However, the ice-cream was average, the same flavor from Amul is far more delicious. The restaurant manager took our photo and presented us with a hard copy.

We visited the book fair once again and it being a national holiday, was full of humans thronging the place with gay abandon. Like the previous day, there was no interest, no compulsion to buy books, just roaming around clicking photos and sliding in and out of the stall giving cursory look at the books. However, the food stalls were bulging with crowds and the ground around was littered with disposable plates and glasses despite the availability of wastebins. I bade goodbye and best of luck to Mr. Nandi and came out to sanity.

In the evening as we were getting ready to go to Abhijit’s home, Nandini aka Chhoti, the darling daughter of Atish called to inform that she’s in the vicinity, at a food festival with her friend. I wanted to meet her, my god-daughter, so we went to the food festival. It wasn’t crowded like the book fair, apparently because it had a entry fee. Most of the stalls were of sweets from across the state and few savory stalls as well. One of them was selling octopus (grilled, fried or curry). I checked with Atish if he would like to try but he flatly refused. Chhoti excitedly confirmed that she and her friend had already tasted and it was delicious. We moved on and saw a stall selling pickles; I wanted to check-out the stuff and requested a sample of “Chunda Mango Chutney”. Must inform here that Chunda is primarily sliced mango (or even raw papaya) and made across the country but the spices vary from region to region. Having tasted the varieties from up north to the west, I wanted to check the eastern variety. The sales person offered me a spoonful and then kept offering 5/6 other pickles/ chutneys for tasting without my asking. This was the kind of salesmanship I missed at the book fair. I ended up buying 4 different pickles/ chutneys, would have bought more but keeping in mind the limited space in my cabin luggage, I let go few of the delicious offerings.

At Abhijit’s home, they were just him and his wife, Shukla, their elder son with his wife is settled in USA while the younger one being in merchant navy was away on duty. The evening was well spent chitchatting with them. They also have a third member at home, a beautiful Cocker Spaniel. It was kept in another room and became restless, scratching the door and barking. I told Abhijit to let him out but he was hesitant, felt the dog might become aggressive and bite. “Why will he bite, unprovoked?” I asked him. “He had bitten both me and Shukla.” He replied. Still I insisted that he let Simba out to meet us. He brought him out on a leash. Simba started barking at me but his tail was swinging left to right all along… most likely he was seeking my credentials. I told Abhijit to release him from the leash and I will be responsible if anything goes wrong. The moment, the leash was removed, Simba became calm and came to me sniffing me all over the place. His next move surprised both Abhijit and Shukla, Simba put his paws on my knees and demanded petting. His bonding with me was symbol of pure heart.

Later, after dinner, Abhijit and Shukla dropped me at the guesthouse.

While I was at Abhijit’s home, my cousin bro called up to inform that he was back in Kolkata from his Rajasthan trip and he will have breakfast with me the following morning.

I was ready for my bro when he called up to inform that he was running a bit late and I should have my breakfast without waiting for him. Honestly, I had no idea about the distances in Kolkata otherwise I would have told him to send me his location and I would take a cab to his home. He was coming from Belghoria to Salt Lake to take me back there to meet my octogenarian Aunt and then to Kasba near Acropolis Mall for lunch meet with my other cousins. Looking back, I know it was quite a task which he did with a smiling face. And that’s not all, later in the evening, he dropped me at the airport too.

Lunch menu was decided much earlier, biriyani from Arsalan. The venue was my cousin sister’s home but was shifted to my niece’s home. My niece is just about a year younger to me and we were very good friends, regularly corresponded through snail mail in our younger days.

On my arrival on the day one, the number lock of my suitcase somehow got corrupt and I had to break it to open the suitcase. Thereafter, I had to buy a lock to be able to check-in the luggage but kept forgetting every time I went out. I kept my eyes on the markets we passed by but did not a see a single shop that could possibly have a small lock for the suitcase. In such a situation I fell back on the Q-Commerce sites and ordered one from the Swiggy Instamart. It was delivered in eight minutes.

I had a fabulous time with my cousins and their better halves and thoroughly enjoyed the biriyani but the icing was the Chhanar Dalna prepared by my niece, a typical Bong dish where the paneer cubes are completely caramelized crisp but the inside remains soft and white. It reminded me of my mother’s cooking. I found out how she made it and have plans to try out in the near future. Needless to mention, I presented my cousins and niece, a copy of my maiden book. Hope they’ll enjoy the stories.

My flight back home was horrible; the aircraft was old and seats rattled. On top of it the flight was delayed by 30 minutes (officially) and over 45 minutes actually. When I landed I realized it was terminal 2 instead of usual terminal 3 where AI flights normally operate. Thankfully, Guddu Kumar was on his way and I instructed him to come to T-2 instead of T-3.

I finally reached home around midnight. Besides not-so-good experience at the Kolkata Book Fair, I had a very good time with my friends and cousins.     

Posted on by Aranyascope · 3 Comments

Banaras Diary: 2B in B

On 1st January 2024, Deepika & I, on our way to Varanasi aka Banaras, came back just before boarding the Vande Bharat Express from New Delhi Railway Station owing to a family tragedy. Ever since we have been hoping to visit the Holy City and this time our friends and long-time travel partners, Basus’ showed interest with finalising not only the itinerary but booking the train and Sugam Darshan (of Vishwanath Ji) tickets. They also shortlisted the hotels which we booked immediately. Then we were all set for exploring Varanasi or Banaras. The 2B in B (Basu’s & Bhattacharya’s in Banaras)!!

On 10th December night we embarked on the Shiv-Ganga Express from NDRS for Varanasi. The train left on time at 2005 hours with ETA Varanasi at 0600 hours. The AC first class was very nice and clean. Santanu had cautioned us that since there are no pantry car on the train, food will have to be carried with us which we did, only to find that the catering service was available right from snacks to dinner. We were five of us, so one berth was in a different cabin which I took up and slept peacefully. I was awake well before Deepika’s wake up call around 5:15 am. The train was ready to enter the station but was slowed down and finally reached the platform at 5:45 am, 15 minutes before time. The 15-days track record of the train revealed that it has been always on time or reached before time.

The driver of our pre-booked taxi was waiting for us outside the station. We were excited to have reached our coveted Holy city and took few pictures in front of the revamped Varanasi railway station. We decided to drop our luggage at the hotel but before that we stopped at a tea stall to quench our thirst with authentic Banarasi Masala Chai.

The driver, Rakesh showed us two iconic shops, Chachi ki Kachauri and Pahalwan Lassi, the latter had multiple outlets, all claiming to be the original. The uniqueness of Chachi ki Kachauri is the sitting arrangement, empty oil/ghee cannisters of 15kg are used as both seat as well as table, lined on the footpath next to the shop. A 30 rupees plate consisted of 4 kachauris with sabji and jalebi. The items were average in taste with the jalebi being a bit rancid, at least what we tasted.

Thereafter, we decided to walk to the Assi Ghat following the direction given by the hotel guard. The shop of Pahalwan Lassi was opening up, Santanu and I decided to check what’s available. The shopkeeper said that the lassi will take some time to prepare but Malai-O is ready. We readily bought two portions and gobbled it up in quick time before others could reach us. Afterall, Malai-O was on top of our culinary pilgrimage!!

When we reached Assi Ghat, we found the place sparsely crowded with yoga class happening at the adjacent ashram. Soon, the boatmen started marketing their boats for a ride. Sangeeta and Deepika had been entrusted with all negotiations and they hired a boat for an early morning ride. The boat ride was leisurely covering some of the important ghats like, Tulsi Ghat, Ganga Mahal Ghat, Hanuman Ghat, Dasashwamedh Ghat, Manikarnika Ghat Chausatti Ghat, Munshi Ghat, Nepali Ghat, Raj Ghat. It was cloudy as well as foggy so our boat kept close to the banks for us to see them clearly. Some people in other boats were throwing bird-feed attracting flocks of seagulls prompting us to take a few pictures. We spent almost two hours on the boat ride and the banks of Ganga before returning to the hotel only to find the rooms still not ready. We were directed to the third floor waiting room where we spent another hour eating Prayagraj Guava and playing cards (29).

By 1 pm we got our rooms and the first thing we did was to take bath and wear fresh clothes. Sangeeta ordered simple daal-chawal and aloo-gobi sabji for a late lunch. The daal was very tasty as was the sabji but later when we ordered the same dishes, it was average, maybe we were so hungry that our taste-buds were simply happy to get the taste.

We left for Assi Ghat around 4:30 to meet up with our boatman for the evening ride upto Namo Ghat and to watch the evening Ganga Arati at Dasashwamedh Ghat. The latter was a disaster, mainly due to our desire for the boat ride to Namo Ghat which was the farthest consuming precious time. When we reached Dasashwamedh Ghat, the place was jam-packed with boats of different size and shapes. Our boatman did his best by shoving other boats to take ours as close as possible. Still we were far off to get a real view of the spectacle of the evening arati.

We were given the first dose of commercialization of religion/ rituals here at the Dasashwamedh Ghat. At the end of the Ganga Arati, one of the apprentice pandit carried the ‘pradeep’ to the devotees/ audience placed on a big plate or thaali to take the blessings. We realised the blessing is directly proportional to the donation placed on the plate. When he came to us, Sangeeta searched her purse and could find only a hundred-rupee currency which she was compelled to place on the thaali, at the same time Deepika placed a twenty-rupee currency on the thaali. The young apprentice pandit put a ‘tika’ on the forehead of Sangeeta, seeing that Deepika expectantly asked for the ‘tika’. She was rudely rebuked by the man saying, “aap sleeper class ka ticket le ke first class mein safar karna chahate ho?” meaning, “you have paid for the second class whereas you want the luxury of first class.” This type of hypocrisy in the name of ritual is rampant across all the religious places (mandirs) in Varanasi. And the people wonder why the youngsters avoid such places.

We headed back to Assi Ghat and found it crowded with people both local as well as tourists. There was a pizzeria at the ghat where we thought we will have our dinner but the place did not have space even to stand. We came out and contemplated having our dinner at the hotel itself. Shinjini suggested, we try out the famed Banarasi Chaat. The closest one was at the Gaudulia, the famous Dina Chaat Bhandar and their signature chaat is Tamatar Chaat. The shop is located on a street which is not very wide and with parked vehicles on either side of the road, only one lane on either side is available for commuting. There were a sizeable number of customers waiting for their chaat which spilled on the road creating complete chaos. Looking at such chaos, Santanu wanted to leave immediately but was persuaded to stay put. I am sure, he mumbled a muted ‘thank you’ when he tasted the variety of chaat. Personally, I liked the aloo-tikki and the golgappas which were very different from what we get in Delhi.

Deepika and Santanu were brave enough to wake-up at 4 am and go to the Assi Ghat to witness the Morning Ganga Arati. I needed my 6 hours of sleep. We skipped breakfast to reach Kashi Vishwanath temple by 9 am at the gate no.4 for the Sugam Darshan for which we had purchased the ticket on-line. Though, we had a soft-copy of the ticket on our phones, Santanu insisted on a hard-copy (paper) and I realised the importance when we had to deposit our phones, purse (after taking out the money because otherwise how will we pay the ‘dakshina’), belt and smart-watch. The physical ticket needed to be endorsed/stamped at a location 100 metres from the entry gate. The person supposed to endorse wanted us to take the services of a designated pandit or ‘Panda’ which we refused. He tried hard to push us to ‘hire’ a panda by sending us to another person deliberately delaying process. Santanu lost his cool and gave him a sound verbal thrashing.

I do not know if the famous “Baba Vishwanth Gali” still exists in its old glory or not because the temple premises has been expanded hugely with the original temple in the middle of it. I had been to the old temple going through the gali negotiating the bulls or ‘Nandi’ of Lord Vishwanth many years ago and had the darshan of lifetime participating in “Doodhabhishek of the Lord” (milk bath). The blessings were free then. Deepika having learnt her lesson at the boat, offered a 500-rupee currency to the Mahant at the temple and received a garland as blessings. Considering the huge number of devotees visiting the temple every day, these Mahants must be earning few lakhs every month, tax-free.

A Panda had assigned himself to our group and guided us to the Gyanvapi temple within the main perimeter or parisar of the temple narrating us the story. According to the legend, the original Shivalinga was thrown in the well of the temple to save it from destruction by the army of Aurangzeb.

When the Kashi Vishwanath Mandir Parisar was created, many structures were demolished or cut-off, one such casualty is the Manikarnika Ghat, the cremation ghat believed to take the soul of the departed straight to heaven, was quite big as I remembered but now had shrunk considerably. Many terminally ill patients would come here in their last days waiting to depart and cremated hoping their soul to reach the heaven.

By the time we came out, breakfast time was over, we headed back to our hotel but decided to try out some restaurants nearby. After deliberating between an unknown brand of Banarasi Biriyani restaurant and the much known/ visited Sagar Ratna, we settled for the latter and had a hearty lunch which turned out to be the most expensive one as well. There was a Paan shop below the restaurant from where we had the flavourful Banarasi Paan, besides picking up few packs of Paan Masala.

In the evening, the girls wanted to explore the market for Banarasi sarees, Santanu and I had to go along feeling thoroughly bored. While they were busy stock-taking of the shop, Santanu and I explored the street from one end to the other which had nothing except garment shops. We came back and played few rounds of TwentyNine before going to the dining hall for dinner. We all were feeling tired and decided to call it a day. Santanu and Deepika wanted to visit Assi Ghat once more and Shinjini too showed interest in joining them. I knew it would be very difficult for Deepika to go for it twice in succession but did not discourage her. Next day, only father-daughter duo went to watch the morning arati at the Assi Ghat while we slept till late.

As we finished our breakfast, Sangeeta got a call from Rakesh our taxi driver confirming that he’s at the hotel gate. Our plan was to visit Sarnath, Buddhist religious site where Gautam Buddha gave his first sermons to his 5 disciples and Ramnagar Fort, the 18th century sandstone structure built by Maharaja Balwant Singh, the Kashi Naresh (King).

Our first destination was the Ramnagar Fort where we reached around 9:40 am and had to wait for 20-minutes as the fort gates opens only at 10 am. We bought the tickets for the museum not realising that it was the only thing that was to be experienced. Although, it is called a fort but the structure was far from being a fort and more of a palace with garages for the buggy, palanquin and cars in later period. The museum showcased the furniture, clothes and armoury of the bygone era. The most troubling part is the bad upkeep of the place, there were visible layers of dust on the artefacts, the lawns are not tended regularly as a result there are wild growths. No guides to explain the exhibits. And the Ganga River flowing below the fort is at her dirtiest. The authorities need to ramp up the place urgently and ensure proper maintenance. Salarjung Museum in Hyderabad can be their benchmark. The most memorable part our visit is the lassi we had from the 70 years old Shiv Prasad Lassi Bhandar. The thick Rabri Malai Lassi served in a Kulhad (earthen glass) was the authentic, flavourful and a must have when you visit the Kashi King’s Palace.

Rakesh suggested that we take a tour of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) as by the time we return from Rajgir, the roads will be too crowded. The campus of BHU is huge with individual buildings and residents for both the teacher and scholars of different streams of knowledge. There is a Birla Temple in the campus attracting devotees. Interestingly, the deity in this Birla temple is different from all other Birla temple, the presiding deity here is Mahadev as opposed to the Vishnu and his consort in other Birla temples across the country viz. Delhi, Kolkata.

We took the service of a guide to explain us various sites at the Sarnath. We realised the importance of a guide while touring the historical sites in Madhya Pradesh. Surely, lot of times, the guides are not deeply aware of the history of the place but they do try to entertain you with local legends of the site. The guide’s service is “technically free” as per the govt order but they are open to receiving any amount that the tourist offers them. Anyways, our guide took us to the Buddha temple premises and showed us the “Bodhi tree” believed to be the place where Gautam Buddha gave his first sermon to his first five disciples. At the cost of being politically incorrect, I have sincere doubts that the Bodhi tree is 2500+ years old!!! We saw the temple constructed and maintained by the funding of Thai government. Then saw the tall statue of Gautam Buddha (80ft 9inches indicating the lifeline of Buddha including time spent in the womb of his mother), surrounded by a waterbody full of lotus and other flowers. The garden boasted of the replica of the Ashoka Stambh and Dharma Chakra. The Buddha statue is sculpted in line with the now destroyed statues at Bamiyan, Afghanistan. We found the size of the statue and the surroundings impressive but the sculpting is very amateurish missing finesse of the smaller one inside the temple.

The guide took us to the archaeological site from where the artifacts were excavated and now housed inside the museum but there was a huge line-up student from various schools around Varanasi who have come on discovery trip. The guide then suggested and took us to a village of craftsmen supposedly creating the famous Banarasi silk sarees and dress materials. It was a big disappointment as it turned out to be a regular shop in a village where they have a show-piece handloom only. We quickly came out and proceeded to the museum picking up few artifacts from the stalls on our way. The museum had mostly remnants of the sculptures and few utensils of the bygone era. Some of the monoliths were awe inspiring. Deepika and I have seen such artefacts and more on site at Ajanta, Ellora, Bhimbetka in the recent past and every time we felt proud of our rich heritage.

When we started for Varanasi, it was past our normal lunch time and all of us were hungry, the most popular eating places on our list were in Goudulia which was quite far from our location. Rakesh, our driver suggested we look for places in the Cantt. area which will fall on our way. Sangeeta wanted to go to the Taj property but the rest of us restrained her and found a decent eating place called Tandoor Villa right opposite the Taj property. I haven’t had my eggs for three days and when I saw they have egg-curry, I couldn’t resist, except Deepika, who opted for a vegetarian dish, all others echoed their choice for the egg-curry with rice. It was a very satisfying lunch especially as the service was prompt and the serving guys were most cordial. We left some space in the tummy for the Giani’s ice-cream and the Banarasi Paan available right next to the restaurant. We explored the street and found a shop selling Punjabi papad and pickles besides other nick-nacks and bought a few items.

On our way back, Deepika, Sangeeta and Shinjini went to a Saree shop called Taj Express close to our hotel while Santanu and I came back to rest for a while. However, in just about 15-minutes, Santanu came and suggested something that was too tempting to ignore. We came out of the hotel and headed towards the BHU. The original Pahalwal Lassi shop was close-by where we stopped to have Malai-O, the creamy, extremely light dessert only available during the winter months. Then we couldn’t resist the Malai Rabri Lassi, I am at loss of words to describe thick, rich flavourful drink that instantly uplifts your mood and energises. Next, we had the Banarasi Paan from the shop below the Sagar Ratna and bought few packs of Paan Masala as well. We walked the length of the street, almost to the gate of BHU and came back. Just as we were to go in, I found a small shop that was selling Champaran Meat. I have heard about the dish, a rich, aromatic mutton curry cooked in earthen pots. Since we were on a culinary pilgrimage, we decided to try it out. We ordered a pot of mutton curry with rice and a sabji for Deepika and told them that we will pick up after an hour or so. Our hotel was vegetarian only and we did not want to offend their sensibilities and asked him to pack it discreetly.

Traditionally, Champaran Meat is a rustic, slow-cooked mutton curry from Bihar, known for its smoky flavour, cooked in a sealed clay-pot with mustard oil, lots of onion, garlic and whole spices till the mutton is tender and juicy with its own juice. The curry is semi-dry and often taken with plain boiled rice or tandoori roti. We had it with both. The curry reminded me of the Chettinad Chicken I had in Chennai. There were fire and smoke and water oozing out from ear, nose, mouth and eyes and the tantalising, delightful taste prodded us to have more of it till the last piece. Later, Santanu and I collected the bones in the pot and dropped it at a garbage dump, ensuring the sanctity of Coco Casa.

In the morning, after breakfast, we got ready and packed our bags, ready for check-out and informed the front desk that we going out for short while and shall check-out by 12 noon as discussed and agreed when we checked-in. One of the front desk guy named Vimlesh Rawat started acting smart, telling us to vacate the room then only or latest by 11 am. So, I casually asked him, “Or else?” He was about to tell me the hotel policy, when Sangeeta pointed to him that his own Manager had agreed to the 12-noon check-out. I found this man to be unfit for hospitality industries, not because of this incident but he had been rude even when we were checking-in and never once greeted any of the resident guests.

We walked out of the hotel and headed towards the Durga Mandir, supposed to be within 500-600 metres from the hotel, turned out to be approx. a kilometre. The day being Sunday, there was rush of devotees, I decided to stay out and did Santanu. It took about 25-minutes to complete the darshan and once Deepika, Sangeeta and Shinjini came out, we headed for the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Mandir. Initially, we thought it to be close-by but it turned out to be quite far from the Durga Mandir. It seemed, lots of people have ‘sankat’ or problems in their life because the place was really crowded and unmanageable. Deepika & Shinjini went for the darshan while we waited outside.

We came back in the hotel before 12-noon and checked-out as our cab had come. Santanu announced that our train, the celebrated Vande Bharat Express is running late from Delhi and now is scheduled to depart from Varanasi an hour late around 4 pm. We had one extra hour but nowhere to go as Rakesh, our driver told us that he has another assignment from 2-pm and therefore can’t take us anywhere else. We stopped at a paan shop from where our revered PM had once had a paan. I asked for the same kind of paan that he had and it was really good, melt-in-the-mouth kind. We packed up few paan for post-dinner munching.

We were dropped off at the station around 1:45 pm and didn’t know how to pass the time but Shinjini found out an Executive Lounge where our entry became free courtesy the ICICI Bank credit cards. We had free vegetarian lunch and hot tea/coffee. The permit was for two hours and we easily passed the time playing TwentyNine. The train from Delhi finally entered the platform around 3:30 (1.5 hours late), the usual time for cleaning the train after one-leg of journey is 90-minutes but the staff entrusted with job did it in 60-minutes and the train was ready for departure around 4:30 pm. We estimated that if nothing untoward happens, we should reach Delhi around 12:30 am, it was not be… the Vande Bharat Express has a top speed of 130 kmph and it rarely reached anywhere near it, keeping the speed in the vicinity of 60-70kmph most of the time. However, on the brighter side, the seats with ample leg space in the Executive Coach, the food and the service, more than compensated the delay. We finally reached New Delhi Railway Station at 1:55 am. The station at that hour looked quite different, devoid of normal hullaballoo of the day time, the quietness and the low lights made it eerie. We came out looking for a pre-paid cab but none was available, finally Deepika negotiated with private cab driver and we took it to reach home around 2:40 am. We slept around 3 am, about the time, Basu’s reached their Gurugram home.    

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Discovering the Gems of India -2

DAY THREE: Going Back to the Abode of our Forefathers

After concluding the first leg our journey, we were ready for the next, the first of which was a 100 km journey to Bhimbetka Rock Shelters, arguably the first settlement of humans in the subcontinent. And from thereon to the cleanest city of the country, Indore.

We had asked for our breakfast to be ready by 7:30 am but the hotel staff and the chef came in only after 7:30 to prepare our food, incidentally, we were the only guests at that time. We had our breakfast as quickly as possible and embarked on a journey of 2 hours 10 minutes, crossing the town of Sanchi. Initially, we drove through the two-lane state highway (Udaigiri Road-Ucher Road-Gulgaon Road) leading us to 4-lane NH 146 (Sagar-Bhopal Highway), then to NH46 till we reached the serpentine road leading to Bhimbetka Rock Shelters. The recent heavy downpour across the country has done extensive damage to the roads, not sparing even the National Highways. We were lucky that the day begun as dry and continued till we reached our destination.

The Bhimbetka Rock Shelters are an important archaeological site that spans the Paleolithic and Mesolithic periods, as well as the historic period. It exhibits the earliest traces of human life in India and evidence of the Stone Age starting at the site in Acheulean times.  It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that consists of seven hills and over 750 rock shelters distributed over 10 km. with evidence that at least some of the shelters were inhabited more than 100,000 years ago.

The rock shelters and caves provide evidence of human settlement and the cultural evolution from hunter-gatherers to agriculture, and expressions of prehistoric spirituality. Some of the Bhimbetka rock shelters feature prehistoric cave paintings and the earliest are dated to 10,000 BCE, corresponding to the Indian Mesolithic period. These cave paintings show themes such as animals, early evidence of dance and hunting from the Stone Age as well as of warriors on horseback from a later time (perhaps the Bronze Age). The Bhimbetka site has the oldest-known rock art in India, as well as is one of the largest prehistoric complexes. The Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka are 45 kilometres south-east of Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh at the southern edge of the Vindhya Range. South of these rock shelters are successive ranges of the Satpura hills. It is inside the Ratapani Wildlife Sanctuary, embedded in sandstone rocks, in the foothills of the Vindhya Range.

Bhimbetka meaning “Bhima’s resting place” or “Bhima’s lounge”, is compound word made of Bhima (second brother among the five Pandavas of Mahabharata) and Baithaka (seat or lounge). According to the native belief, Bhima during his exile used to rest here to interact with the locals. Bhima Worshiped Mata Vaishavi at this location and was blessed for concurring the forthcoming war. There is a famous Mata Vaishavi Temple existing at this place since long.

It was only in the 1970s that the scale and true significance of the Bhimbetka rock shelters was discovered and reported. Since then, more than 750 rock shelters have been identified. The Bhimbetka group contains 243 of these, while the Lakha Juar group nearby has 178 shelters. According to Archaeological Survey of India, the evidence suggests that there has been a continuous human settlement here from the Stone Age through the late Acheulian to the late Mesolithic until the 2nd century BCE in these caves. This information is based on the findings from the excavation of the site, the unearthed artifacts and goods, pigments present in deposits, as well as the rock paintings. The site contains the world’s oldest stone walls and floors. The origin of the raw materials utilized in certain monoliths uncovered at Bhimbetka has been traced back to Barkheda.

The site consisting of 1,892 hectares was declared as protected under Indian laws and came under the management of the Archaeological Survey of India in 1990. It was declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2003.

The rock shelters and caves of Bhimbetka have a large number of paintings. Some of the oldest paintings are dated to 10,000 BCE, but some of the geometric figures date to as recently as the medieval period. The drawings and paintings can be classified under seven different periods and dating back to the earliest paintings to have belonged to the upper Palaeolithic to be as early as 40,000 years ago. The colours used are vegetable colours which have endured through time because the drawings were generally made deep inside a niche or on inner walls.

One rock, popularly referred to as “Zoo Rock”, depicts elephants, barasingha (swamp deer), bison and deer. Paintings on another rock show a peacock, a snake, a deer and the sun. On another rock, two elephants with tusks are painted. Hunting scenes with hunters carrying bows, arrows, swords, and shields also find their place in the community of these pre-historic paintings. In one of the caves, a bison is shown in pursuit of a hunter while his two companions appear to stand helplessly nearby; in another, some horsemen are seen, along with archers. In one painting, a large wild bovine (possibly a gaur or bison) is seen. Some of the animals identified are sloth bear, wolf, hyaena, rhinoceros, wild cattle, deer, antelopes, hare, monkeys, anteater, rats, fish, turtle, peafowl, some birds without any details among the wild animals and a domesticated dog. Deer and antelope are amongst the most numerous of the wild animals depicted. The pictures include groups of hunters; one such group is depicted as running away from a rhinoceros. Other groups are engaged in hunting deer, antelopes and other prey. Spear and bow and arrow are the main weapons of hunt; fish and turtle are being caught in a net, and rats are being driven out of their burrows to be caught. The paintings are classified largely in two groups, one as depictions of hunters and food gatherers, and in others as fighters, riding on horses and elephant carrying metal weapons. The first group of paintings date to prehistoric times while second one dates to historic times (around 5th to 3rd Century BCE). Most of the paintings from the historic period depict battles with use of swords, spears, bows and arrows.

Mitali knew someone in the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and we were directed to a knowledgeable Guide, Bimal Roy (or Rai). He suggested that we visit the most important 15 caves instead of wandering through the wildness. Given the limited time we had, the suggestion was welcomed and we followed him from cave no. 1 on an amazing journey of bygone era. Here, I would like emphasise the importance of a guide at such tourist interests, we would have wandered through the place often following crowds who would have been as clueless as we were and missed out seeing the wonders that Bimal showed us with explanation. The basic difference between rock shelters and caves is that the first one is a natural formation over a long period of time whereas the second one is manmade using tools. The Bhimbetka mountains were submerged in water (ocean) billions of years ago and emerged on the surface due to tectonic movements millions of years ago. The weather played its part in creation of these natural rock shelters over a period of time. The experience is beyond words and one must visit Bhimbetka with ample time to do complete exploration. The added attraction is the jungle safari of Ratapani Tiger Reserve which is expected to start soon after the monsoon break. It took us about 2+ hours to complete the tour of the rock shelters. We were hungry.

At the point where the Bhimbetka Road meets the highway, there’s a Midway Treat of MP Tourism where we stopped for lunch as well as the rain which started as soon as we reached there. The place wasn’t too big but clean and we were their first customer for lunch. The joyful news to the members of our group was that they served non-veg as well. We still had over 400 km to cover, so decided to go light on stomach and ordered simple egg-curry with rice, besides green salad and papad. While we were enjoying our meal, it rained heavily and stopped just in time for us to proceed to Indore.

Our journey through NH46 took us through Bhopal (could have taken the bypass but it would have increased the time significantly) and Dewas. There was a point where we could see a bridge over the river but it was barricaded forcing the traffic to go below it through the flowing river. I can now legitimately claim that I have driven my Jeep Compass through a river. It would have been a different story to tell if the current of the river was strong, the heavier vehicles could have made it to the other side but the smaller cars would have gone under. When we were approaching Dewas, it started raining again, the visibility became bad with fading lights forcing us to stop at a midway treat for tea n snacks.

We got into a huge traffic snarl when we were about 20-22 km away from Indore. The under-construction flyover was the cause; the service road was inundated with water and mud as also the invisible potholes due to waterlogging as well as darkness of the night. We treaded the path with utmost caution, driving at 20kmph or less taking over 45 minutes to cross the stretch of 2km. On the positive side, I can say that my Jeep Compass glided over the slush with ease.

Deepika having seen the reviews of our hotel in Indore was very apprehensive and the situation did not ease when both Tapas and I said that we haven’t checked the reviews before booking just two days before our trip. However, reaching there we realised it wasn’t as bad as the reviews made it look. The property, Hotel Kanchan Tilak has 50 guest rooms and situated next door to the famous 56 Dukan of Indore with ample parking space. As far as the condition of the property is concerned, it requires immediate and urgent renovations. On the last night of our stay, a portion of the false-ceiling of the bathroom in one of the rooms came crashing down. Fortunately, it happened in the dead of night when no one was using the facility. The quality of food was at best average. I will never revisit.

DAY FOUR: Visiting the Archeological Splendor

In the morning, after breakfast, we left for Mandu (Mandav) Fort also known as Jahaz Mahal, 100 km from Indore taking 2.5 hours. Our vehicles having been through the slush had become dual colour, the bottom half being brown and the parking attendant at the hotel did a wonderful job of cleaning them to their original glory.

We reached Mandu Fort around 11 am and it took some ingenuity to park our vehicles in the designated parking lot; the place was in complete chaos with nincompoops parking their vehicles rampantly disregarding the convenience of others, blocking the thoroughfare as if they own it. Anyways, we walked down to the fort and connected with our guide Raj Kumar, courtesy the contact of Mitali. He turned out to be extremely knowledgeable about the history of the fort and delighted us through his narration besides taking us to every nook n corner of the vast fort.

Mandu or Mandavgarh is an ancient city in the present-day Mandav area of the Dhar district located in the Malwa and Nimar region of western Madhya Pradesh, 35 km from Dhar city. In the 11th century, Mandu was the sub division of the Tarangagarh or Taranga kingdom. This fortress town on a rocky outcrop about 100 km from Indore is celebrated for its architecture.

Mandu gained prominence in 10th and 11th century under the Paramaras. The town of Mandu, situated at an elevation of 633 metres is perched on the Vindhya Range extending for 13 km while overlooking the plateau of Malwa to the north and the valley of the Narmada River to the south which acted as natural defences for the fort-capital of the Paramaras. As “Mandapa-Durga”, Mandu is mentioned as the royal residence in the inscriptions of the Paramara kings starting from Jayavarman II. In all probability, Jayavarman or his predecessor Jaitugi moved from the traditional Paramara capital Dhara to Mandu, because of attacks from the neighbouring kingdoms. Balban, the general of the Delhi’s Sultan Nasir-ud-din, was in the verge of capturing Paramara territory when the Paramaras also faced attacks from the Yadava emperor Krishna of Devgiri and the Vaghela king Visaladeva of Gujarat. Compared to Dhara, which is located in the plains, the hilly area of Mandu offered a better defensive position.

In 1305, the Muslim Sultan of Delhi Alauddin Khalji captured Malwa, the Paramara territory. Ayn al-Mulk Multani, the newly appointed Governor of Malwa, was sent to expel the Paramara king Mahalakadeva from Mandu and cleanse that place from “the odour of infidelity”. With the help of a traitor, Multani’s forces found a way to enter the fort secretly. Mahalakadeva was killed while attempting to flee, on 24 November 1305. When Timur captured Delhi in 1401, the Afghan Dilawar Khan, governor of Malwa, set up his own little kingdom and the Ghuri dynasty was established. His son, Hoshang Shah, shifted the capital from Dhar to Mandu and raised it to its greatest splendour.

Mohammed Khalji established the Khalji dynasty of Malwa (1436-1531) and went on to rule for the next 33 years. It was under his reign that the Malwa Sultanate reached its greatest height. He was succeeded by his son, Ghiyas-ud-din, in 1469 and ruled for the next 31 years. He had a large harem and built the Jahaz Mahal for housing the women, numbering thousands. Ghiyas-ud-din was poisoned at the age of 80, by Nasir-ud-din, his son. Thereafter, the history is mired with conspiracy, assassinations and betrayal for the next few centuries till the reign of Akbar, the Mughal Emperor.

One of the rulers was Baz Bahadur who was not only a connoisseur of music but an accomplished singer himself. Legend says that once he happened to listen to the melodious voice of Rani Roopmati and was so enamoured that he brought her to Mandu and settle her at the Rani Roopmati Pavilion, originally built as an army observation post. It offered a complete view of the fort area besides the Narmada River. When the news of the defeat of Baz Bahadur reached her, she committed suicide by swallowing a diamond ring to avoid capture by the marauding army.

The Mandu Fort is perhaps the largest fort in India if not of the world with interesting spots to explore.

Roopmati’s Pavilion A large sandstone structure originally built as an army observation post it is known today as Roopmati’s Pavilion. Rani Roopmati – the love interest of Baaz Bahadur lived here and is said to have gazed at the Baz Bahadur’s Palace – situated below and also at Narmada River, flowing through the Nimar plains far below, a river which the queen revered.

Baz Bahadur’s Palace Built by Baz Bahadur, this 16th-century structure is famous for its large courtyards encompassed by large halls and high terraces. It is situated below Roopmati’s Pavilion and can be seen from the pavilion.

Rewa Kund A reservoir constructed by Baz Bahadur for the purpose of supplying water to Rani Roopmati’s Pavilion. The reservoir is situated below the pavilion and hence is considered an architectural marvel because of its complex maze-like corridors for escaping any attack.

Darya Khan’s Tomb complex Darya Khan was a minister in the court of Mahmud Khalji II, and his tomb lies in a walled complex along with another tomb, a mosque, a pond, and an inn. At the centre of the complex is the massive sandstone tomb of Darya Khan.

Shri Mandavagadh Teerth temple is dedicated to Lord Suparshvanatha, belongs to Shwetambar sect of Jainism and has been attractively constructed with exquisite looks. It underwent expansion in 14th century. The 3 feet high idol of Lord Suparshvanath seated in padmansana is believed to be much older. Ruins of many other temples and idols can be seen here giving rise to the belief that the Islamic invaders took the short-cut of constructing their forts, palaces and mosques over already existing temples of Hindu, Buddhist and Jains.

Jami Masjid Inspired by the great mosque of Damascus, this enormous structure is striking in both its simplicity and architectural style-with large courtyards and grand entrances. At the front of Jaami Mosque, there are ruins of Asharfi Palace. There is a seven-story winning memorial at the north-east of the palace, now in ruins with only two floors visible.

Hoshang Shah’s Tomb India’s first marble structure, it is one of the most refined examples of Afghan architecture. Its unique features include the beautifully proportioned dome, intricate marble lattice work and porticoed courts and towers. It served as a template for the construction of Taj Mahal.

Jahaz Mahal/Ship Palace Situated between two artificial lakes, this two-storied architectural marvel is so named as it appears as a ship floating in water. Built by Sultan Ghiyas-ud-din-Khalji, it served as a harem for the sultan. Apart from the enthralling architecture, Jahaz Mahal is also a significant venue for the vibrant colours of the Mandu festival. With a series of adventure activities, music shows, lights, and balloon festivals that happen every year in the winter season. The sound and light show at the Jahaz Mahal is another interesting event that holds the eyes of every tourist.

Hindola Mahal Hindola Mahal – meaning Swing palace is so named due to its sloping side walls. The Hindola Mahal might have been constructed during the reign of Hoshang Shah about 1425 C.E. but may date to the end of the 15th century during the reign of Ghiyas al-Din. It is one of a set building making up the royal palace complex at Mandu, which consists of the Jahaz Mahal, the Hindola Mahal, the Taveli Mahal, and the Nahar Jharokha. The Hindola Mahal may have been used as a chamber to plan military expeditions with the top commanders.

The Darwazas (Gates) The wall encompassing Mandu has 12 major darwazas or gates. The present road, through which Mandu is reached passes through many of these.

At the end of the tour of Mandu Fort lasting 5.5 hours, we were exhausted and hungry as well. The contact person (Mr. Patankar) was at the gate to meet us and took us to the guest house to freshen up and then lead us to Sri Sai Baba Guest House Restaurant serving local (Malwa) cuisine, for lunch. Always enthused in trying out local delicacies, we ordered Kadhi Pakodi, Dal Paniye and Dal Bafley served with plain boiled rice. I can tolerate reasonably spicy food but the Paniye and Bafley were on a different level altogether and it got multiplied when I accidentally bit a very hot green chilli. Water flowed from my eyes and nose while fire came out from my ears and mouth. Amalda’s sister-in-law, Shraboni suggested to put a pinch of salt in the mouth to subdue the spiciness. Oh boy, it worked and I became normal in a jiffy. Great learning.

Reaching back to the parking lot, we found a Maruti Alto parked very irresponsibly blocking Topshe’s car and it had the parking brake applied. I used my previously used technique and asked Topshe to place the pillows that he had in his car, at the point of contact while I gently drove his car hitting the illegally parked car to create a gap large enough to take the car out.  

It took us little over 2 hours to reach back in Indore. Deepika, Sumita and Sudipta went out to shopping at the insistence of Sumita and I predicted that while the other two will end up buying, Sumita won’t find anything worthwhile to buy. On the lighter side, it was her way of helping the shopkeepers do their stock-taking, once in a while. Topshe and I went in search for some dry savouries of Indore to take back home along with some sweets.

We ordered food and miscalculated the quantity, ending up with extra food on the table. The quality wasn’t that good to call for a doggy bag. After dinner, we played few rounds of TwentyNine and this time Topshe & I comprehensively beat Amalda-Manojit. I packed up our bags before hitting the bed.

We left for Delhi (Home) after breakfast passing through Ujjain, Kota and bypassing Sawai Madhopur and Jaipur. We wanted to visit Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga Temple in Ujjain on our way back but was advised to drop the plan as it was a festive weekend with thousands of people visiting would have been very crowded and would have delayed us significantly.

We stopped at roadside restaurant called Shri Krishna Restaurant and had one of the worst foods of the entire trip causing health issue with Sumita and Deepika.

As we bring closure to this amazing journey, the next one is eagerly awaited. Jai Hind.        

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Discovering the Gems of India-1

This year (2025) Independence Day (15 August) offered a long weekend of 3 days and if one could add 2 more days, it became a fabulous 5-day break. We couldn’t have missed this chance. Together with Topshe and Gora, a road trip was planned in the hills, Shangarh and Sissu, both in Himachal Pradesh, are quaint non-commercialized urban villages offering breathtaking view of the mountains besides doable treks. Everything was fine and going as per plan till the nature decided to open up the skies to wash and cleanse the mountains, every day, news of cloudburst and landslides blocking the roads floated in and we were forced to focus on Plan-B, Madhya Pradesh. The sites closer home viz Khajuraho was already covered by us separately, earlier. I have heard of Bhim Betka Rock Shelters and its rock paintings dating back to 30000 to 10000 years, beginning of human race, and proposed it to Topshe. He in turn made a grand plan of not just Bhim Betka but included Udaigiri Caves, Sanchi Stupa (3rd Century BCE) and Mandu (Jahaj Mahal) Fort in the itinerary. We also thought of visiting Mahakaleshwar Jyotir Linga Temple in Ujjain, if time permitted. The proposed tour spanning 5 days started on 13th and culminated on the late evening of 17th August 2025 and was planned in two days’ time.

The tour party comprised of Tapas & Sudipta, Manojit, Amalda, Mitali & Shraboni (sister-in-law of Amalda), Sumita (Deepika’s friend), Deepika & I. Traveling in Kia Carens and Jeep Compass.

With so much content, I decided to do it in two parts… the account of first part is here.

Day One: The Day of Travel

We started from my home around 5:45 am, a clear 30 minutes delay from the proposed time and caught up with Topshe & others at the Mahamaya Flyover at 6:05 am. After a brief chat we began our journey. The first break came at Jewar Toll Plaza where we stopped for tea and bathroom break. And I realized in the hurried departure from home, I had forgotten to carry my black coffee flask.

We had our proper breakfast at the Chambal Spice restodhaba, Dholpur, where I had visited 3 years ago while traveling to Bengaluru by road with my son Ayush. At that time, we were informed that the place had started operation only a week ago; in three years, it had lost its shine both in ambiance as well as the quality of food and service.

The journey from thereon was a long one through NH44 and we were greeted with light showers on and off. Right after Morena, we took the NH46 towards Gwalior-Shivpuri. Unlike the NH44, this National Highway, a 2-lane road took us inside the towns and villages with local traffic pouring on it, maneuvering through such condition affected our time and consumption of fuel. After crossing Guna, we found some reprieve with lesser local traffic but rain and narrow 2-lane road did not allow us to speed up beyond 60-70 kmph. Since we had a heavy breakfast, we did not stop for the lunch but halted at a BP fuel station to freshen up. Unfortunately, the toilet at this place was extremely dirty prompting us to abandon the idea till we found the IO fuel station 100 meters away with a clean one. I was carrying boiled egg while Mitali had some homemade delicious cake which were devoured in quick time standing under the open skies ready to open up and it did.

As soon as we started for the final leg of our journey, we were greeted with light to heavy rains most of way to Udaigiri but the advantage was practically empty road allowing us zip through whenever the visibility improved. We reached our destination, Village Deck Resort around 7 pm, a good 13 hours journey. The lowest point in our travel from Delhi to Udaigiri was the abandoned cattle on the road, any distraction or slight mistake could have been fatal.

The Village Deck Resort can hardly be classified as a resort. It was spread over 3000 sq mtr with habitable rooms, a swimming pool, a water body with a flock of swans besides open grassland kept for future development. In their website the name was prefixed with “MPT” denoting “Madhya Pradesh Tourism”, a govt owned property but it was a misnomer…the place is privately owned and managed property. We were allotted 3 rooms in the main block and 2 rooms on the other side of the water body, supposed to be cottages. The wild smell around it suggested they were less frequently occupied. The rooms were of decent size with functional air conditions that quickly cooled down the temperature and evaporated the wild smell. We settled down and gathered at Sumita’s room to play a few rounds of Tambola that I had carried with us. Later, we had dinner at their dining hall, the food, we were told will be vegetarian throughout our stay as the property followed a strict vegetarian only principle.

Day Two: Exploring the Bygone Era

All of us were tired from the day-long road journey and therefore needed good sleep and rest for the day trip exploring the Sanchi Stupa and Udaigiri Caves, very close to our place of residence.

Sanchi Stupa is a Buddhist complex, famous for its Great Stupa, on a hilltop at Sanchi Town, district Raisen, Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located, about 23 kilometres from Raisen town and 46 kilometres north-east of Bhopal, capital of Madhya Pradesh.

The Great Stupa at Sanchi is one of the oldest stone structures in India, and an important monument to the historical architecture of India. The Sanchi Stupa was originally commissioned by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE. Its nucleus was a simple hemispherical brick structure built over the relics (bones) of the Buddha. It was crowned by the chhatra, a parasol-like structure symbolising high rank, which was intended to honour and shelter the relics. The original construction work of this stupa was overseen by Ashoka, whose wife Devi was the daughter of a merchant of Vidisha who was born in Sanchi which incidentally happened to be the venue their wedding. In the 1st century BCE, four elaborately carved toranas (ornamental gateways) and a balustrade encircling the entire structure were added. The stupa at Sanchi built during the Mauryan period was made of bricks which over the centuries and dynasties were overlayed with stones to stand in its current form. There are numerous stupas around Sanchi including the Relics of Sariputra and Mahamoggallana, now enshrined in the new Vihara. Sanchi Stupa is depicted on the reverse side of the Indian currency note of ₹200 to signify its importance to Indian cultural heritage.

During the later rule of the Shunga, the stupa no.1 (popularly called the Great Sanchi Stupa) was expanded with stone slabs to almost twice its original size. The dome was flattened near the top and crowned by three superimposed parasols within a square railing signifying the symbol of the dharma, the Wheel of the Law. The dome was set on a high circular drum meant for circumambulation, which could be accessed via a double staircase. A second stone pathway at ground level was enclosed by a stone balustrade. The railings around Stupa 1 do not have artistic reliefs, these are only slabs, with some dedicatory inscriptions. These elements are dated to circa 175–125 BCE. Although the railings are made up of stone, they resemble wooden fence, the joints between the coping stones have been cut at a slant, as wood is naturally cut, and not vertically as stone should be cut. There are short records of the donors inscribed on the railings as well as stone slabs in Brahmi script. 

The decorations of Stupa No. 2 are probably the oldest extensive stupa decoration in existence and this Stupa is considered as the birthplace of Jataka illustrations. The reliefs at Stupa No.2 bear mason marks in Kharoshthi, as opposed to the local Brahmi script. This seems to imply that foreign workers from the north-west (from Gandhara, where Kharoshthi was the script in use) were responsible for the motifs and figures that can be found on the railings of the stupa. For the first time, clearly Buddhist themes are represented, particularly the four events in the life of the Buddha that are: the Nativity, the Enlightenment, the First Sermon and the Death.

Stupa No. 3 was built during the time of the Shungas, who also built the railing around it as well as the staircase. The Relics (bones) of Sariputra and Mahamoggallana, the disciples of the Buddha are said to have been placed in Stupa No. 3, these relics boxes were excavated in 1950’s and are kept in the vault of the nearby museum. Every year, they are taken out and displayed for public viewing on the last Sunday of the month of November coinciding the inauguration of the museum by Pandit J L Nehru, the first Prime Minister.

We had commissioned the services of an ASI certified guide, Rakesh, a very knowledgeable person, who took us through the site explaining each facet of the monument often interspersing with local folklore, e.g. the 40ft high Ashoka Pillar was cut into pieces and the lion head was taken by a local zamindar or land owner to adorn his home. We saw the black stone pieces of the pillar on site, the top portion with lion heads is now on display at the Bhopal Museum.

We did not realise that we spent more than 3.5 hours touring the Grand Stupa and the surroundings. There were groups of Buddhist devotees from Sri Lanka wearing a kind of uniform of similar T-Shirts with badges and caps for easy identification, were seen offering prayers at the site and doing parikrama or circumambulation of the Great Stupa. Some of us bought a few souvenirs from the vendors at the parking lot before leaving for our next destination, Udaigiri Caves.

The Udayagiri Caves are twenty rock-cut caves near Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh primarily denoted to the Hindu gods Vishnu and Shiva from the early years of the 3rd century CE to 5th century CE. They contain some of the oldest surviving Hindu temples and iconography in India. They are the only site that can be verifiably associated with a Gupta period monarch from its inscriptions. One of India’s most important archaeological sites, the Udayagiri hills and its caves are protected monuments managed by the Archaeological Survey of India.

Udayagiri caves contain iconography of Hinduism and Jainism. They are notable for the ancient monumental relief sculpture of Vishnu in his incarnation as the man-boar Varaha, rescuing the earth symbolically represented by Bhudevi clinging to the boar’s tusk as described in Hindu mythology. The site has important inscriptions of the Gupta dynasty belonging to the reigns of Chandragupta II (c. 375-415) and Kumaragupta I (c. 415-55). In addition to these, Udayagiri has a series of rock-shelters and petroglyphs, ruined buildings, inscriptions, water systems, fortifications and habitation mounds, all of which remain a subject of continuing archaeological studies. The Udayagiri Caves complex consists of twenty caves, of which one is dedicated to Jainism and all others to Hinduism. 

The Udaigiri Caves was on our way back from Sanchi towards our hotel. We were told that only a portion on the ground level is open to public as a Leopard family with 4 cubs have taken shelter in one of the upper caves and it would not be wise to disturb them. The caves at the ground level were all gated and locked without any source of light inside, so we had to be satisfied with the inscriptions outside each cave. At the cave number 13, we could see the rock-cut image of reclining (sheshshayi) Lord Vishnu on the coil of primeval snake, Sheshnag with his head resting on one of his four hands. It is one of the earliest and largest single-rock sculpture of reclining Vishnu. In another cave, visible clearly was the image of Lord Vishnu in Varaha Avatar rescuing the earth depicted as Bhudevi.

I had a mild hope of seeing the leopard family in the wild but it remained unfulfilled. We came back to the Village Deck Resort, very hungry, just in time as the skies opened up for the next one hour with torrential rain. We enjoyed our food and the rains from the safety of the dining hall.

We rested for couple of hours and then played tambola through the evening before dinner time. Later, I teamed up with Topshe while Amalda partnered Manojit for few hands of TwentyNine to end the first leg of our journey.

To be continued…

Posted on by Aranyascope

The Wilkinson Lodge

“It has been quite some time that we have taken a road trip, let’s plan for the coming long weekend of Independence Day.” I suggested.

We, the four of us, Topshe, Gora, Pulki and I were meeting for our monthly lunch get-together at the newly opened Bengali speciality restaurant called Bangaliyan at Dwarka Sector 12. We had a fulfilling lunch of typical Bengali cuisine and were waiting to settle the bill.

“We are open to the idea; in any case Gora and I are retired with all the time on earth.” Pulki added. It was agreed that Topshe will finalize the plan and we will go in my Jeep Compass, only four of us. I had my Jeep serviced and ready for the long drive.

Topshe got into the act immediately and after few consultative video-calls over the next few days, it was decided to go to Lansdowne, a relatively less commercialized hill station near Delhi. Topshe found a homestay and booked two rooms for us. The distance between Delhi to Lansdowne is approx. 250 km and takes about 7 hours to reach.   

On Thursday early morning we left for Lansdowne taking the Delhi-Meerut Expressway. We stopped at the midway food-court for breakfast and were on our way in less than an hour. We wanted to reach our destination well before the sunset.

Our journey was uneventful except the restaurant we stopped for lunch; they took enormous time in serving our food but the excellent taste and portion compensated the waiting. We reached Wilkinson Lodge, the homestay selected by Topshe, it was a old building with lush green garden and spread-out lawn but seemed to be unoccupied. We weren’t sure if we had made the right choice but at thousand rupees per night per room was a steal in the season time. I honked driving up to the gate and an old man, must be in his seventies came out to open the gate. I drove inside and parked under the canopy as directed by the old man.

“Namaskar, I am Murari Lal, the caretaker of this place. Sahib, where are you coming from?”

“Namaskar, we are coming from Delhi. We have a booking for two rooms for two nights. I have spoken to Sushil Babu and he said two rooms should be ready for us.”

“Yes Sahib, Sushil Saheb said you guys will be coming that I should take good care of you all. Please come inside select your rooms, there are six bedrooms, two on the ground floor and four on the first floor beside a hall, dining room and kitchen. There’s a lounge on the first floor as well.”

We went inside and after checking the rooms, selected two rooms on the first floor with balconies and scenic view of the mountains and valley.

“I will arrange tea and snacks for you.” Murari said and waited for our response. Gora understood and gave him some money for the same. Murari went away to arrange the refreshment. Looking at the place and the old man, we realised, we have to arrange for our own meals, luckily, we have seen a decent restaurant not more than 250 metres from here with signboard stating availability of breakfast, lunch and dinner. The customer footfall suggested it to be a well running place with fresh foods.

Murari came back with tea in flask and paper bag of samosas. There was enough for him as well and we gave him a portion of both items. Thereafter, we went out for stroll down the road and reached a high point from where the view of the valley and the mountain range was breathtaking prompting us to become ace photographers. We saw the sun set over the horizon and started on our way back.

“Before we go in the house, let’s check the restaurant and find out till when they are open.” Gora suggested and we went over to the Valley View Restaurant. The manager confirmed that the place is open till 11 at night and opens at 8 in the morning. He even suggested that he can deliver the food at our homestay and gave us the menu-card with phone number to place the order.

With the day light gone, the Wilkinson Lodge looked quite different, all the greens had become black in the dark and the building in white stood stark in contrast. The light from the porch barely lit up the area and we had to use the phone torch to see the path from the gate to the porch. As we came up on the porch, a black-n-white cat jumped from one of the easy chairs and vanished in the darkness towards the outhouse where Murari lives. We thought it to be his pet and did not give much thought, though the sudden appearance of it had surprised us.

In the next two hours, we played our favourite card game, TwentyNine and had the Single Malt that I had carried with me, along with the chakhnas brought by Topshe. Around 9 o’clock, we decided to walk down to the restaurant for dinner. In the hills, the nights are longer than the day and 9 pm feels like midnight with not a single person on the road. The restaurant had few tables occupied with people like us, out for dinner from the nearby hotels and homestays.  

We had a leisurely dinner of chicken masala, dal tadka, aloo-gobi sabji and tandoori roti and came back to our homestay when the watch told us it was past 10 o’clock. We were tired, so called it a day. Gora and Topshe were in one room while I shared the room with Pulak. We changed into our nightwear and switched off the lights except the bathroom light which acted as a night lamp. Pulak sleeps soundly and quickly while it takes me a while to fall asleep, even when I tired.

The loud bell of the grandfather clock in the hall woke me up, it announced the time to be 2 am. Once the sound stopped, another noise started pouring in from the roof, some people were playing with bamboo stick running from one end to the other. I was certain that we are being attacked by a gang of goons with sticks. Pulak was sleeping soundly; I switched on the bedside lamp between the two beds and softly called him. He did not even stir, so I poked him to wake him. Pulak looked at me questioningly, I gestured him to listen to the sound but it had stopped. We waited silently for the sound but nothing, it seemed that those making the noise were aware that we have woken up and retreated.

In the morning, while we were having breakfast, I broached the topic of the noise coming from the roof and how it stopped when I woke up Pulak.

“Oh, you also heard it, I thought it was only me.” Gora spoke and then added, “I switched on the room light and woke up Topshe and immediately the noise stopped.

We decided to check with Murari if he knows anything about it. Topshe commented, “I doubt if he is aware of any sound, he usually has half a bottle of liquor every evening and after that nothing bothers him, even a bomb blast will not wake him up.”

“How do you know that?” I asked.

“In the morning, when you guys were getting ready, I was on the balcony and saw him taking a bagful of empty bottles somewhere, probably to sell them to the scrap dealer or bootlegger.”

When returned to the Wilkinson Lodge, the caretaker Murari was nowhere to be seen, probably buying his stock after selling the empty bottles. We took the jeep for sightseeing, Topshe the master organizer, had a list of ‘must visit places’ and we left for our first destination, Bheem Pakora.

Bheem Pakora has nothing to do with the pakoras (fritters), there aren’t any shop there even, it is just few rocks/ boulders placed on top of each other apparently balancing on their own without any cement or concrete joining them. Next, we visited Bhulla Taal, a tranquil artificial lake set amidst hilly lawns and tall trees with walking tracks around the lake and boat rentals. We took a boat ride lasting about 15 minutes covering the perimeter of the lake.

It was time to visit the religious places as per the wish of my dear friends, so we headed for the Shri Tadakeshwar Dham Mandir. Situated 38 km from the town, it is a Hindu Mandir dedicated to the deity of Shiva in a tranquil natural setting with tall pine and cedar trees. There were lots of devotees lining up for darshan, some with offerings of flower and fruits. Pulak and Gora bought a tray of puja offerings and went inside. I stayed out watching over their shoes. Topshe had into photographer mode clicking pictures at every angle. It took them 30 minutes to do the puja and we were on our way to Bhalugarh Waterfall on the Rishikesh Road.

We wanted to check out the Kalagarh Tiger Reserve but we were in between the safari timings and not permitted to enter in our private vehicle. Kalagarh Tiger Reserve is part of the Corbette National Park falling in the north zone. We were feeling hungry, so we stopped at a roadside eatery for lunch.

Before going back to our homestay, we visited centuries old Kaleshwar Mahadev Temple and St. Mary’s Church (1896) where we saw the exhibits showcasing the local military history. Our last point of visit was the Snow View Point where one can see the panoramic view of the Shivalik range interspersed with the Himalayan range in the distance. The snow peaked mountains are simply enchanting.

When we reached back, a rich aroma of simple Aloo-Matar sabji emanated from the outhouse of Murari. Topshe and Gora went over to check or probably to taste it. Pulak and I went up to our room. We realised Murari had cleaned the room and changed the bed-sheet and kept a fresh towel set, the extra money that Gora gave him has done its job.

Topshe and Gora came back and announced, “We will be having dinner here only, Murari has agreed to cook for us. We have given him money to get a chicken from the market. So, the dinner is going to be Aloo-Matar sabji, Chicken Curry desi style and rice.”

After we had relaxed and taken a power nap, went down to the dining room and spread out our playing cards for few rounds of Twenty-Nine while sipping on the Single Malt. The bottle was finished, so was our card game when Murari came and said that food is ready to serve. I must say, the sabji and chicken were one of the best I had in my many trips to the hills. They were not rich like the restaurant but full of aroma giving us a heavenly feel. I definitely over ate that evening because I started feeling sleepy due to the combination of the fine liquor and full tummy.

I woke up in the middle of night by the sound of grandfather clock announcing the time as 2 am. Once the bell stopped ringing, I tried to sleep again but what’s happening? There were noises coming from the hall below as if a party is going on with people speaking in hushed tone, music playing and wine glasses clinking. There were footsteps on the staircase as if some people were climbing up. I lay still waiting for the knock on the door. The footstep came up to the door and paused, then another footstep came up and it seemed that the first one went away with the second.

Pulak, on his own had woken up, we decided to go and check what’s happening in the hall. Are there new guests in the rest of the rooms? Did they come after we had retired for the day? We opened the door at the same time that Gora and Topshe too had come out. We were greeted by the overall darkness with feint light coming from the hall where we have kept one light on. We were shocked and chill of fear in our spine. We contemplated waking up Murari and asking him what’s happening, when we saw Murari coming in from the main door. He came up, “What’s the matter Sahib? Why are you all awake at this hour?” We told him about the happenings of last two nights precisely at 2 am when the grandfather clock chimed twice.

“What grandfather clock, Sahib? That clock has stopped working long ago, I have told Sushil Saheb to get it repaired but it stands just as a showpiece.”

“And what about the stick dance on the roof and the party in the hall.”

“Please get inside the room, I will tell you what I know.”

Once we gathered in our room, Murari came and sat on the floor near the door and started his story.

“This house was built by Thomas Wilkinson in the beginning of the twentieth century. He was in the govt service, probably an advocate and his wife Dorothy was the teacher at the Cathedral School. They had a son named Richard married to Catherine, the daughter of the police commissioner. Richard was in the army, a Major and Catherine used run bakery shop in the city. The family was at peace and happy, Richard being in the army, was mostly away from home, leaving the three of them.

Now, this house was away from the city, secluded in the middle of jungle, so Thomas Wilkinson arranged for local guards who instead of fire arms, given bamboo sticks to ward off any danger. One night when four of the guards were on duty, this place was under attack of tigers, the guards fought them with sticks but were no match to the power of jaws. They all died, the tigers took them deep into the jungle. In the morning, only their tattered blood-stained clothes remained as witness. After that, Richard arranged for armed guards. Those native guards used to practice their skills on the roof of the house and still does on certain nights.”

Murari stopped to breath, Gora offered him water bottle and gulped down half of it.

“There was a party to celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary of Thomas and Dorothy, many respected citizens were invited, plenty of food and overflowing drinks galore that night. Amongst the invitees was Derek, a close friend of Richard. It seems, in the absence of Richard, his wife Catherine had developed intimacy with Derek. They were seen together at many an occasion, having lunch and tea. Most people thought that Richard’s best friend is keeping company with his sister-in-law but few could figure out the deeper relation and rumours started doing the rounds. As inevitable, the news the ears of Richard who confronted his wife but she flatly refused the allegation.

On the night of the party, Richard kept a sharp eye on both Catherine and Derek but they hoodwinked him and came into this room to spend few private moments. Richard found out, fight ensued between him and Derek, in the fit of rage, he took out his service gun and shot Derek dead, Catherine tried to stop him and shot too. There, in the party, the police commissioner was present, seeing his daughter die in front of his eyes, he couldn’t control himself and killed Richard. Thereafter, chaos prevailed with some taking out their weapons and others with bare hand attacking each other on frivolous issues. Soon, it turned into a battle field where everyone perished. The happy celebratory evening turned into a mourning house. That was a new moon night. The Wilkinson House comes alive every new moon night since then.   

The property remained locked and abandoned in ruins for years, then Sushil Babu, bought it at an auction, renovated and stayed here for few days before converting it in a hotel, naming it after the original owner, The Wilkinson Lodge.”

“How do you know all this? You were probably a child when all this happened.” I asked.

“Well, I did not know initially, but then I got to know… leave it Sir. The morning is still hours away, you people sleep now, I too should go back to my place.”

We could hardly sleep rest of the night and got ready early in the morning for our return journey. Topshe and Pulak went to the outhouse to return the keys of the room to Murari but the outhouse was locked. We wondered, where Murari has gone so early in the morning. We left the keys on a nail next to the outhouse door along with a currency note of 500 denominations as tips for Murari.

After crossing Kotdwar, we stopped at the Punjabi Dhaba for breakfast of hot stuffed parathas. We had almost finished our meal when, Topshe received a message on his phone. He checked, blood draining out from his face, he pushed the phone towards Gora. As he read it, his hands started shaking, I took the phone from his shaking hand and read it.

“Dear Sir, extremely sorry for the inconvenience caused to you. I got to know very late that the caretaker of the Wilkinson Lodge, Manohar had gone to his village to check on his ailing daughter and got stuck due to landslide. Hope, you managed another accommodation in Lansdowne. I will be returning your money soon.” Signed, Sushil Chauhan, the owner of The Wilkinson Lodge.

We looked at each other without a word, all of us had the same question in our minds, “Who was the person at the Wilkinson Lodge who we met as caretaker?” We may never know.

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Room Number Twelve

Mukesh, the area sales manager dropped me at the station around seven in the evening although my train was scheduled at nine. He was very insistent that I have dinner with him but I refused because in an earlier instant, I had missed this train for stopping to have dinner. I wanted to make sure to catch the train this time. I went to the railway catering canteen and had my simple dinner of egg curry and rice with a bowl of curd. Then I went straight to the platform, selected a bench and sat down waiting for the train to Howrah.

There weren’t many people on the platform, I observed them for a while and noticed the thinning of the crowd as the evening progressed to embrace the night, then started playing solitaire on my phone. After a while, I realized someone was sitting on the other corner of the bench. I looked up to measure the person, I have heard weird stories of strangers turning into thieves, stealing your valuable. The person seemed harmless, in his fifties, wearing a white bush shirt and a dark color trousers, carrying a overnight bag. He too looked at me and said, “Hello, are you waiting for the train to Howrah?”

“Yes, hope it is running on time.”

There were a few minutes of awkward silence then the person broke it. “I am Abinash Chowdhury. I have a garment shop in Gariahata by the name Abhilasha.”

I told him my name and the company I worked for and the reason of my visit to the city. Then asked, “Did you come here on business or visiting some relations?”

“Oh, it’s a personal visit. I don’t have any relations living here. I have been wanting to come here once at least to thank a special person but couldn’t due to business pressure. I was late in reaching here.” Abinash Chowdhury sighed.

I did not know what to say or how to react. It was obvious that the person he had come to meet is no more but I was intrigued to know the story. The train was still more than an hour away. I looked at him with an expression of interest hoping he will speak up and narrate his story. He got the wind of my thought and spoke, “It’s a long story that happened many years ago, I was probably your age then. I used to work with a pharma company, touring at least twenty days every month.” He stopped abruptly and looked up at me to see if I am still interested or getting bored already.

“Please tell me in details, it seems you have many stories up your sleeves from your pharma days.” I tried to prod him to narrate the story.

“Not many but this one changed the destiny of my life. I had come to thank the person but couldn’t find him, I am late by few months… okay, listen to this, but first tell me do you believe in ghost or paranormal activities?”

“I neither believe nor disbelieve. I think there are something or certain instances which are beyond our comprehension but cannot be junked away.”

Abinash Chowdhury seemed satisfied with my answer and started his story…

It was a long time ago, 20 years perhaps, I was a medical rep with a multi-national pharma company and my geographical area was unified Bihar. My tours usually lasted for 20-22 days at a stretch, difficult to be away from home for both my family as well as me… I used to call home every few days to check if everything was fine at home. During one such call from Tata Nagar, my wife told me that my son, Agastya was not well, running high temperature, doctors suspecting dengue. I immediately decided to return home and told my manager about the emergency at home.

The bus was supposed to reach here around seven in the evening, allowing me to catch the nine o’clock train to Howrah but on the way, the bus suffered a tyre puncture. It took over an hour to replace the flat tyre and by the time we reached here, the train had long left the station. I was on despair, the next train was in the early morning, so I decided to check into a hotel close to the station. There were many but all of them were fully booked, completely exhausted, I reached the last hotel on the street and pleaded with the manager, “I desperately need to sleep the night, I will leave in the early morning, please, any room will do.”

The manager was busy with his book-keeping and without raising his head, said, “We don’t have any room, all are fully booked.”

“Please, kindly check, there must be one or I can sleep on the couch here.” I insisted.

The manager looked up to size me then started to say something but was interrupted by the bell-boy, “Sir, what about room number 12?”

The manager hesitated and then said, “We do have a room, number 12 but it’s not in good condition, I can allocate that for you. But remember, you will be responsible for whatever happens.”

I was so exhausted and desperate for a room to relax that I completely ignored his last comment. The bell-boy took the key of room number 12 on the first floor of Embassy Hotel. Reaching the corridor, he handed me the keys and pointed to the end of the corridor and said, “The room is at the end on the right side.” He went down to the reception without another word but I could sense fear in his eyes. The lights on the corridor were of low power hardly illuminating the path.

I trudged my suitcase to the end of the corridor and took out the key to open the door but it was open already. I knocked on the door, just in case someone was inside but no one answered. I entered the dark room and searched for the switch, just then a voice in a hushed tone spoke, “Please don’t switch on the lights, I can’t tolerate the lights.”

“I can’t see in the darkness; how will I get to the bed?” I asked the voice in the darkness.

“Don’t worry, I will guide you. If you stretch your right arm, you will feel the wall, walk five steps forward and you will reach your bed. The bedside table has a water bottle and a glass.”

I followed the instruction and truly found the bed. I placed my suitcase along the wall and sat down on the bed. Once I got accustomed to the darkness, realized that there’s a very feint street light coming through the curtained window. I tried to locate the source of the voice, I could only make out a hazy, smoky figure sitting on the desk chair at the far side but I wasn’t sure, it could be an illusion out of my fatigue. The next question from the stranger shocked me.

“You found the bed; did you lie down? You must be very tired after the day’s events.”

I could not make out if the voice is coming from the chair as I thought. It was subdued but soothing. I replied hoping to see the source of the voice, “Yes, it has been a tiring day and the bus journey from Tata Nagar is harrowing and exhausting.”

“Yes, pharma sales is very taxing, you have to meet the doctors and then the pharmacies to sell your products, the targets are always very steep.”

“Hey, how did you know that I work in pharma industry? I didn’t tell you.”

“Well, I know a lot about you that may surprise you.”

“Like what?” I was intrigued.

“The briefcase you are carrying is typical that medical reps carry. The attire, including the neck-tie says that you are in sales and marketing function.”

“You saw all that in this darkness? And yes, I am carrying the suitcase because I wanted to go back to Calcutta today urgently.”

“I know that too. You missed the train due to the mishap of the bus you were traveling.”

I was completely taken aback. “How do you know that?”

“Isn’t it obvious? There are no trains at this time and problems with bus’s are pretty common.”

I tried to see the source of the voice in the near darkness of the room but the vision was blurry as far as I could see. I was feeling uneasy talking in the air but continued, “I had planned two days in Tata Nagar but the call with my wife made me change…”

“Yes, your son is very unwell, probably has dengue fever, you must be worried. He will be fine soon.”

By this time, I was not only feeling uneasy but scared as well. How the hell he knows so much about me. Is there really somebody in the room or am I talking to a spirit?

“I do not have any attachment with family anymore.” The voice interrupted my thoughts and continued, “Once, my son was my universe, I had many wonderful dreams around his future but he got involved in the extreme left politics. During a violent agitation, he fell victim to police encounter. His mother could not come to the terms and passed away shortly after suffering cardiac seizure. I lost interest in life, alone, I would roam from one place to another, visit places of worship to find solace but nowhere, no one could offer any. Then one day in the evening I was walking down the road without any purpose, before I could realize, I had crossed the level crossing and was standing on the railway track, the driver of the train had no way to stop.”

The atmosphere inside the room became heavy. I didn’t know how to respond, moreover, I realized, all this while my conversation was not with any person of flesh and blood but someone or something that is beyond any feelings, simply beyond your reaches, your grasp.

My thoughts once again was interrupted by the heavy foot steps on the corridor and banging on the door… “Open the door, police here.” I opened the door and three-four police with guns entered, one of them switched on the lights. In the flood of light, I was the lone occupier of the room.

“What’s your name? Where are you coming from? Show your ID.” The inspector rapidly asked.

I told him my story along with the fact that I have to catch the 6 am train to Howrah. It seems that there have been a incidence of robbery where the assailant had stabbed the victim dead and fled from the police net. It was suspected that he may be hiding in one of the hotels.

All the guests of the hotel were asked to assemble at the lobby and was thoroughly interrogated. By the time it was over, the skies had lighted up. The inspector, as luck would have it was the cousin brother of my friend. He offered to drop me at the station.

There was a long queue at the ticket counter, I bought a first-class ticket to avoid the crowded compartments of general category. As I entered the platform, I could hear the guard signaling with a long whistle and the train started rolling out of the platform. I could have still caught the train if I wasn’t carrying two bags in either hand. I still made an attempt running after the train. The started to pick-up speed and then suddenly came to a halt with hard braking sound. I had one chance to get on the train and threw my bags in through the open doors of the guard’s cabin and then jumped in as the train started to move again. I was breathless. The middle-aged guard offered me some water to calm down.

“Sorry to barge in like this, I have a first-class ticket but almost missed the train. Thanks for stopping.”

“That’s okay, you can go to the first-class at the next station. I have no role in stopping the train. Something strange happened as the train was passing the level-crossing, a disheveled man suddenly appeared in front of the train, the motorman saw and applied the emergency brake but run over the man. A thorough search under the engine and first compartment was carried out but there was no one underneath the train. It seems both the motormen saw the person in front of the train, it can’t be a mistake but forget about a body, not even a scrap of cloth was found.”

The guard looked at me and on lighter note said, “It seems the person wanted you to get on this train.”

I had no energy or desire to narrate my experience of the night. At the next station, I moved to the first-class coach, selecting an upper birth and slept through the journey. I reached just in time to take my son to the hospital and he recovered after a few days. I don’t know if my son would have survived if I had missed the train that day. I left my pharma job and started the garment business just to be with my family. I had thought of coming back to the room number 12 to thank the person but got busy with life and business. Now, my son is old enough to manage the shop alone for few days, so I came here in the hope of meeting the voice and say ‘thank you’. But I am six months too late, the Embassy Hotel building has been demolished and a new structure is coming up.

Abinash Chowdhury finished his story and the platform bell announced the arrival of our train to Howrah.

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Lepakshi Temple

“At least you can enjoy the cool weather of Bengaluru instead of roasting in Delhi.” Deepika insisted and so I tagged along with her to spend a few days with Ayush and Rajashree.

Deepika’s friend Moushumi suggested we go out for 3-4 days to Belur & Halebeedu, a Hoisala heritage site about 100 miles from Bengaluru. However, the idea could not fructify because of the not-so-good road condition and the unpredictable rains in Karnataka. In any case, I was contended to spend the days at home and cook up some savouries for the kids. Then Moushumi came up with another heritage place, Lepakshi Temple, a day trip from Bengaluru on NH44 (Bengaluru-Hyderabad Highway). We decided to go on Tuesday 3rd June but on Sunday morning my nose turned ticklish and by evening it became full blown cold with running nose and mild fever, thankfully, Deepika was carrying medicine for such eventualities. I must confess that on Sunday, even though all indications suggested that I take complete rest but rest of the gang wanted to go out for lunch on the only Sunday afternoon for a family outing. Sunday happened to be Bengali Jamai Shashti, a day when the son-in-law is pampered to the hilt with a royal feast and we decided to visit the famous restaurant of Kolkata Mitra Café, only to be turned away with a waiting time of over an hour.  Rajashree searched for alternative restaurants in the vicinity and came up with Bier Garten, a roof top restaurant…the weather was decent enough to enjoy a nice meal and a pint of draught beer. Now, you can imagine what aggravated my sinuses!!

By Tuesday, with strong doses of anti-allergy medicines, I felt better and we decided to take the trip to Lepakshi. I suggested we hire a driver to drive Moushumi’s Suzuki XL-6 automatic, not being sure that I will be fit enough to drive. The ETD was 6:30 am to avoid the city traffic on a working day, accordingly Deepika & I reached Moushumi’s home at ACME, Bellandur only to find her sitting in her car, waiting for the driver to come. We waited for 30 more minutes with Moushumi trying to reach the driver or the agency that provides the services but no one responded. It was getting late, so I sat at the wheel and checked the vehicle’s functions. I felt confident to drive the car and we took off around 7:30 am.

It took us one hour to traverse through the city to reach the highway to Hyderabad. I had experience of driving on this stretch having made multiple visits to Bengaluru while stationed at Hyderabad. In those days, there weren’t many good decent places to stop for a bite. I asked Deepika and Moushumi to look for a breakfast place and they came up with A2B (Adyar Ananda Bhavan), a restaurant serving South Indian cuisine but soon realised that we had crossed it by many miles. Then we came across a signage promoting a restaurant called Koteshwaram, about a kilometre away from our location.

Koteshwaram turned out to a nice restaurant with option of fine dining as well as option for a quick bite on the go from the counter. It was a new place started operation four months ago. The food was Karnataka-Andhra influenced… thick dosa and mildly sweet sambhar but otherwise very tasty. On the table was a “tent-card” showcasing their desserts and one item instantly touched a chord in my heart. It was “Jelly Ice-cream”, reminded me of the times I used tag along with my brothers to the football match and afterwards would walk 5 km to Connaught Place from Ambedkar Stadium, Delhi Gate for the promised hamburger and cream jelly at the Indian Coffee House.

After our leisurely breakfast stretching over an hour, we started for our destination. The Google Map showed our destination, Lepakshi Temple, only 1:15 hour away, I drove sedately at 80 kmph (within speed limit) and reached our destination around 11 am, from the outside, it looked a small edifice, making us wonder if we reached the correct location!!

It is actually Veerbhadra Temple at Lepakshi. Veerabhadra Temple is a Hindu temple located in the Lepakshi, in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. The temple is dedicated to the Virabhadra, a fierce form of the god Shiva.

Built in the 16th century, the architectural features of the temple are in the Vijayanagara style with profusion of carvings and paintings at almost every exposed surface of the temple. It is one of the centrally protected monuments of national importance and is considered one of the most spectacular Vijayanagara temples. The fresco paintings are particularly detailed in very bright dresses and colours with scenes of Rama and Krishna from the epic stories of the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Puranas and they are well preserved.

There is a very large Nandi (bull), mount of Shiva, about 200 metres (660 ft) away from the temple which is carved from a single block of stone, which is said to be one of the largest of its type in the world. The temple has been built on the southern side of Lepakshi town, on a low altitude hillock of a large exposure of granite rock, which is in the shape of a tortoise, and hence known as Kurma Saila. It is 140 kilometres away from Bengaluru. The approach from the National Highway NH44/ NH44 to Hyderabad that takes a branch road at the Karnataka-Andhra Pradesh border leading to Lepakshi, 12 kilometres away.

The temple was built in 1530 AD by Virupanna Nayaka and Viranna, both brothers who were Governors under the Vijayanagar Empire during the reign of King Achyuta Deva Raya, at Penukonda who were native to Karnataka. They belonged to the warrior merchant class of Veerashaiva Vani. The temple consists of only Kannada inscriptions. According to Skanda Purana, the temple is one of the Divyakshetras, an important pilgrimage site of Lord Shiva.

The main temple is laid out in three parts, these are: The assembly hall known as the Mukha mantapa or Natya mantapa or Ranga mantapa; arda mantapa or antarala (ante chamber); and the garbhagriha or the sanctum sanctorum. The temple, as an edifice, is encircled by two enclosures. The outermost walled enclosure has three gates; the northern gate is used regularly. The inner east gate is the entry to the assembly hall, which is a large sized open hall designed with a large space in its central part.

It is at the entrance to the sanctum sanctorum and has a profusion of sculptures and paintings over every inch of space on the columns and ceiling. The images on the pillars and walls are of divine beings, saints, guardians, musicians, dancers and 14 avatars of Shiva. Figurines of the goddesses Ganga and Yamuna flank the entrance to the sanctum. The exterior columns of this hall are built over a decorated plinth; the decorations are in the form of blocks of carved images of horses and soldiers. The columns are slim and have features of colonnettes carved with eaves, overhanging in a curved shape. The open space in the middle part of the hall is defined by large columns or piers which have carvings of triple figures.

In the columns in the northeastern part of the hall, there are images of Natesha flanked by Brahma and a drummer. In an adjoining column there are figurines of nymphs in dancing postures, flanked by a drummer and cymbalist. The column at the southwest part of the hall has an image of Parvathi, Shiva’s consort, flanked by female attendants. There are also carvings of divinities such as Bhringi with three legs and Bhikshatana carved in a dancing posture; this is in the northwestern part of the hall. The ceiling of the hall is fully covered with mural paintings depicting the scenes from the epics, the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, and the Puranas along with the life sketches of the benefactors of the temple.

The paintings in each bay on the ceiling of the main mandapa, the antarala and other shrines, depict the grandeur of Vijayanagara pictorial art. They are painted over an initial plaster layer of lime mortar. The colour scheme consists of vegetable and mineral colours of yellow, ochre, black, blue and green blended with lime water; the background is generally painted in red colour. Apart from figures of gods and goddesses, in the presence of the devotees arranged in rows, the frescoes also depict the incarnations of Vishnu. The paintings are in striking compositions where the particular emphasis is on the period costumes and facial expressions. The fresco in the ceiling of ardha mantapa (ante chamber), which is said to be Asia’s largest, measures 23 by 13 feet (7.0 m × 4.0 m). It has frescoes of the 14 avatars of Lord Shiva as: Yogadakshinamurti, Chandes Anugraha Murthy, Bhikshatana, Harihara, Ardhanarishwara, Kalyanasundara, Tripurantaka, Nataraja, Gouriprasadaka, Lingodbhava, Andhakasurasmahara…

The presiding deity deified in the sanctum sanctorum is a near life-size image of Veerabhadra, fully armed and decorated with skulls. There is a cave chamber in the sanctum where sage Agasthya is said to have lived when he installed the image of the Linga here. The ceiling in the sanctum above the deity has paintings of the builders of the temple, Virupanna and Viranna, regally dressed and crowned with headgear similar to those adorning the Krishnadevaraya’s bronze statue in Tirupati. They are depicted, with their entourage, in a state of reverential prayer, being offered sacred ashes of their family deity.

Within the temple complex, on the eastern wing, there is a separate chamber with Shiva and his consort Parvathi carved on a boulder. In another shrine chamber there is an image of Lord Vishnu. Within the temple precincts, to its eastern side, there is huge boulder of granite stone which has carving of coiled multi-hooded serpent providing an umbrella cover over a Shiva Linga.

The apparently “hanging pillar” is yet another attraction in the temple. There is a gap between the base of the pillar and ground through which cloth and paper can be passed, as the pillar is slightly dislodged and touching the ground only on one side. A huge granite Nandi (bull), 20 feet (6.1 m) in height and 30 feet (9.1 m) in length, bedecked with garlands and bells, carved out of a single block stone, is located about 200 metres (660 ft) from the temple, which faces the statue of the serpent in the precincts of the temple.

We were awestruck by the temple’s architecture, stone carving and the fresco art. Deepika offered puja at the Veerbhadra temple for the peace and prosperity of the family. The priest offered us a small banana (Yellaki or Ilaichi Banana) as prasad. Coming out from the main temple, we made a parikrama of the temple complex, the expansive structure and use of the flat hilltop was simply amazing.

I was wearing my footwear sitting on the stairs to the temple when I noticed a few monkeys in the vicinity, two of them were scanning the area for food and one was peacefully sleeping. A group of devotees were passing through the gate which woke up the monkey and it looked at the source of the disturbance with irritation. In a swift movement, it swooped down on one of the devotees and snatched a banana that the man was holding in his hand, quickly peeling off the skin and devouring it. Deepika, unaware of the incidence walked straight towards Moushumi, sitting under the tree, a few feet away from the monkey, asking her to take a picture when the monkey rushed to her and in a swift movement took out the banana (prasad) that was barely visible from her purse. She panicked and started screaming but the monkey was neither interested in her nor in the purse. I told her to calm down and back off from the monkey. The scene was repeated once more on another hapless devotee.

We left for Bengaluru soon thereafter, hoping to evade the notorious evening traffic. The drive was uneventful except witnessing a crash on the other side of the road, a Toyota Hyrider had hit a tractor trolley with its engine completely gutted and a BMW tried best to avoid them but failed hitting the Toyota from behind. There was a huge man-made congestion of onlookers. It costed us precious 20 minutes before we could cruise again.

Reaching Bengaluru, we decided to stop for lunch at the Manyata Tech Park famous for a food court having the best of the restaurants. The food at the Nasi & Mee was excellent and every morsel was devoured by us. Under the specials, they had a sushi dessert called Mango Sticky Rice served with a coconut milk dip, mildly sweet with the natural sweetness of the mango. Even though, it was unique and flavourful, I felt, it lacked the sweetness one expects in a dessert, they could have added a bit of sweetener in the sticky rice before rolling it. Overall, we were very satisfied with both the quality and quantity of the servings, Thai Green Curry with Jasmine Rice, Veg Hakka Noodles and Prawn Curry for the main course as well as the dumplings for starters.

Moushumi, insisted that we stopover at her home for a cup of tea and rest a while before going home. I checked with Ayush if he can pick us up from there on his way back from office, detouring 20 minutes from his usual route and he confirmed affirmative. I handed over the wheels to Moushumi for the last leg of the journey to her home, as she knows the route while I would have needed constant guidance negotiating the heavy traffic. Later, Ayush picked us up but I realized the detour was a torture for his tired soul after a grinding day in the office.

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The Desert Storm

Agniv Singh, a Research Fellow with Geological Survey of India has been tasked with the research on the water bodies of the deserts spanning the western part of Rajasthan. He and his team had set up a camp office in Barmer from where they have made trips to Jaisalmer and around in search of oases, playas and wadis. The idea was to look for the source of water filling these up. The last two are dependent on the rainfall and therefore not important for his research but the first one holds the secret of underlying water sources that can eventually help the region.

Yesterday evening, talking to the local elders, Agniv came to know of a lake in the middle of the expansive desert, some 10 km towards the south-west of his camp. This morning, he shared the information with his local guide Irfan Khan who had immediately gone to get a camel for the trip down to the lake. In the desert, camel is the best mode of transport because even the best of the 4W SUV’s can get stalled due to sand getting into the engine or fuel points. Moreover, the camels have a natural instinct to figure out the best and shortest route avoiding the sinkholes.

After the fee negotiations, the camel owner tried to get the camel to rise and get going but the camel refused to get up. Irfan was watching the manoeuvre and getting impatient, finally he said, “What kind of camel rider are you? It’s almost an hour; you have failed to get the animal get up even. We have to come back by evening. Let me give the animal my dose of medicine.” Irfan went close to the camel and started tickling the animal at the joint of the front legs and after a while, grunting angrily the camel got up with a jerk and started running without waiting for Irfan to get onto it.

“Stop the camel, we have to pick-up Irfan” Agniv called up the camel rider, Mudassar Ali.

“No Sir” Mudassar Ali replied seriously. “The camel won’t allow him to ride on her. She’s angry with him for tickling her.”

“Tickling makes people laugh, why will she get angry?’

“Sir, they are animals, they get offended by tickling.”

“But, without Irfan, my guide, I will be lost. I need him.”

“Don’t worry Sir, I will take you to the lake and bring you back as well. My camel knows the route; she will take us there safely.”

There are no set path in the desert, the camel was on a rhythmic walk, at times veering steeply from the straight line. Mudassar Ali informed that such detour is to avoid the sinkholes which in human eyes are completely invisible but the animals can figure out instinctively.

“The camel is moving on its own, you are not guiding it… does it know where we are heading or it will take us somewhere else?”

“I told her where she has to take us and she was reluctant to go, that area is not a safe place with many sinkholes on the path. If I guide the camel, we may fall into one such sinkhole but my camel will bypass all such pits with complete ease.”

Agniv started to say something but Mudassar stopped him with a gesture and then whispered, “Sir, don’t talk, the camel is getting irritated by the noise. Let her concentrate on the path.”

Agniv wondered what’s the role of Mudassar… he doesn’t know the route to the lake, has no inkling about the many sinkholes scattered across the desert…totally dependent on his camel. He must keep it happy, always otherwise it may simply stop in the middle of the desert!! Agniv took out his compass that he always carried with him and checked the coordinates. He sighed a relief as the compass indicated that they were on the right path.

“You must keep her happy or else she may decide enough is enough and stop in the middle of nowhere in this vast desert.”

“I try to keep her happy but see, today she was reluctant to come but was forced for this trip. Pray to the god that everything goes fine on this journey. And Sir, please don’t speak up, the camel is getting distracted and not liking it at all.”

Agniv kept silent and let the camel travel at its own pace avoiding the obstructions. The heat, both from above as well as below became unbearable as the sun ascended to the middle of the sky right above their head. But the camel is used to such weather and continued in the same unhurried pace towards her destination. After about an hour, Mudassar announced that they are about to reach their destination, the lake or the oases in the desert.

“How do you know? I can only see miles and miles of sand only.”

“Close to the lake is the village where my aunt lives, I have been here many times, so I know this place.”

As soon as they crossed a wadi, a beautiful scene came in their view. It was as if an artist had drawn a canvas with riot of greens and blue in the middle of the beige sand. A beautiful expansive lake surrounded by green palm trees and shrubberies stood ahead. Mudassar instructed the camel to stop and the animal sat down to unload her passenger. Agniv got down and stretched his body after the arduous journey from Barmer.

“I will check this lake for the water source now, it may take few hours, you can take rest and let your camel eat and drink.”

“No worries, Sir, I will go to my aunt’s home and will be back soon enough for the ride back.”

Mudassar made ‘tut-tut’ sound to which the camel got up and started walking and soon it vanished behind the dune. Agniv walked towards the lake to check the water current that may throw light on the water source. He realized, there must be some underground source to sustain such a large water body, it possibly cannot remain full on rainwater alone when there is sparse rain even during the monsoon months. The water was clear blue, taking in the reflection of pollution free blue sky. He could see layers of hard rock deep below. His thoughts were, somewhere from those crevices, water must be flowing in & out continuously to make this lake live. A thought occurred to him that the ancient Saraswati River may be still alive under the desert, nourishing this lake. He walked along the bank shooting video and taking photograph for later analysis.

He decided to search for more lakes like this and if a triangulation can be established, go for deep drilling to look for the underground water source. He was in deep thoughts and was startled when a hand pressed his shoulder, he turned back to find a tall old man in local Rajasthani outfit with long stick looking at him intently with a quizzical look.

“Sir, don’t stand here, come with me.”

“Why? Who are you?”

The man without replying, took Agniv’s hand and pulled him inside a stone house or rather a room that Agniv had not seen earlier being engrossed in the feature of the lake.

“Why did you bring me here? Who the hell are you?” Agniv was visibly angree.

“It is not important, who I am. I have just saved your life. A storm is coming this way and you being a city dweller would have perished in its wake.”

“A storm? Where…” Before Agniv could finish his sentence, a sudden sand storm engulfed the region making the surroundings dark, the sun became hazy with winds lashing the walls of the stone room with great fury. Agniv was speechless.

“Now you realise what would have happened to you if you were standing by the lake.”

“But what about Mudassar and his camel? Hope they are fine.”

“Don’t worry about them, he is a local and the camels are used to such storm, they will be fine.”

Soon, the storm subsided, Agniv and the old man came out of the stone room. There was a layer of sand still engulfing the atmosphere like a sheet of silk, everything was hazy. Agniv started walking along the bank of the lake examining the rock formation below the water and the embankment hoping to find the crevice that will solve the puzzle of the water source.

“What are you looking for?” The old man who had silently followed him asked.

“I am looking for a crack or crevice in these rocks from where the water is flowing into this lake.”

“The water is coming from beneath. It can’t be seen but there it exists, I can feel it”

“How come?”

“On a silent night you can hear the sound of the water gushing in the lake from below the surface. I hear them all the time.”

“I don’t hear any such sound.”

“You have to be patient and concentrate to hear the sound.”

Agniv found out more about the old man… he’s Usman Ali, he has been here as long as he can remember. He doesn’t have any family and spends his days in taking care of a Mazaar of a Pir Baba and a Shiv Mandir next to each other.

“You take care of the masjid and the mandir, both?” Agniv was surprised.

“I have no problem taking care of both the masjid and the mandir… for me both are same. We call them in different names for our own selfish motives.”

“You do the full rituals at the Shiv mandir every day?”

“What do I know about the rituals, Sir? I pray to Mahadev as I pray to Allah, every moment.”

Agniv and Usman Ali came back inside the stone room. Usman made millet chapati and served Agniv with Aloo Sabji. It was delicious, more so because Agniv was famished by the events since morning. After the late lunch, they conversed about various things. Usman Ali told him about three more lakes or oases within 50 miles from there. Agniv decided to verify the locations once he gets back to the camp. He became desperate once the sun started descending on the western horizon because there was no sign of Mudassar and his camel.

“What’s the matter? Mudassar probably has gone back without you.” Usman teased Agniv.

“No, that’s not possible. He has brought me here and surely will take me back. Moreover, I haven’t paid him yet.”

“Maybe he has gone, you can’t be sure how the camel reacts…you said the animal was reluctant to come here in the morning. It is possible that the animal is not willing to come out from the comfort of Mudassar’s aunt’s home.”

“You could be right. But what do I do now? How will I get back to the camp?”

“You will go on a different camel. My camel will be back tomorrow morning with the provisions from the city. I will drop you to the camp then. Tonight you stay with me…it is not as comfortable as your camp but under the circumstances you don’t have any other option.”

A mysterious light emanated in the atmosphere, probably the combination of the dew from the lake and the sand of the desert dancing together as the sun went down for the day.

“Usman bhai, come have look at the mysterious lights from the lake.” Agniv called out to the old man.

“Don’t look at that light for long, it’s the ghostly light. Please come inside.” Usman replied seriously.

Usman lighted the stove to make millet chapatis for both of them along with the leftover aloo-sabji from the afternoon. After the frugal dinner, Usman laid out the straw mattress for Agniv to sleep as well as for himself. Though, Agniv was sceptical about sleeping on the straw mattress, because of the exhaustion and stress about his return journey, he was soon fast asleep.

Agniv woke up by the call of Mudassar from outside, “Sir…sir… come out quickly, I have come to take you back.”

Agniv looked at his watch… 3 am… Usman was fast asleep, didn’t even stir by the calling of Mudassar. Agniv got up and went out with his bag of equipment and the rock and sand sample that he collected. Mudassar was sitting on his camel, upright and standing with their back towards Agniv.

“Get on the camel quickly, Sir. It will soon be sunrise.” Mudassar urged.

“How can I get on the camel, she’s standing, tell her to sit down.”

“Not on this camel, there’s another camel waiting for you to ride.”

“Will it not be better if we start once the daylight breaks? We might fall into a sinkhole in the darkness.”

“Don’t worry the camels can sense the sinkholes even in the darkness and avoid them. Now, ride the camel, we have to reach Barmer before the sunrise.”

“Where did you get this other camel? I am not going to pay you extra for this.”

“That one belongs to my aunt. She won’t ask you for money.”

Agniv got on to the camel and Mudassar made “tut-tut” sound which prompted the camel to rise and follow the camel of Mudassar. After a while, Agniv could hardly make out the figures of the camel and its rider, there was a kind of glow surrounding them. His own camel without any prompting was sedately following the glow ahead.

“Mudassar, are you there?” Agniv called out.

“Yes Sir, very much, just ahead of you. Please don’t shout, let the animals concentrate on the path.”

“I can’t see either of you. Hope your camel is wise enough to avoid the sinkholes in this darkness.”

“The camel is on the right path.”

True, to his words, the camel was on the right path, soon he could see the silhouettes of the camp ahead. Agniv got down from the camel as they reached the camp. He took out the money to give to Mudassar but couldn’t see him anywhere in the vicinity. Agniv was surprised that he has gone away without taking his remuneration. He assumed, he will come back in the morning after resting up.   

In the evening, instead of Mudassar, Usman Ali came to the camp with a young man of Agniv’s age. They have been looking the lost camel of Mudassar’s aunt which went missing after the desert storm yesterday. Usman said, “I was worried about you…how did you reach here?”

“Why? Last night, Mudassar came to your stone room and called me, you were in deep sleep so I did not disturb you and left with him. In fact, he brought another camel for me. See, it is still there.” Agniv pointed out to the camel grazing near the camp office.

The young man shouted, “Oh, there it is, that’s our camel.”

“What are you saying, Sir?” Usman sounded surprised.

“Yes, Mudassar was on his own camel and I was riding this one. It followed them and brought me to the camp early this morning.”

“How is that possible? Yesterday, in that sand storm, Mudassar and his camel fell into a sinkhole and were buried deep into the sand. You can say, they vanished from the earth.” The young man named Irfan, cousin of Mudassar spoke sadly.

“That’s not true, Irfan. They may have fallen into a sinkhole but they are still with us… Mudassar kept his promise of bringing back Agniv Sir to the camp.”

Irfan started crying like a child and Agniv was speechless… his scientific brain refused to believe what he experienced but deep inside he felt a sense of gratitude for the departed soul of Mudassar and his camel for bringing him back to the camp safely.

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Dil-Dosti-Yaarana

After a sumptuous dinner and warm welcome by Indrajit and Jagrata, we left for the Service Apartment, EcoSuites by Stayvilla, arranged by Indrajit, about 3 km from his place. EcoSuites, Service Apartment has three 2-bedroom+lounge units per floor, newly constructed, albeit a bit inside…entry through a narrow lane but has car parking for 5-6 vehicles. The rooms are spacious with kettle for making tea/coffee, running hot n cold water and big screen television. I would say, it’s a 3+ star accommodation, rare to find at the price negotiated by my friend. We were informed that room service is available too, round the clock. Initially, we were booked for 2 rooms with extra bed for the 5th person but we got the third room as well. I had the room all to myself as other eligible members refused to share with me fearing my snoring which sounds like the roar of a lion!!!

In the morning, we checked with Indro if he can arrange for a 7-seater vehicle for all of us to travel together; after a while he called up to inform that practically all the bigger commercial passenger vehicles have gone to Prayagraj for Mahakumbh, which is true because we have seen them not only in Prayagraj but on the highways as well. Instead of hiring another smaller vehicle and take two of them, we decided to adjust in our Jeep Compass, Sudipta would sit in the front passenger seat while four of us would manage within the rear seat… Dil mein jagah honi chahiye baki sab adjust ho jata hai…

I wanted to have Dhuska with Aloo-Chhola Sabji, but it wasn’t readily available, so we settled for stuffed paratha and egg with hot tea for breakfast.

DAY ONE (Thursday 20.02.25)

Our first destination was Patratu Valley (I have visited this earlier with Indro), the serpentine road with breathtaking view at every turn makes the journey feel amazing. We stopped at the Patratu View Point to take some pictures of the valley below with the mountain range as backdrop but unfortunately, the day turned out to be cloudy hiding the mountains from view. Anyways, we clicked few selfies and pictures of us with the valley in the background.

There were few vendors selling street foods, we had the phoochka or golgappa from one such guy, the taste was average, lacked the punch associated with the item. I also had a plate of Aloo-tikki with Channa… the Channa tasted tangy and nice but the tikki was nowhere near the famed Delhi version. We had then rounded off with Amul ice-creams before going down to the valley to experience the Patratu Lake created by the dam.

There were a flock of gulls near the shore enjoying swim, occasionally fluttering their wings to hop over the water, apparently, they were fed by the tourists visiting the lake. A few of the tourists were taking boat rides as well, the speedboats creating a jet-spray in their wake reminded me of my boat ride in the expansive sea in Thailand. We bought the tickets for the boat ride and were picked up by the waiting boat which took us to the island on the lake at the far side, took a complete round and a smaller circle and we were back to the shore. It was a less than 10 minutes ride but thoroughly enjoyable, giving us a childlike thrill.

Our next destination was Palani Falls situated 11 km or 22 minutes’ drive away from our location. During monsoon and immediately afterwards, the sight is wonderful but as this winter had very scant rains, the water had completely dried and one only see the dark patches on the rocks marking the path of the water fall. We were disappointed. We spent few minutes at the gate deciding on our next destination, Indro suggested, Tuti Jharna Temple near Ramgarh off NH20, a 1.5 hour drive. Topshe took the wheel and I shifted to the rear seat to take nap.

I woke up when Topshe was navigating through a very narrow village lane of Sandi, reminding me of the numerous trips I had made through such village roads while dropping or picking up my son from his university, SNU situated on the GT Road, Chithara village.   

We parked nearer to the temple complex in the middle of makeshift vendor stalls, empty but likely to come alive in the evening and walked to the temple complex. The atmosphere was serene and calm in the afternoon with a sound of water flowing in a stream coming from the distance becoming more prominent as we got closer to the temple. What struck us is the ancient structure of the temple blending seamlessly with the surrounding landscape. With anticipation we stepped inside, eager to uncover the stories and legends that had stood the test of time (please read at https://indroyc.com).

Tuti Jharna Temple… Continuous water flowing on the Shiv Linga.

The Tuti Jharna temple is renowned for a fascinating natural phenomenon—water flows continuously over the Shiva Linga, yet no visible source can be found. The mystery has baffled visitors for generations, with no scientific explanation to fully account for it. Some say it’s an underground spring, while others believe it to be a divine marvel. Regardless of the reason, the sight was mesmerizing—the steady flow of water over the ancient Shiva Linga, the rhythmic sound creating an almost meditative atmosphere. Standing there, we couldn’t help but be drawn into the temple’s serene and mystical aura. Whether science had an answer or not, didn’t matter—we were content simply to soak in the divine energy that seemed to permeate the place.

The handpump just outside the temple, water gushing out without any human intervention.

Our next destination was Chhinnamasta Kali Temple situated in Rajrappa, 38 km or 50 minutes’ drive from our location.

Nestled amidst the verdant hills of Jharkhand, the Chhinnamasta Temple in Rajrappa is a popular pilgrimage site for devotees of Shaktism. The temple is dedicated to Goddess Chhinnamasta, also known as Prachanda Chandika, who is revered as the embodiment of power, courage, and wisdom.

The journey to Rajrappa is not just a physical one but also a spiritual voyage through time and nature. The Damodar River, with its broad and flat valley, tells a geological story that spans millions of years. The Bhairavi or Bhera River, cascading from the Ranchi plateau, joins the Damodar, creating a picturesque waterfall and a sacred confluence. This spot, steeped in legend and myth, is where Goddess Chhinnamasta is said to have appeared before Lord Shiva and Parvati. This location has a special significance. It is at the union of Bhairavi nadi (female) coming from the top, meeting Damodar nada (male) signifying vipareeta rati (opposite copulation) pose as described in Devi Chhinnamasta’s dhyana (vipareeta rataturam). Here Bhairavi is active Shakti and Damodar is the male passive member of rati action. Damodar is very calm and Bhairavi is an active member.

Chhinnamasta (ছিন্নমস্তা) temple, dedicated to Goddess Chinnamasta (छिन्नमस्ता), is a marvel of Tantric architecture. Adorned with intricate carvings and sculptures depicting scenes from Hindu mythology, the temple stands as a testament to ancient craftsmanship. The main shrine houses the idol of Goddess Chhinnamasta, bedecked with flowers, jewels, and offerings from devotees. The temple complex also includes smaller shrines dedicated to various deities and a holy pond for ritual cleansing. (Source: Indrosphere, https://Indroyc.com)

My friends, when they came to Ranchi for Judhajit’s (only son of Indrajit & Jagrata) wedding, they missed out visiting the temple due to tremendous rush on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya. However, this time we could actually go inside the Garbha-griha and offer our puja to Maa Chhinnamasta. When the Purohit asked the name of the Jajman, I automatically mentioned “Deepika”, perhaps because she’s the most important person in my life or perhaps I have reached a state of mind where the desires have ceased to exist… I am at peace with my current existence. I know, my friend, Madhav or Keshav is always with me (even when I am writing this) and keep guiding, removing obstacles from my path, like ensuring we could enter the city of Prayagraj, unhindered when many others faced daunting task of walking many miles to the Triveni Sangam. The Supreme One, often tests my resilience too, teaching me valuable lessons of life.

Just to clear doubts from the minds of those reading this, I generally avoid all ritualistic worshipping. I am agnostic by nature and thoughts. I believe, Madhav or the Supreme One is omnipresent in my life by manifesting in the form of friends and family who are wise and full of empathy, always guiding towards the path of Dharma. I am lucky.

After a very satisfying darshan of the Vigraha, we left for our hotel, dropping Indro at his home to freshen up, promising to return after an hour or so to devour another true Bong dinner. We had insisted that we take them out for dinner but Indro sighting the health of Jagrata had turned it down. Moreover, he said that since we are his guests, it is his right to feed us at least one meal a day. We couldn’t argue further and accepted his invite.

Jagrata, dished out another spread of true blue Bong culinary affair consisting of Shukto, Lal Shak-Posto, Sojne Phuler Batichocchori, Lau Chingri, Ilish Machher Jhol (Egg Curry for me), Sada Bhat & Nolen Gurer Rosogolla. Even as I write, my mouth is watering up…

We spent couple hours with them chatting and having a gala time, telling stories of our exploits during our school days and all the merriments we had at the weddings of our sons, Judhajit and Ayush.

DAY TWO (21.02.25)

On our last day in Ranchi, Indro suggested we go to Dassam Falls and then to the 16-Arm Durga Temple popularly known as Prachin Kalin Solah Bhuji Maa Dewri Mandir, through Taimara Ghati.It was a 68km or 1.5-hour journey from Indro’s home through Ranchi Ring Road and then NH33 or TATA Marg. This particular stretch of the road is alleged to be one of the top ten haunted roads of the world. And did we experience anything weird or paranormal?

From the Ranchi Ring Road, we took the exit to NH33 and Indro informed that up ahead, the stretch is known to be haunted though he had never experienced anything spooky. He informed that many travellers have on record said that their watch stopped or their vehicle got stalled in the middle of the road, some even confirmed sighting apparition of a veiled woman clad in white saree. We all became interested and extra alert to spot anything unusual that could be termed spooky. Just to tease my friends, I told them that our watches have suddenly leaped forward from 11:45 to 12 noon. They all checked their watches and were shocked.

Though, Indro had been on this stretch, particularly for Dassam Falls and Dewri Temple and knew the way to both places, the face of the road had changed since his last visit, so we had Google Maps directing us. All was going well when suddenly, the Google Map on the car screen went for a wild dance, it kept re-routing on a single straight road. We thought, it was because of network issue but all the phones showed full strength of the signal. We kept going straight for a while and then the Google Map became alive and directed us to take a u-turn after 3 more km; we had effectively overshot our right turn to Dassam Falls Road by almost 10-12 km. Why it happened, I don’t know, whether it has anything to do with paranormal activity or simply a momentary loss of GPS signal, I leave it to the readers to decide.

The Dassam Falls gets it’s name from the fact that during and after the monsoon, the water falls in 10 different streams from the rock. Dassam Waterfalls, at this time of the year was not the thunderous spectacle as it is during the monsoon, but still held a quiet, undeniable majesty. The water tumbled gracefully down the rugged rocks, splitting into multiple shimmering ribbons that caught the sunlight, creating a mesmerizing display. The verdant backdrop of dense forests framed the falls perfectly, adding to their serene beauty. We spent some time at different viewing platforms taking pictures, going down to the base for the majestic view of the cascading water falling down the rock-face. While coming up, I counted the steps, they are 206 steps from the base to the top surface. A good exercise for the 60-plus youngsters and it called for refreshment as well. We had the orange papaya, a local cultivation and wonderfully ripe n sweet tasting. We also bought Wild Berries (Indian Jujube), 500gm for just Rs.10/-. Coming back home, I made a tangy chutney of it using date-jaggery. We also had freshly made veggie fritters (pakodas) paired with hot masala tea. A family of monkey was following us from base in the hope of getting food but we had none to offer, disappointed they went after a young couple who were having something more interesting for the monkey family. While we were enjoying the fritters a chicken with 5-6 chicks wandered near us pecking at the food they could only see.

Our next destination was the famous Dewri Temple of 16-bhuja Maa Durga. On the way, stopped for a moment at the open roof temple of Maa Kali & Hanuman. The idols were out in the open as if to oversee the travellers on the road below and assure them a safe journey.

In the tranquil outskirts of Tamar, a quaint village nestled along the Jamshedpur-Ranchi Highway, lies a haven of divinity, the Deori Mandir. This sacred abode is home to Maa Deori, the revered sixteen-armed manifestation of Goddess Durga. As I revisit this timeless sanctuary after a prolonged hiatus, memories surge forth, weaving a tapestry of spirituality and folklore. Durga is a warrior goddess, and she is depicted to express her martial skills. Her iconography typically resonates with these attributes, where she rides a lion or a tiger, and has between eight and eighteen hands, each holding a weapon to destroy and create. The main attraction is that the idol is having sixteen hands, normally goddess Durga is seen with eight or ten hands. At the heart of Deori Mandir lies its pièce de résistance – the idol of Goddess Durga, bedecked with sixteen resplendent arms. This unique portrayal, deviating from the conventional depictions, exudes an aura of martial prowess and divine grace. Legends intertwined with the temple’s existence narrate sagas from epochs past, tracing its origins to the era of the Mahabharata.

Among the myriad narratives enshrined within its ancient walls, one resonates with the valour of Emperor Ashoka (Reigned ca. 268 – ca. 232 BCE) and his entreaty for divine intervention during the Kalinga War (ca. 260 BCE). The saga of a visionary king, stirred by celestial dreams, unveils the temple’s hidden sanctum amidst dense foliage, echoing the whims of destiny and devotion. According to folklore, a king of Tamar, believed to be in the 18th century,  once saw a dream. The goddess told him that there was a temple in Deori, where she must be worshipped. Villagers, as directed by the king, cleared a forested patch to find a small temple with a stone statue of Durga. Ever since the deity is worshipped here.

Legend has it that whoever has tried to alter the structure of the temple has had to face the wrath of the gods and suffer consequences. Therefore, new construction is being done from outside keeping the original temple intact. (Source: Indrosphere, https://indroyc.com)

There was market place just outside the temple courtyard where the aboriginal or Adivasis from the nearby villages gathered to sell their produce. The veggies were absolutely fresh from the farm and many kinds of greens which I had never seen before. They were selling different kinds of lentils too, unpolished, unadulterated besides superfoods like quinoa and millets. I bought the Arhaar Dal and raw Turmeric from a lady. Sudipta was still drooling over the Lau-Chingri and Sojne phuler Chocchori, she bought both to take back home and surprise the children with culinary delights.

On our way back, we stopped at roadside restaurant, Panchvati Restaurant, near the Surya Temple, Bundu,primarily to use the restroom and have tea. As I was parking the Jeep, I saw a signage that said “Desi Bakre ka Mans Milta Hai Yahan” meaning Country Goat Meat available here. This intrigued me because, I have heard of “desi murga” as opposed to “broiler chicken” but didn’t know that such differentiation exists in the mutton category as well. Indro checked at the counter and we ordered for two plates of that with Tanduri Roti besides onion pakodas and tea. Whether it was a native or foreign goat, the mutton preparation was delicious with succulent, melt-in-the-mouth pieces of soft mutton. We thoroughly enjoyed the food and the break.

One of Pulak’s cousin lives in Ranchi whom he wanted to meet even if briefly, so on our way to the hotel, we dropped him in Doranda, a populous locality of Ranchi, very close to the MECON Housing Society famous for the residence of M S Dhoni, ex-captain of Indian Cricket Team on who’s life a biographical movie was made few years ago. Indro showed us the flat where he lived besides the school he attended and the football ground where he intended to become a footballer before destiny made him one of the iconic cricketers of this century.

We reached back to our hotel after dropping Indro to his home. After freshening up, I packed my stuff keeping the nightwear and a fresh set of clothes for our long journey to Varanasi enroute to home. Thereafter, putting my phone to charge, I took a quick nap before Gora came in to say it was time to visit Indro’s home for another dinner, this time prepared by his son, Judha and daughter-in-law, Tania. In effect, he had ensured we always have a home-cooked meal, at least once a day during our stay in Ranchi, besides ensuring we don’t spend any money on dinner.

The culinary spread, once again, a glorious spread of traditional Bengali delicacies, laced with the love and affection of the chef and simplicity of home-cooked delish. The fragrant Basanti Pulao, with its saffron-hued grains and subtle sweetness, paired with Guri Aloor Torkari, a tangy, mildly spicy and flavourful dry small potato curry (Jagrata’s creation). This was followed by the aromatic brilliance of Murg Kalimirch with creamy gravy with a hint of black pepper that tingled in your mouth, a delightful dish by Chef Judhajit. The hearty meal was rounded off by my favourite Lal Mishti Doi, it’s creamy and mesmerising taste of Nolen Gur kept lingering in our mouth long after our meal was done with.

More than the dinner, it was a celebration of friendship, shared histories, and the irreplaceable joy of gathering around a table filled with good food and great company. No restaurant, no matter how fancy, could ever match the warmth of a homecooked meal. I am sure, we all will remember our Ranchi Reunion as the epitome of Dil, Dosti & Yaarana till our last breath. We can never put to words our feelings of gratitude for Indro, Jagrata, Judhajit and Tania for the love and affection they showered on us throughout our stay in Ranchi.

We bade them adieu and prepared our long journey back home, halting overnight at BHEL Guesthouse in Varanasi. The journey back home was uneventful except the usual culprit being the NH19 right from Sasaram to Varanasi till we took the exit to the city only to face unruly, erratic traffic, typically UP. The final leg of journey was smooth ride via Purvanchal Expressway, Lucknow-Agra Expressway and finally Yamuna Expressway to Greater Noida and then home after dropping my friends at New Ashok Nagar.  

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Customer Service

In the recent times, two of the iconic restaurants of Kolkata, namely 6 Ballygunge Place & Arsalan have opened their branch in Delhi and I have visited both these places. The former is famous for the typical Bengali cuisine offering in a fine dining ambience while the Biriyani of the latter is to die for.

I being a lifelong marketing-advertising person, I believe the customer is the king/queen. The customer is always right even if he/she is not, you have to accept that they are right. That’s how the business runs and flourishes. Some of the organisation goes extra miles to satisfy their customers. One example I would like to mention here… While visiting my son and daughter-in-law in Bangalore, I realised they don’t have an appropriate utensil to cook 1kg of mutton, so after consulting my wife I ordered for a 3ltr Prestige Pressure Cooker from Blinkit. However, on receipt, I found it to be significantly small for the purpose and I need at least a 5ltr capacity pressure cooker. I called up the customer care and explained the issue. They readily accepted and refunded the money and asked me to choose and buy from the app. They could have refused the return as I had made a conscious choice but they showed empathy with their customer and won my allegiance for life.

Coming back to the restaurants, I found 6 Ballygunge Place, Eldeco Centre, next to Malaviya Nagar Metro station, New Delhi to be very friendly, warm place where one can go back any number of times. The staff is knowledgeable, ready to help with suggestions and prompt with service. The food is, of course very delicious and authentic and the menu has a wide range to choose from. The management and staff of the place keep their customer in high esteem and go miles to satisfy their needs and wants. No wonder that you have to make prior bookings most of the days for lunch or dinner, as their covers are mostly 100% occupied.

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In stark contrast is Arsalan Restaurant, recently opened in Rajouri Garden, New Delhi… I visited the outlet yesterday with my dear friend Santanu Basu. Both of us are familiar with the restaurant in Kolkata having dined as well as packed the Biriyani and curries from their Park Circus and EMP Bypass outlets. These outlets, despite heavy footfalls have always won our appreciation for quality of food as well as service. However, their Delhi outlet has miles to go to earn the badges. When we went there, we were asked to upstairs by the lady at the front desk without specifying the floor, neither made any effort to guide us; we decided to check both first and second floors. Luckily for us, we found seating on the first floor itself which had only one other table occupied by a couple. The air-conditioning wasn’t switched on near our table, not a single staff was visible to even offer the menu. I found one lying on the next table and took it. After almost 15 minutes, a steward came with another menu but then we had decided our dishes and placed our order. Another 10-15 minutes passed before we were served, we had asked for a full plate of Biriyani to be served half n half (the Park Circus outlet served us when a dozen of us visited the place for dining) but the guy came with a full plate of Biriyani and an empty plate. He started clumsily to divide it into two portions and I had to stop him because he was spilling the food on the table. We asked for Coke Zero and Regular Coke but was served Diet Coke instead. Overall, the staff gave out a feeling that they are not interested in their job, they don’t love what they are supposed to do and perhaps shall do the minimum to keep their job. We asked the steward for suggestions about the curry, instead of recommending, he simply ranted out the menu. I was looking for some human touch and empathy not a robotic server.

There is no doubt that their chefs are class apart when it comes to cooking Biriyani, it is flavourful, non-spicy with succulent mutton pieces, melt in mouth potatoes and egg. We ordered for a plate of Quorma to go with the Biriyani, it was more of a regular curry than Quorma. Santanu and I, both agreed that the Quorma we had at Al Jawahar Restaurant at Jam Masjid was far tastier and more flavourful. And yes, that’s another restaurant we will go back because of friendly services.

We packed some dishes for back home, which were packed nicely in an expensive jute bag, how long they will giveaway this complimentary jute bag, that’s a question. In Kolkata, they pack in polybags only as a standard packaging and does a double packing if it is to be taken on a train or airplane.

In conclusion, I think, food industry is highly competitive and complex business because, it not has to cater to the taste buds but needs to up their customer service to ensure repeat footfall.