Kolkata trip

Thougt of sharing my trip to kolkata  in my voice unlike Tagore :)

which was pending from long time wn sriji invited me an yr back...anyway(SW life) doesn't give that flexi ri8? but this time its my childhood buddy Siva n Sriji marriage and i don't have enuf excuses :)..

As like every sw engg i was googling to get tickets wn date was approaching to get my travel..after a lot of search i decided to take an expensive flight trip (i saw the same for very less but@tht time i was still waiting fr my leave approval)...

Guess the date? its 1st Jan 2011 a chilled morning and my fli8 @6.40am but due to bad weather i had to wait for 90 more mins to take off..i saw ranji team@airport including utappa n others..

sriji directions:

I tried my luck n finally i kept traveling in Volvo bus to airport--> flight to kolkata--> old yellow ambassador cab to howrah-->NO space for standing local train to kholaghat--> finally a legacy manual pully rickshaw to her home OMG! i couldn't believe did i miss any other stand modes of transport? yes boat i opted out bcoz sriji told i hav to hold my nose ti8 if i come in cruise from Howrah

Quick bytes:

I heard so much abt kolkata from sriji n my co passenger rohit in fli8..while fli8 abt to land i had a glimpse of packed kolkata from sky but somhw from far i felt similar to my town..greenish n shabby building wid so many ponds (I want to try fish here for sure)..

Reaching venue:

old buildings aged trees on their walls too:)

its time i rushed out of airport n shocked to get a cab(1hr travel) for <200rs a usual city bus ticket cost in blore..here it comes an old vroooming yellow ambassador manual lock n windows n headed to Howrah station..tried to click few snaps from my iphone

Here r my thoughts in my mind wn i saw first time "Am i back to 1940s??" :( old tram on the road, big buildings on the road but they aren’t painted for years, trees grown on walls, manual rickshaw, small wood made city buses, my cabbie going banging on the narrowest roads..thr i saw ppl eating, bathing on the road side and whistling to girls in "mini skirts" on the same road STOP! wats ths?????????

Tram on roads

Words from heart:

Yes blame to govt but people r quite modernized atleast girls here are modern:) ..but to be frank wat I felt was like an old malgodi film remember the title song ”taa na na na” ri8 I feel Kolkata still preserve the Old India heritage and I realized soon not just the town people here are still India’s goldies.. underneath the minis and jeans stil people are preserving good hearted Indians…wow! I wish I want to go back to past to get the human values n I totally came back from techie to aam admi :P I didn’t use my phone almost fr my stay 5 days here..

howrah station

Finally after reaching Howrah I took a local train n I don’t have place to stand n ppl r having fun listening  to guys selling ri8 from toys,fud,buks,til medicines al costs less thn 20-30rs “Error! These rates r not found elsewr I guess”.After crossing a big bridge over a river I got dwn in a village station ”kolaghat” my frnd siva waiting fr me thr,he made me sit in a rickshaw it’s a village less thn a km radius on river bed..whil I travel ppl gaze us like a foreigner coming to town..u know ppl ask wats meaning of internet here but they adopted technology keeping it in old style meaning sugarcane crushers on a rickshaw,electric rice cooker wid steam,open flat rickshaw attached to a 100cc mopid to serve like an auto etc..

Gud to back in such a village for sure its too cold I had to wear socks,gloves and jackets al the time we wnt for shopping sandals n couldn’t find so calledd Branded came back buyin chappals fr <100rs ..

Marriage:

Sriji n siva dressed apt in Bengali style lukd so pretty n traditions r so close to telugu except a few like they blew “shanka” fr blessings n make diff kinds of sound frm mouth n some of kinds of instruments which is forgotten and replaced wid baraat bands in other places.Funny thing is Video camera guy carries power flex board to his hip to get power to flash..ha ha ha..

Food is really great wn   I discussed wid srijis mom before marriage I was guessing items but here comes prawns,mutton,chicken fish probably only these creatures r favorites here everything in menu


I  forgot no meal goes here without rasagulla or misti,fish n here al time favorite snacks “Muri”

 




Sightseeing:

i visited Victoria memorial went to shopping in national market had a glimpse of eden gardens,lake view hotels,museum , i went to fair enjoyed rides n hot jilebi n traveled in subway finally on 5th ni8 i returned to airport

Sendoff:

siva n sriji r heading to US so may nt meet again in years..we all shared coke to sendoff..all of sudden sriji broke into tears n shades of gloominess spreaded all over i was feeling as if i am traveling abroad n though i went inside.. still they both waited outside the airport at glass mirrors n finally gave hand fingers(As i am inside airport handshake not possible :( no gap in walls n mirrors but sriji found a place to sneak in her fingers.. i said bye to my buddies from the other side itself..headed to my seat in fli8 wr i travel back alone wid loads of memories ....though this post seems too big i hope for years i want to save this moment.. things in life mi8 look small and we tend to forget over the time but writings like this make me go back to my days n playback them wn i miss them most

.Adieu ...All the best siva n sriji n both parents who shared their love unconditionally n made my trip memorable..n u knw? i have big kids following team thr n  kuttus(srijis cousin) gave best company for entire trip lov u team...