খড়কুটো - বিমল কর

ভ্রমর আর অমল, আর তাদের একটি সাধারণ গল্প। কিন্তু সেই সাধারণ গল্পই যেন কখন অসাধারণ হয়ে উঠেছে, আর সেখানেই বিমল করের লেখার সার্থকতা!!!

একটি মেয়ে যে মাকে হারিয়েছে সেই কোন ছোটবেলায়, মার স্মৃতি তার কাছে খুবই আবছা, একটা ভীষণ দুঃখ, মা খুব দুঃখে ছিলেন, বাবার যেন সব সময়ই মনে হয়েছে যে তিনি মাকে বিয়ে করে খুব ভুল করেছেন। আর ভ্রমর সেও তো কম দুঃখী ছিলনা ! বাবা তাকে মামার বাড়ি পাঠিয়ে হিমানীমা কে  বিয়ে করেছিলেন আর তার সাথে আপন করে নিয়েছিলেন  হিমানীমার্ মেয়ে কৃষ্ণাকেও। ভ্রমর কোনোদিনও বাবা বা হিমানিমায়ের বিচার করেননি। কারণ মা বাবার বিচার করা যায়না । হিমানিমার কাছে ভালোবাসা সে কোনোদিনও পাইনি।

এই সময় অমলই ছিল একজন যে তাকে ভালোবাসা কি তা জানতে শিখিয়েছিলো। অমলই ছিল একজন যে ভ্রমরকে বেঁচে থাকার আশা জাগিয়েছিল। আর তাই তাকে অবলম্বন করে বাঁচতে চেয়েছিল ভ্রমর। এভাবেই খড়কুটো দিয়ে ঘর বাঁধতে চেয়ে ছিল ভ্রমর।

কিন্তু তার অসুখ আর অসুস্থতাই অমলকে এক অনিশ্চয়ত ভবিষ্যতের দিকে এগিয়ে নিয়ে যাচ্ছিলো। কিন্তু ভ্রমরের আশ্বাস ছিল সে ফিরবেই অমলের কাছে।

বইটিতে এক অদ্ভুত রোমাঞ্চ আছে। অমল আর ভ্রমরের ভালোবাসার রোমাঞ্চ।  এক ভীষণ দুঃখ আছে। সব সময়ই যেন মনে হচ্ছিলো ভ্রমরের যেন কিছু না হয়। ভ্রমর যেন ভালো থাকে। বইটির মাঝখান থাকতে থাকতেই শেষ পাতাটা পড়েছিলাম। শুধু এইটুকু জানতে যে ভ্রমর ভালো আছে...

রবীন্দ্রনাথ এবং রবীন্দ্রনাথ - পূর্ণানন্দ চট্টোপাধ্যায়

রবীন্দ্রনাথ, তাঁকে নিয়ে যতই পড়া যায়, তার অনেক বেশিটাই যেন সব সময় বাকি থেকে যায়। তাই হঠাৎ করে এই বইটি যখন হাতে এসে পরল, তখন আর লোভ সংবরণ করতে পারলাম না।
এই বইটিতে খুব সুন্দর ভাবে রবীন্দ্রনাথ এর জীবনের বিভিন্ন পর্যায়, ঠাকুর বাড়ির আতিথেয়তা, খাদ্য রসিক রবীন্দ্রনাথ, ঠাকুরবাড়ির বিভিন্ন পত্রপত্রিকা, রবীন্দ্রনাথ আর তাঁর খামখেয়ালিতে গড়ে তোলা বিভিন্ন সভার এক বর্ণময় বিবরণ রয়েছে। বিদ্দজ্জন সমাগম, সারস্বত সমাজ, খামখেয়ালি সভা ইত্যাদি। তবে এই সবের কোনো কিছুই স্থায়ী হয়নি।
রবীন্দ্রনাথের বিভিন্ন ছদ্মনামের অন্তরালে বিভিন্ন রচনা প্রকাশ, ছদ্মনাম সমালোচনা লেখা, তাঁর রচিত কাল্পনিক কিন্তু বাস্তবিক চরিত্র হ চ হ এবং শ্রীমতি হে, কিভাবে ভানুসিংহ টমাস "Chatterton" থেকে অনুপ্রাণিত, তাঁর নোবেল পাওয়া, তাঁর পরিকল্পিত গদ্য সংকলন, যা অপ্রকাশিতই থেকে গেছে। কিভাবে তাঁর জন্মদিনে বৃক্ষ রোপন উৎসবের সূচনা হয়েছিল আর পরে প্রতি ২২ শে শ্রাবন এবং আজও ২২ শে শ্রাবন বৃক্ষ রোপন উৎসব পালন হয়।
শুধু একটাই আক্ষেপ যে এই বই টি অনেক কৌতূহলী তত্ত্বের সন্ধান দিলেও কোথাও যেন সেই সব তত্ত্বের গভীরতা অর্জন করা যায়নি। সেই বিষয় গুলো সম্মন্ধ্যে জানার আরো আগ্রহ জাগাতে এবইটির সার্থকতা।

Trip to Hogenakkal

From stressful life, we always try to get some fresh air, relieve and enjoy serene beauty in tranquil place of country side; there comes Hogenakkal - so we planned for it on the day of Udagi - The Telegu New Year. When the water falls on the rocks it appears as if hoge (smoke in Kannada) is emanating from the top of the kal ( means rock ) because of the force of the water, that’s Hogenakkal (smoking rocks).(From wikipedia). As not being very much familiar with tamil name, initially I was pronunciating as "Hogenikal" - my pronunciation changed after seeing name on the direction board for the first time.

We started from Bangalore around 6:30 am, the driving was smooth and exciting as road is full of flyovers. From Bangalore, we took hosur road, sun rise was awesome as it is being viewed as fireball from the newly created hosur rd flyover. From hosur, we took few more fly overs to reach Krishnagiri - Black colour rocks. From Krishnagiri, we reached Dharmapuri. The road side view was very nice as it was full of greens. As being hungry and thirsty for a cup of cappuchino, we searched for CCD. Alas; we had to quench our thirst for a cappuchino with Rs 5/- coffee in a road side tea/coffee shop. From Dharmapuri, again we started for our destination Hogenakkal - The smoking rocks. There were 2/3 police chekpost before entering Taminadu. As being a Bengali, we had to break our patience to make tamil police man understand that "We are coming from Bangalore and going to see Hogenakkal". One guy was suddenly knocking the glass of the car window once we reached Hogenakkal. Suprising he was giving me a coupon for car parking of the car while entering Hogenakkal. I was trying to make him understand with my all possible deaf and dumb Tamil gesture but I couldn't. Luckily one guy came and saved us. We immediately went for the boating after reaching Hogenakkal. The boats were different from Normal one. It looked like the boat that has been used in "Roja" movie. It looked like a bath-tub for babies and very strong enough to carry 10 people in one go. The local people call this as "PARISAL". In Hogenakkal, lot of waterfalls have been created as river Kaveri falls from the oldest rocks. The sailor took the boat near the main waterfalls and tried to give a feeling as "mid of the mist", the natural cave and finally to the island. Hungry and thirsty poeple was able to quench their thirst from the floating shop while enjoying the scenic beauty of kaveri. In the island, local housewives were frying fresh fish and selling them. As being a non-vegetarian, I could get and taste of the fresh fish. The taste was awesome. After waiting for few more time in island in scorching heat, we came back by “Parisal”. There was a hanging bridge to give a top view of the waterfalls also and it was really nice. Near the hanging bridge and under one small falls, one bathing place has been created artificially to give the feel of "Cave of the wind"

Then it was time to come back to Bangalore but this one day trip and smoky rock was gave us immense pleasure and we could enjoy a lott.

Dooars Travel Guide

With innumerable streams and rivers, lush greenery, dense fog, enchanting mountain views and series of national parks, dooars has something unique to offer to everyone. Dooars is also a home of a number of rare endangered species of animals like tigers, rhinoceros and elephants. With extremely inexpensive local food and reasonably-priced accommodation, it's no wonder a popular destination among travelers. A single visit is not enough as dooars region is about 30 km (19 mi) wide and stretches over about 350 km (220 mi) from the Teesta River in West Bengal to the Dhanshiri River in Assam. As this is our first trip to Dooars, we could cover only bit of Samsing Valley and Lataguri.

Top things to do and see: 

1. Take a short break in Gajoldoba Teesta Barrage.

Teesta Barrage is one of the largest irrigation projects in the entire eastern region of West Bengal. 

2. Stay in one of the best government accommodations in Dooars

Mouchuki Camp, situated on the periphery of Neora Valley National Park is one of the best place to stay in Dooars.

3. Trek in Neora Valley National Park

Giant Trees, hidden Leopards & Leeches, dense bamboo groves make Neora Valley National Park adventurous place for the nature lovers/trekkers.

4. Click some nice snaps in Rockey Mountain

5. Spend an hour in Gorumara National Park

Either Jungle Safari can be taken or Indian rhinoceros can be spotted from watch towers in Gorumara national park. The park is situated in Lataguri and gypsy safari can be taken to visit various places in the national park like Jatraprasad, Chukchuki, Medla, Chandrachur and Chapramari. 

Typical Costs: 

Accommodation:

There are many government resorts in Dooars. Accommodation cost including food(breakfast, lunch and dinner) is generally in the range of Rs - 2700/- - 3500/- per day. There are many private hotel, resorts too especially near tourist spots like Rockey Mountains, Gorumara National Park and all are in the budgets. 

Food: 

Local food is extremely cheap. Local food includes Maggi, Noodles, Momo, Thuppa etc. Most of the resorts package includes breakfast, lunch and dinner, however if you want to eat outside, it will cost you around Rs - 500/- per meal. 

Transportation: 

You can either go by flight or by train to Dooars. If you are going by flight, you need to reach Bagdogra Airport and from there, you need to take a taxi to reach your destination. If you are going by train, you need to reach to New Jalpaiguri and from there, you need to take taxi to reach your hotel or resort. From New Jalpaiguri to Samsing Valley in taxi (Innova) generally costs Rs - 4000/-. Transportation cost is slightly higher compare to accommodation and food because of the nature of the roads. 

How to Book

West Bengal government resorts can be booked from below link -

https://northbengaltourism.com/dooars-tour/

Mouchuki Camp can be booked from below link -

https://wbsfda.gov.in/Protected_Pages/FRST_CTZ_Booking_Lodge.aspx?stpg=1

Serene Sri Lanka - Sri Lanka Diary

Sri Lanka, one of the neighboring countries of India, was there in the bucket list for long time and Christmas vacation was the perfect time for ticking that off from the bucket list. To make a hassle free trip, we had booked the trip with Thomas Cook. There were initially some inconveniences with Thomas cook, however everything got sorted out later. We got ETA (Electronic Travel Authorization) online for three of us to avoid the queue in Colombo. 

We started our journey from Bangalore on 23^rd Dec and reached Colombo at around 2:00 AM of 24^th Dec 2016 and greeted by Mr. Jai Thilak from Luxe Asia at the airport. He was a punctual polite 63 years guide of us for next 4 days and the witness of all the adventures. After approaching to the Banks & Thomas Cook desk at airport to convert INR to LKR, much to our surprise, got to know that INR could not be converted to LKR legally. Really!!! So the trip started with zero cash and with one debit and one credit card (activated internationally). Finally reached Slivas Beach Hotel, Negombo at 3 AM.  

Day 1 - Day 1 in Sri Lanka started with healthy English breakfast and met our fellow travel mates – such a wonderful folks. Started our Journey for Kandy which had been declared as a world heritage site by UNESCO in 1988. Journey from Colombo to Kandy was awesome. Sri Lanka looked like cleaned India with slight variations. It has autos with various colors - Yellow, green, red, black etc. After observing the autos for long time, finally we could boil down that color depends on makers :-) We still could not crack the logic of the car number plates. Another significance difference is that SriLankan are not so fascinated with movies as we could hardly see any posters.  

We stopped near by some road side shop on our way to Kandy and our great guide lent us 1000 LKR to have some refreshments :-(. We also had lunch at Royal Rest House (Peradeniya). Rich, spicy, tasty food but not much veg options. Unexpectedly Green Jackfruit curry (every bong’s favorite as it tastes like meat:-)) was there in the buffet! Kandy is famous for its jewelry. So was our next destination – “Sifani Jewellers”. We had an opportunity to see an awesome video which elaborated the ritual how jewelry search process begins in sea and total Jewelry extraction process.  Even today, they follow all the rituals which began centuries ago.

Our next destination was Kandyan Art and Crafts Industrial center. Prices are exorbitant in both the places e.g price of one lungi is 5000 LKR (2500 INR). We didn’t buy anything. Even if I would have bought, my dad would not have worn and would have kept like a memento. Finally the best thing was waiting for us - Kandyan dance. Being a Kathak dancer for 12 years, I know it's hard to get pleased with something very easily but yes, it was really mesmerizing.
Ultimately we reached our hotel "Yo Yo" by skipping the view point after totally getting exhausted after a day long journey. But that was not the end as it was 24th night. Dinner with DJ was waiting for us :-D. 

Day 2 - Day 2 started with again English breakfast but we were hopeful that we would definitely get Sri Lankan breakfast one day. We started our journey with missed view point. How we get restaurants in Kolkata and liquor shops in Kerala, we could find out same number of statues of Buddha in SriLanka, it is there in every corner, every street, every lane, top of every mountain/hill, bank of every river. 

On the same line, our next destination was Temple of the tooth which houses, the relic of the tooth of the Buddha. Though not being so religious, (as my husband and son were not at all interested), I was planning to enter into the temple in spite of huge rush as I might not be able to come back to Sri Lanka again. Entrance and exit were not as organized as Tirupati (going by the suggestion by fellow Indian Travelers as I have not personally visited Tirupati) nevertheless finally we entered. However all of us had no clue why we entered and what we were planning to see as there was separate pass (we got general pass and was not having any clue that it would only helped us to enter into the temple and would not allowed to see relic of the tooth) required to see the relic of the tooth. 

Our next destination was Oak Ray Wood carvings. It got various wood work and garments. This is the only place where you can exchange LKR with INR.

Next we headed towards Susantha Spice and Herbal Garden, Ganethenna, Hingula. It had various plants starting from Clove, cinnamon, cardamom and so on. It had many Ayurveda medicines, however everything was very expensive. They offered nice neck messages for all of us. 

Finally the best one was Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. We got so lucky that we didn't miss elephants taking bath in river. Finally could had some snacks near a restaurant near the river at almost 5:00 PM. Surprisingly all shops near the river gets closed once elephants go back to orphanage after taking bath. This orphanage has around 65 elephants in age from newborns to elderly matriarchs and include orphan, abandon and injured in the wild. Lastly it was time to go back to Colombo. After some long drive 4 –5 hours (approximate), we finally reached to GSH hotel at Colombo at night around 9:00 PM. 

                                                                                                       
Day 3 - Day started with awesome Panjabi Breakfast as it seems GSH is Panjabi hotel. We started our journey to Bentota. 

First was boat trip on Madu River. That's a very big river which meets the sea at Balapitiya. There were many small islands like Cinnamon Island and so many. In Cinnamon Island, we got to know entire extraction process of cinnamon, there were floating shops on the river, fish spa. Even we could spot two crocodiles during the trip. It took generally one and half hour for the river trip. This river trip was providing us a feeling of Amazon River trip. 

After the river trip, it was time to see some turtles in Arun & Aman turtle conservation & research centre, Galle Road, Duwemodara, Kosgoda, Srilanka. They take care of all the turtles which come out of sea because of illness. 

After that we went to Sunshone water sports center which offers Snorkeling & diving, Surfing, windsurfing, water skiing, canoeing, banana ride and unfortunately none of us did anything as we don’t know swimming :-((

We had lunch at Amal Villa, Bentota. It seemed to be a very famous and popular restaurant and hotel. This is the best place for the people who want to see live cooking of sea animals. 

Our final destination for day 3 was beach and witnessed Sunset. We had a blast on sea beach. Beach was very clean, however there was no shops, restaurants nearby. 

Day 4 - 

City tour was planned on Day 4. However as our guide ditched us, we had to wait for long time to get another guide from Luxe Asia.

Our day 4 journey started with visiting Dehiwala Zoo. It has around 3000 animals. That zoo is so so big that we could not completely visit that.
After having a quick lunch, we started the real city tour. Colombo city exactly looks like downtown, so many buildings, so many banks, I could spot even Accenture there. 

And then final thing was street shopping. It’s awesome and same as Esplanade. Really loved it. 

With this, our four days trip got ended and it was time to come back. Apart from visiting two new cities, we got to know two new families, Aaron got a new friend (Rashmi) and we three could spend 24 hours together :-D

My Chennai Diary

I traveled to Chennai many times in the past due to official work but actually never explored the city. Luckily this time (27th June - 1st July) got some opportunity to know the city and write a blog after that. While waiting in the Bangalore Airport for our flight with a kid who was not ready to sit at one place for 2 minutes, had to go through the shops at the airport and discovered "Mogu Mogu" Juice there. This juice is little different from other bottled juice. This juice comes with nata de coco bits. Nata de coco, is a chewy, gel-like food product that is sourced from coconut and is known for its high fiber, low fat and zero cholesterol content. "Mogu Mogu" was really awesome and became everyone's favorite by the time we completed our Chennai trip. 

It was heavily raining when we reached Chennai. We booked pre-paid taxi and it took almost 40 minutes to locate the taxi stand. Everybody was giving his own direction. Eventually when we found taxi stand, it was a very long queue. After 15 minutes of standing there, finally got the taxi and reached the pre-booked hotel "Oriental Inn". The specialty of this hotel is that it is located in the heart of the City. Two famous restaurants(Copper Chimney and China Town) are there in the same building. Otherwise, this is just okay kind of hotel. Had awesome food in the night at Copper Chimney again after long queue as it seemed entire Chennai residents were there that day at Copper Chimney :-) :-)

As it was too hot in the day time, we could visit only one beach(Besant Nagar Beach) on second day (28th Jun) and it was awesome. This was Aaron's (my son) first visit to sea and he was astonished. 

Here are some pics. 

As it was too hot in Chennai, we had planned to visit only malls and restaurants. We had visit Chennai Central mall third day (29th June) and had dinner at Saravana Bhavan. Saravana Bhavan is authenticate and famous restaurant in Chennai. This has it's branches in entire world. 
Fourth day was really special as it was our 9th Anniversary and we planned to have anniversary lunch at SALT restaurant in Forum Vijaya Mall which got 4.5 out of 5 rating in Zomato. SALT didn't spoil our expectation and it got exceeds all expectations. It's signature dish is Biriyani and here is some glimpses of that. 

Finally it was 5th day (1st Jul) and time to come back to Bangalore and learning and discoveries kept continued. While waiting at the Chennai, learnt about a new city Thoothukudi. This is Salt Capital of Tamilnadu. Got Bombardier Q400 by Spice Jet to travel back to Bangalore and Got some Spellbound clicks of Clouds and Sky as it was a sunny day. 

And my last click for this trip. 

West Bengal Tourism had appointed a new agency to promote West Bengal.