Rediscovering Gangtok

Undoubtedly, Satyajit Ray's "Feluda" stories have been instrumental in making Gangtok, Darjeeling, Jaisalmer and many other places immensely popular among Bengalis. My 10 year old son listens to Feluda stories daily, so I thought it would be super-exciting for him to go to Gangtok. I also wanted to let him experience natural snow that had left us awestruck during our previous visit...14 years ago.

22nd February, 2025 - An easy ride

An exciting part of our plan was to board the Easy Ride bus, which we all have been longing for. 

The Easy Ride bus not only looks beautiful from outside, but it indeed provides a luxurious ride with smart TV and headset attached to every seat. The twin seat upper berth is really spacious.

Our Bus had arrived 45 mins late, but we reached Siliguri on time at 7:45 a.m.

23rd February, 2025 - That Bihari Man

Holiday Besties had arranged a cab which was waiting for us at Siliguri. We boarded the cab and set off for Gangtok. On the way, we stopped at the Abhinaya restaurant on NH-10 to have breakfast. The restaurant had clean toilet, which was much needed after a long bus ride.

At the restaurant, a funny thing happened. A Bihari man missed the toilet sign and decided to relieve himself outside. When the caretaker protested, he argued threateningly without realising his own mistake.

23rd February, 2025 - Sparrow Cherry

Anyways, we continued our journey to Gangtok alongside the Teesta river. On the way, we noticed that the Rangpo bridge that separates West Bengal and Sikkim, had become much wider. We also crossed a long tunnel that was well lit with Indian flag colors.

We reached Gangtok at 12 noon. Our hotel, "Sparrow Cherry Resort" was near the West Point mall and a staircase away from the MG Marg.

We had lunch at the Agarwal's restaurant and then went to MG Marg, which is the "mall road" of Gangtok. Sweaters and jackets are quite cheap at the MG Marg market, and we did a lot of shopping.

In the evening, it rained heavily for some time and brought the temperature down by several degrees. We had dinner in the hotel itself.

24th February, 2025 - Following Feluda

The next morning was amazing. It was bright and sunny, and we could see the Kanchenjunga right from our window. 

We clicked many pictures but none could capture the beauty that our eyes could see.

We had local sightseeing planned for the day. Our cab arrived sharp at 8:30 a.m. We visited quite a few nearby places, such as Tashi View Point, Ganesh Tok, Hanuman Tok, and Enchey Monastery. We also had a ropeway ride, which my son liked a lot. In the end, we visited the "Snow View" hotel where Feluda had stayed.

The weather was very pleasant, so we visited MG Marg again and had lunch at the posh "Sher e Punjab" restaurant. The food was really good there. 

24th February, 2025 - The Impediments 

Though we were liking everything about Gangtok, our main intention like many other tourists, was to experience snow.

During our previous visit, we had experienced snow in the month of April. So, this time I was anticipating snow even more, as it was only Feb-end. However, I was not aware of the impediments.

Firstly, to visit the snowy areas (Changu and Nathula), tourists are now required to show their voter card; Adhaar card is not accepted.

Secondly, the authorities have become much more restrictive now. They provide passes to Changu and Nathula only if the roads are completely safe.

25th February, 2025 - Blessing in Disguise 

During our local sightseeing, we learnt from our cab driver that due to the previous day's rainfall, the passes were not given that day. So, we kept our fingers crossed and hoped that we will be luckier. However, the Almighty had other plans.

It again rained a bit in the evening, bringing the temperature further down. My son could not tolerate the change and became unwell at night. The next morning we learnt that passes were not given. We were upset and thankful at the same time as my son had still not recovered. That day, we couldn't go anywhere.

26th February, 2025 - Snowy Success

It was checkout time. We were upset that we couldn't experience snow, but then the good news came. The authorities had given permission to go up to a point near Changu.

We packed ourselves in our hottest jackets and woolycots, and set off in search of snow at 8:15 am. As we left Gangtok downhill, the view started improving a million times. The entire Kanchenjunga range was all out in the open under the bright sun. We were getting late, but still stopped by to click a few pictures.

The road to Changu had become much wider than what we had seen last. With snow on both sides of the road, it looked extremely inviting. 

We stopped at a local shop to rent shoes and buy gloves. After a few more kilometres of twists and turns through the snow-covered millitary colonies, we reached our peak point. 

It wasn't Changu, it wasn't Nathula but it was probably even more prettier. There was snow; there were pine trees, snow covered rocks, streams of clear water, and of course the Yaks. Above all, we felt the joy of success.

We clicked innumerable pictures in various poses and played with snow, trying to capture the beauty of the place in our eyes and in our mobile phones. We spent around 30 minutes in the picturesque environment. 

We didn't feel like leaving the place so early, but the crowd was increasing and my son started having difficulty in breathing. Getting back from there was much more difficult as hundreds of vehicles had entered by then, making the road narrow. It took us 3 hours to reach Gangtok and another 5 hours to reach Siliguri.

26th February, 2025 - Happy Ending 

We stayed at a hotel near NJP railway station. We were exhausted and happy at the same time. We spent the evening selecting the best pictures from the good ones, and updated our WhatsApp status, making our contacts jealous and probably inspiring a few to visit Gangtok on their next vacation.

27th February, 2025 - Snow to Sweat

We boarded the Shatabdi Express at NJP. The train left the station sharp at 5:30 a.m and reached Howrah station at 1:30 p.m. At Howrah, we were surprised to see that prepaid taxi has been replaced by Yatri Sathi. We booked a Uber cab and came across another suprise, but let's save that story for another post.

End Credits

This blog won't be complete without a heartfelt "Thank You" note to our cheerful cab driver Dhan Bahadur Tamang (mobile number - 7863958301), who made sure that we didn't leave Gangtok without experiencing snow, and accommodated our random demands, like following Feluda's footsteps to the Snow View hotel.

 

The Unlocked Phuchkas

Phuchkas are undoubtedly one of the most mouth-watering snacks that we get in India. Though it is recognized by various other names, such as Panipuri and Gupchup, its fan-following remains the same across the states. Of late, even my son has become fond of phuchkas.

We, at Shreshta Garden, are lucky enough to have a phuchkawala right outside our residential complex. So, taking my family out for phuchka treat on a Sunday evening was supposed to be a simple programme. However, I wouldn’t be writing this story if it indeed had been that simple – thanks to our automatic door locking system.  

Those having an automatic door locking system would agree that it’s more of a menace than a helpful system. There’s a constant threat of finding yourself locked outside of your own house in a very uncomfortable state. I recall, once one of our neighbors had stepped out just for a minute to keep the garbage outside his flat, and the door slammed on his face. It was early morning and he was in his night dress, without the keys, mobile, or purse. You can well imagine his plight.

We, on the contrary, had managed to avoid such a situation for over a decade, until that eventful Sunday evening when we had planned to go out for a Phuchka treat.

It was past 6 PM, and my son was still downstairs, playing with his friends. So I told my wife that I would go downstairs and send him up. I hurriedly went out and found my son but it took him some time to gather his belongings, and by the time we could go up, my wife had come down. As fate would have it, she had come down without the keys, thinking that the keys were with me. Tension started brewing!

Though we had been careful for all these years, we always knew that this situation will hit us some day, and so we had made some arrangements. We had kept the alternate key near a window and kept it slightly ajar. So, I knew that we have a workaround but we’d still need help since our flat was on the second floor.

Usually, some of our housekeeping staff used to be around all the time, and I was sure that they will be able to get the keys. To my surprise, I learnt that they had stopped staying overnight inside the complex. When I narrated the issue to a security guard, he quickly brought the ladder under our flat, but clearly stated that he won’t be able to get the keys as he’d get caught on the CCTV. So, despite our sure-shot workaround, we were left stranded. Even the ladder was long enough only to reach the roof shade of a car-parking under our flat, not up to the second floor.

As I was staring at our window helplessly, suddenly the task seemed do-able. I don’t know where I got the confidence from, but in a matter of minutes, I found myself climbing up the ladder to reach the roof shade. I felt so light, as if I was used to do such stunts regularly. The balcony grills of the first-floor flat were tailor-made to let me climb up and reach our second-floor balcony. That was pretty easy. However, the target window was still around six feet away from the balcony. I stretched myself to the fullest.

For a 40-plus IT professional, stretching office hours is daily business, but stretching between the balcony and window of a second floor flat is no mean task. Aground, my wife stood in awe, while the security guard kept chanting, “Sir, please come down, else you will fall.”  

I paid no heed to his requests and kept searching for the key with my left hand while the other three limbs supported my fully-stretched, X-like posture. In a desperate attempt to get the key, I pushed aside a rack, and then I could feel the key to success. I collected it and put it in my pocket in a jiffy. When I reached the car shade and threw the key down, it resembled a boundary fielder making a valiant effort to successfully complete a catch and throwing the ball up again.

The security guard was happy that I had come down without hurting myself. My wife was completely awestruck by the fitness, agility, and bravery that I demonstrated right in front of her to get us out of trouble. All this while, my son was extremely tensed. He was running around to calm down himself. Unfortunately, he missed watching my stunt and neither did we capture it as a video. Years later, this blog will probably help him relive those moments and visualize what he didn’t see.      

After coming back to our flat, we washed the tension off our faces and went for the ‘unlocked’ phuchkas, as if nothing significant had happened.  

Munnar - The Kashmir of Kerala

 
Hum jo chal ne lage
Chal ne lage hain ye raaste

Aahha...

Manzil se behatar
Lagne lage hai ye raaste

Remember this Shaan song from Jab We Met? You'll feel like humming it on your way to Munnar, especially when you are around 20 kms away from your destination. Why? Read on............

The Prologue

South India has many hill stations and Munnar is the least known among them. Yet, it had remained in my wish list for a long time - ever since I saw the photos that my parents and sister had clicked when they visited this hill station, back in 2013. I was particularly mesmerized by the shade of green that I saw in those photos and wanted to visit Munnar one day. My relocation to Chennai in 2016 improved the chances of the visit, but it still took me another three years to plan the tour.

Our recent one-day trip to Pondicherry had probably made me more active and enthusiastic. So, while my family was on summer vacation-2019, I utilized the IPL breaks to book the train tickets and reserve a hotel, a month in advance. The train tickets were only up to Coimbatore but it still provided the euphoria that you can easily relate to, if you have ever used IRCTC. Comparatively, using MakeMyTrip to book the hotel rooms was a cakewalk. Once the bookings were done, it was only a matter of time.

The Introduction

Munnar - the Kashmir of Kerala - is a beautiful hill station surrounded by lush-green carpet-clad mountains and valleys. It has several waterfalls, lakes, and dams. It offers a cool climate throughout the year, and abrupt rain showers make the weather even more pleasant.  

Somehow, this hill station lacks direct rail connectivity. You can reach Munnar only via road - from Kochi, Coimbatore, Ernakulam, and Aluva. The nearest railway station is at Aluva, which is around 110 kms away.


We went via the Coimbatore route, and on that route, the road between Marayoor to Munnar is an exquisitely carved piece of art, replete with tea plantations on either side of the road. The road is narrow but smooth, with comfortable twists and turns, piercing through the soothing greenery. The intermittent presence of bright-red Gulmohar trees and pine trees added to the beauty. We just couldn't resist ourselves from halting at multiple places to click photos.

You will find many hill stations with green mountains or tea plantations but you will not find the shade of green that Munnar offers. It's like nature's own canvas in God's own country - Kerala.

I had always known Kerala as the land of backwaters; never knew that it's also a land of several magnificent hills stations. 

The Onward Journey

Being Chennai residents, we had the option of going to Ernakulam or Aluva, which are around 110 kms from Munnar. However, I chose Coimbatore because it is a more prominent city and I thought getting cabs would be easier from there.

So, we took an overnight train to Coimbatore, had breakfast there, and set off for Munnar on a cab at 10 AM. As Coimbatore is in TN and Munnar is in Kerala, we had to get Kerala permit, and for that we had to travel an additional 25 kms within Coimbatore. After we entered Kerala, we were stopped at several security checkposts. On one such checkpost, we were intimidated by a group of monkeys who probably thought of doing some additional checks. Due to these random security checks and our 'selfie halts', the distance from Coimbatore to Munnar seemed more than it actually was. We finally reached Munnar at around 4 PM and checked into Bellmount Resorts. 

The Sightseeing

 

Hydel Park: This park was near to our hotel, so we could visit it on the day we reached Munnar. The park had only a few attractions including a zip line, but by the time I could muster some courage to try it, they closed it for the day.

Carmelagiri Elephant Park: This park is on the Madupetty route and it offers elephant ride. Though the ticket cost is Rs 500 per person and the wait time is high, it attracts huge tourist crowd. There are 5-6 elephants and the rides are allotted strictly as per the ticket serial number. Each ride is for 10-15 minutes only, and at end, you can buy a fruit basket for Rs 100 and feed the elephant while sitting on it. For us, it was a first-ever elephant ride and we thoroughly enjoyed it. My son especially enjoyed feeding the elephant which was trained to lift its trunk backward and accept the fruits.


Madupetty Dam: It is one of the must-visit points in Munnar. You can stand on the bridge to take a view of the lake with background mountains on one side and a dry green valley on the other side. You can also do boating in the lake and visit the adjacent market.

Cowboy Park: This park is near the Madupetty dam. It has a kids play zone and offers adventure sports for grown up kids. It also provides boating facility. We did visit the park but did not try any of its offerings.

Echo Point: This place is 15 kms from the Madupetty dam. It's a low lying area on the banks of a river. The green mountains on the other side of the river provide the echo effect and a picturesque beauty. I had a nice time with my son, trying to demonstrate him the echo effect.

Tea Plantation: On our way back from the echo point, we stopped at a non-descript tea garden, trekked across the garden, and clicked some memorable photos. Here we were greeted by a sudden rain shower, which is a trademark of Munnar climate. Visiting a tea plantation was my top priority, and among all the other sightseeing spots we visited, I liked this place the most.

Tea Factory: The Kannan Devan tea factory let us see their completely automated factory through a glass window and shared some interesting facts about tea. For example, I learned that tea plants are literally evergreen; they don't have an expiry date. I also learned that tea plants could grow up to several feet but they are kept short so that each leaf receives adequate sunlight.

The return journey

We started our return journey at 9:30 AM and reached Coimbatore at around 2 PM. We had to board the Shatabdi Express at 3 PM but the train departed 1.5 hours late. We reached Chennai at 11:30 PM.

The Facts and Figures

Date: May 2019

Duration: 1 day 2 nights

Total travel time from Chennai to Munnar: 14 hours, including stoppage time

Cab fare and distance traveled: Rs 8000; 400 kms (includes two-way travel between Coimbatore and Munnar, including sightseeing)

Hotel charges: Rs 2000 per room per night (Decent hotel; complimentary breakfast included) 

Digha Tour

“Tring Tring” The Intercom bell rang on a lazy Sunday afternoon. It was my ever-enthusiastic carom partner — Suman Pal.

“Saurav, we are going to Nicco Park. Would you people like to join us?”

I immediately declined the offer as I had already visited Nicco Park and also advised Suman not to go there in the afternoon as it gets closed by 5 PM. 

A few minutes later, the Intercom bell rang again and it was him once more — this time with a new offer. “Would you like to join us for a Digha trip this weekend?”. This time I had to relent as I had not been to Digha earlier and weekend trips do not disturb the office factors. 

 

I usually do a lot of planning before our tours, but this time it was a lot different. Suman was taking all the pain. By evening, he booked the hotel rooms, and next day he was ready with a list of all the do’s and don’ts — we were supposed to carry bed-sheet, mosquito repellant, and ample drinking water.

Saturday morning – 15 December, 2012

We started off at 5:15 AM on Suman’s car, with him on the driving wheel.  The earlier night, he had done a night-shift, but there were hardly any signs of lethargy. Digha was a little more than 200 kms from Kolkata and we reached there by 9:45 AM.

We checked into Hotel Greenland Inn in New Digha and immediately proceeded for the sea-shore on a motor van. On the way, we had our breakfast at a road-side dhaba.

The beach was slightly crowded, but we managed to find some space and privacy for ourselves. The weather was bright and sunny, and the water was warm. The sea was there to mesmerize all and sundry.

I did not have my swim-gear on and had no plans to wet my clothes. Yet, sitting dry beside the sea was simply impossible — the waves were so irresistible. All of us, including Suman’s ‘small wonder’ Tathai,  played with the waves, and Suman seemed to enjoy the most. There was no stopping him as he did whatever a non-swimmer could do in water. 

Old habits die hard and so we clicked lots of photographs from various angles, forgetting that no photograph can capture the beauty of the forever dynamic Bay of Bengal.

After our fascination with sea was over, we had lunch at Sonar Bangla restaurant and then went to Udaipur beach, which was nearby, but belonged to Orissa. At the Udaipur beach, we hired two bikes for Rs 50 each and drove to the estuary (commonly known as mohana in Bengali). Driving bike along the sea was an exotic feeling — something that we thought only film actors could experience. 

Mohana & the ‘sinking’ feeling

We parked our bikes at the mohana, and just as we were enjoying the beauty of the moment, my bike fell down as the ground was weak. I had heard about the presence of chora baali or quick sand in Digha, and so I immediately tried to move the bike to a safer place. However, the more I tried to start the bike, the deeper it went into the sand. Suman came for rescue and noticed that in the tense moment, I had forgotten to switch on the bike. Somehow, he managed to pull it off and park safely. We were safe, but the ‘sinking’ feeling had marred the beauty of nature and disturbed the feeling that I could reminisce.  

The bikes were our property only for half-an-hour and so we had to quickly return to the main beach. There, we found many star fishes and Suman even captured a snail. The beach was calm with almost no waves on the sea, but the crowd was mostly drunk and ill-mannered.

We returned to the hotel by evening and had a stroll in the hotel lawn. Considering the room rent (Rs 800), our hotel (Greenland Inn) was too good. It also had a restaurant where we had our dinner.

Sunday– 16 December, 2012

We checked out at 10 AM and headed straightaway for Talsari (Orissa), which was 8 km from New Digha. At Talsari, we boarded a hand-driven boat and went to a nearby island. The island had dry white sand, lots of greenery, and was inhabited mainly by red crabs, which played hide and seek with the visitors.

From Talsari, we went to a park in New Digha wherein we took a toy-train ride across the park. I had heard about the toy train and had expected it to be along the sea, but unfortunately it was not so.

By 3:30 PM, we were done with Digha and hence thought of visiting Mondarmoni as well. Mondarmoni was 23 kms from Digha and 12 kms from Chalkhola, which was on our way back to Kolkata. So, overall we had to travel only 12 kms extra, though I must say, the road was too narrow and replete with bumpers and speed-breakers.

We were aware that Mondarmoni is an over-rated and over-publicized place. However, it had many big hotels on the sea-beach itself and provided the unique option of driving cars on the beach; Suman was too excited to take that opportunity. Some other adventurous sports as well like para-gliding and sea-scooter were also on offer, but did not fit the bill.

We left Mondarmoni at 5:15 PM. On our way back, a major traffic jam at Kolaghat consumed half-an-hour and so we could not reach home earlier than 9:30 PM.

Catch the Shuttle

As the shuttle breezed past City Center, I was still admiring my observation, anticipation, and sense of timing. After all, just a while ago, I had beaten 30 odd people in the race to reach office. It’s amazing how the struggle for survival assumes a new form everyday and we have no option but to take the plunge and emerge victorious.

Today when I reached my stop, Chinar Park crossing at 9:15 AM, my would-be co-passengers and competitors had already burnt a lot of skin under the sun. Thankfully, our nemesis, the traffic volunteer, was absent. His absence improved the probability of getting shuttles, but made it even more difficult to guess where the shuttles would put their brakes on.

As I saw a shuttle approaching us, I placed myself a bit away from the crowd that had already begun the chase. The shuttle moved a few spaces away from the attackers and stopped right under my nose. I timed my jump to perfection, and was bang on target. The moment did not give me the license to be as expressive as one could get after scoring a goal, but the feeling was at par.

Throughout my childhood, I have played as ‘left back’; but now in my routine life in Kolkata, every morning I have to act like the opportunistic ‘center-forward’ who is always on the prowl — looking for the right position and the right moment to launch his attack on the alluring shuttle.

For those who do not know, in Kolkata, ‘shuttle’ refers to any public vehicle that plies between a specific location and Salt Lake, SectorV — the IT hub of Kolkata. Ambassadors, SUVs and even small cars may fall under this umbrella, and only an experienced office-goer can distinguish between a ‘shuttle’ and a private car.  

‘Shuttle’ is Kolkata’s answer to Delhi and Mumbai’s carpool system. In fact, I believe that in our space-starved country, the shuttle system is a better solution because I never see a parked shuttle in our office territory.

While the ruler and the opposition fights the petrol battle,

You and I – the lesser gods – come, let’s catch the shuttle.

Shuttles have become an integral part of Kolkata’s IT industry. Due to the ever-rising petrol prices, the lack of desire to maintain status quo, and reluctance to driving, even the wannabe aristocrats in Kolkata depend on the shuttles for commuting to office everyday. This, I would say, is a healthy mindset as it takes a lot of load off the narrow roads of the congested city. However, an equally poor mindset of many of my fellow commuters is their mobile usage etiquettes, which completely mar the otherwise comfortable ride on a shuttle.

Very often, especially on my way back, I am accompanied by co-passengers who board the shuttle while talking on their mobiles and continue talking about private affairs till their destination comes. Just like these irritating chatterboxes, there are some irritating gluttons who cannot finish their stuff before boarding the shuttle.

I wonder why such people think that talking crap on phone or eating their snacks during the journey is a better ‘utilization’ of time and why they fail to understand that others may require tranquility after the rigorous working hours. I can’t fight with such people but can just hope that better sensibility prevails among these otherwise educated people.

Sunderbans Tour

In Kolkata, winter is the only time when you don’t have to bother about the weather related problems, and you feel like going out, visiting places, and having fun in the sun. So, even though the beauty of Gangtok was still afresh in our minds, we were looking forward to shape up another short but memorable tour, and Sundarbans seemed to be a promising option.

To we Indians, the name ‘Sundarbans’ itself spells danger, adventure and wilderness, and reminds us of the famous Royal Bengal Tiger. The recent release of detective Feluda’s Royal Bengal Rahasya added more fuel to our expectations from this short visit to the dreaded beast’s hometown.

Unfortunately, Sundarbans fell much short of our expectations as the beauty and the beast both went missing. Let alone tiger, we could hardly see any animal, bird, or reptile in the so-called dense mangrove forest. Even the forest was not very intimidating and seemed more like low-height bushes. The greenery was not the kind of green that pacifies our eyes. I know beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, but to me, the monotonous view of Sundarbans consisted nothing more than stagnant water, silt and bushes that seemed to be on the verge of getting submerged in recent future. Personally, I would not recommend anybody to visit Sundarbans in search of wildlife or natural beauty.

However, for those who would still like to visit Sundarbans to witness the reality themselves, here is an account of our tour.

We learnt that Sundarbans is not the kind of place where hotels are galore and you can choose the one that suits you best. So, we decided to go for a package tour. As always, finance was a concern since we were a group of 9 people and we had to look for a package that costs less on per head basis.

After some research, we decided to take services from Sky Sketch India who was offering an economical package (Rs 2500 per head + guide charges) that included night stay at a lodge.

The tour package began on 28^th January 2012. We were picked from our residence at 9 AM on a Sumo that got off EM Bypass near Science City and took us to Gadkhali through bumpy village roads. At 12:15 PM, we reached Gadkhali where our tour operator, Mr. Mutsuddi was waiting with his boat ‘Jungal Queen’. The boat was neat and spacious with several chairs on the deck and sleeping berths underneath the deck. We kept our luggage on one of the berths and took the deck with lots of excitement.

The boat started at 12:30 PM and tea was served immediately. The sunny weather was fantastic and the breeze lifted our mood. We clicked lots of photographs (of ourselves only) as the boat cruised through the stagnant water in between the mangrove forest.

Within an hour or so, we reached Sudhanyakhali Island that had a so-called tiger reserve and a broken watch tower. After waiting for a while near the watch tower, we saw two deers that had come for a sip of water.

We boarded our boat again and had lunch on the boat itself.

At around 5 PM, we reached the Pakhirala Island. After a 5 minutes walk through the village, we reached a cottage where our accommodation was arranged. The arrangements were up to the mark, but the tank water was dirty. We bought drinking water from the nearby shops and decided not to use the tank water for bathing.

Apart from water problem, another issue on the Pakhirala Island was that there was no electricity. Generator facilities were available only between 6 PM and 11 PM.

However, the hospitality was good and so the problems did not bother us much. Breakfast was served soon after we adjusted in our rooms.

We spent the evening playing cards and chatting with our Tour Operator, Mr. Mutsuddi, who seemed to be a simple, straight-talking person and a generous host. He got the dinner prepared according to our preferences and it was too tasty.

Next morning, our day started at 7:15 AM. Within half-an-hour, we reached Sajnekhali Island where our boat permissions were to be taken. While the permission process was going on, we had a quick visit to the wildlife museum.

From Sajnekhali, we went to Dobanki Island that had a deer park and an adjoining forest separated by a canopy. We walked through the canopy and could see several deers — no traces of tiger though. On the way to Dobanki, our guide briefed us about the Sundarbans and asked us to keep looking for the Royal Bengal Tiger. Unfortunately, we could see only fresh footsteps of a tiger that had crossed the river a while ago.

From Dobanki, we had a long boat ride to Gadkhali. We had lunch on the boat at 12 noon and reached Gadkhali at 3:30 PM. Our otherwise boring, long boat ride was made eventful by another boat that broke down on the way and joined our boat.

Our Sumo was waiting at Gadkhali and dropped us home at 7:45 PM.

Overall, the tour was not a memorable one, but we can still take note of a few high points. The weather did not cause any disturbance, Sky Sketch India’s services were admirable and so was Mr. Mutsuddi’s generosity. Also, somewhere on our way back, we reached a point where 5 rivers met and it looked like a wave-less, endless sea. Most importantly, we did not get into any kind of trouble throughout the tour.

Doodling Noodles

Doodling Noodles

This one is dedicated to all the Mothers and Housewives who spend their entire life in feeding their families and rarely receive their due reward for a job well done. Seriously, cooking is one of the most essential and the least valued art that we can think of.

The incident dates back to my bachelor days when I could cook only Maggi and that too in crisis situations. My confidence in cooking (or the lack of it) reflected in my cooking repertoire, which was also not strong enough.

On a rainy weekend in Gurgaon, I went to Sadar Bazaar along with my scientist neighbour-cum-friend, Dr. Salman Hashmi (no, the name is NOT changed for confidential reasons; it’s his real name only). Just as we were about to return, it started raining cats and dogs, and drowned the market in a matter of minutes. There was no point in waiting for the downpour to stop, so we decided to brave the rain and took a rickshaw.

Luckily, that day I had purchased a covered bucket, which we made good use of by putting in all our valuables like mobile, purse, watch etc. As our rickshaw snailed through the waterlogged streets, we could hardly keep our eyes open — the rain was that heavy. Specky people like me would agree that rain poses an additional problem for us…wish we had wipers on our specs, don’t we?

Although completely drenched, we reached home safe and sound before dusk. However, I had an additional problem to reckon — there was nothing to eat for dinner and there was no way I could go to my nearby eatery either. The water on the streets was waist-deep, I thought.

So, I pressed F1 on my scientist friend’s door and searched for a Maggi. Probably, I wasn’t ‘feeling lucky’ enough and so I got some Hakka noodles instead, which I took as a substitute of Maggi.

I thought my survival problem was solved and so I passed the next couple of hours with my companion i.e. my computer. 

At around 9 o’clock, I opened the Hakka noodles pack and discovered that it was not meant for novice chefs like me. It was actually one type of chowmin and there was no trace of any in-built masala pack.

I knew noodles had to be boiled first and then fried as well along with some vegetables or peanuts, at least. Problem was that I was not having any ingredient other than oil and salt. I looked down my balcony praying, “water, water please retreat, this lonely bachelor needs to eat”, but past experiences told me that the water-logging would not log-off until the next two days.

I returned to my room, ignited the stove, and boiled the noodles. Just as I was about to draw out the remaining water from the boiled noodles, I got distracted for a second and the vessel toppled. Half of the noodles fell on the floor and the remaining half fell on the mat on which I used to rub my feet before going to bed.

When tragedy strikes, be prepared to receive the next blow. Perhaps, this is what my tarot cards read on that day. But I was not the one to give up. I took the noodles from the floor as well as from the “clean” part of the mat, and washed it with cold water to purify it. I wondered what Ma would have done in such a situation.

I finished the remaining procedure of cooking noodles and ate it as well. It did taste awful, but at least I could eat it without vomiting.

Often, adversities teach us better ways to live. For me, that ill-fated noodles incident gave a new found zeal. Noodles or chowmin (cooked by my Ma only) was one of my favourite dishes. I thought if I could prepare edible noodles without the necessary ingredients then definitely I could cook it lot better when I am well prepared.

The zeal paid off, and in the next couple of months, I learnt to cook a number of items. Of course, with a lot of technical support from my Mother.

Chowmin still remains a mystery for me, and I believe no one can cook it like Ma does in her own unique way.