Eastern Escape: The journey begins - Getanjali Express

The planning had started approx 3 months back when we thought an East India trip would be exciting. The tour had to begin with a trip to Kolkata which is 1969 Km from Mumbai. The very thought of a 31 hr train journey sent shivers down our spines, but considering the budget we had in place, we had no choice. Also to top it we had Rahul with us , which meant every second would be an event. We boarded the train at CST with Sachin sticking to his plan of not getting up before 04:30 am. Eventually we all got there and the train rumbled towards Howrah Jn.

The train journey was a eventful one , to say the least...
The first thing which comes to my mind is Rahul solving Sudoku which was mind boggling.. He completed it in style and we have a photo to prove it.

The highlight of the train journey was when we were all eating food. The NV guys were eating chicken and to avoid my hand getting sticky I was eating it with a spoon. There was a man outside the compartment who saw something funny in eating the chicken with a spoon and passed side remarks about the same . Sachin who was sitting on the Top half of the side berth did not not see the funny side of it and started shouting at the man. He got quickly down from the berth and went towards the man to ask him what he meant by the chicken episode. He also tried to tell the man to get off the train without realising that the train was still moving. While all this was happening Akshay and Ameiya also went outside the compartment to deal with the stranger. The man was frightened and was ready to apologise. He got down from the compartment at the next station which again bought calm to the compartment.

We were also troubled by a mouse who managed nibble at the "theplas" which Rutuja had made. The mystry was that the bag in which the "theplas" were kept was untouched.

A bengali babu in the next compartment frustrated us with Bengali songs which went on and on and on like a never ending desert with no water all the way...

It was a long wait the next morning, as it was a matter of time before we reached Kolkata. Rahul kept us entertaining throughout and he also compared Rutu with a Dog (What he meant was: How a dog is attracted towards a Bone likewise Rutu is attracted towards Football).

All in all it was a pleasant journey and nothing like we initially thought it would be. The train reached Howrah 1/2 hr late and Abhijeet was there to pick us up to take us towards Tollyganj where we were put up.

Kolkata

26 Dec 08 - 27 Dec 08

After a long 31 hours+ journey from Mumbai to Howrah, I felt more like a container moved like a dead weight. Howrah Terminal seemed big ! train was on platform # 23. That is some count for the no. of platforms. Even VT or the CST station doesn't boast that number. As we moved towards the exit trying to reach my cousin who had arranged for the cheap local stay (or should I say "free"), we were amidst one of the busiest cities of the East. Outside it was hell! Big yellow taxis farting black gases and burping badly!

3 taxis moving towards Tollygunge, Abhijeet's bachelor's residance was to get worse with 6 more "single" tagged individuals. I was with Abhijeet and Akshay and the hog in our Cab at the Driver's seat. He kept banging vehicles, you read it right, banging, kissing with garnishing of abuses to the poor other roadsiders.

सूअर का बच्चा !!

One of his popular curses, Akshay just wondered what the 2 big-school post-grads (himself and Abhijeet) were doing in this mad city. Navigating through the bad traffic we manged to reach "Home". It was extremely calm area as compared to the outside. Abhijeet left to continue his work @ Park street leaving us to mangle with his bathroom and the heating rod. Lunch was next priority, South City Mall's Food court was suggested by Abhijeet, so ... Lunch today would be an expensive fast food. Busy checking menu cards @ various stands and shops, somehow we manged to munch together. Raaj wanted to eat 'mishti dohi' or Sweet curd. Most of us have a sweet tooth and we proved it to the fellow at the misthaan bhandar. What's next !? Donno !! somebody had a weird idea of 'Ghajini'. But all were tired.

Back home, after 8 baths distributed in 2 bathrooms and 1 heating rod we had nothing to do apart from waiting for Abhijeet and his roomie to return back and have dinner together. It was our first day in the north-east or should I say just the east, we were restless. We ventured out again, South City Mall, Why !? Ghajini was fixed ! Great! Abhijeet couldn't make it, thanks to the Mgmt. late working hours. At the Fame Cinemas beautifully glowing with Pink back lights, yes u read it right Pink lights on purple carpets and wallpapers, seems very girly but was looking very smart. No prizes for guessing how they managed the setup! Ghajini for Rs. 250 a ticket leaves no clues to be unearthed.

The Masala mix got a 'kill' signal finally around 1.00am, On the street there was no taxi cab and we wondered if we would get one, finally some Private amby driven by some driver was offered to us, we didn't hesitate. At the room we enjoyed useless 'ghajini' gossips with Abhijeet till we slept around 2.00am.

Saturday, Its officially holiday for Abhijeet but he still has to go for work, but can manage a lunch with us. He suggested us victoria memorial house and we were obedient enough. 'Maidan' the well-deservedly called suburb of Kolkata was the only place with some greenery (in both terms!) After a good walk to the museum and then browsing through the lovely paintings on the wall by some artist that I don't even remember, we were out and heading to Park street, Abhijeet's office area. Which is also popular for its high-profile restaurants and lowly street foods.

After some good meal @ "Bar - B - Q", Raaj was desperate for the Eden Gardens. Others didn't really have anything on mind. Sachin wanted to roam, window browse. Abhijeet suggested Belur math of Ram Krishna. We were little tight on timings.. but apart from Akshay, Raaj and Sachin we moved ahead to Metro. Heading for Shyam Bazar the Metro stop from where we were to get a cab to Dakshineshwar, a 'kaali mandir' (read as sight seeing spot), cross the Hoogly river with a ferry to the math. It all had to fall perfectly in place as we had to make sure we were in time for the 'Darjeeling Mail' @ 10.00pm from Sealdah.

Things are not simple, as planned, thats life. If its not enough and want to add some masala to it, roam in the Kolkata traffic in a cab! The cab took more than half an hour from Shyam bazar to reach 'Dakshineshwar' and it had to cross the whole bridge and back to park at the temple, we thought we'd rather go till the Math with the cab, which turned out to be a bad decision. We were stuck in traffic for another half hour till we finally decided to walk off to the Math.

The Math was majestic, full of visitors, we just peeked through the main temple and head straight off to the jetty for the ferry back to dakshineshwar. Almost 15-20 mins of water-ride later at the jetty we wondered if we could make it in time to leave for Sealdah by 8.00pm. The cab drive to Shyam Bazar chopped off another half hour. And in the Metro we were all confused whether to ask other guys to meet directly at Sealdah station with our luggage or we go back to Tollygunge. Parked street was closest to Sealdah and that stop just was running back, while we looked puzzled in the Metro, finally at Central we got down and were heading back to Park street. We had finally made our minds and managed to ask others @ Abhijeet's residence to get our to Sealdah.

Close to Sealdah, guys called asking to stop near James cinema. We did, while we did we entertained ourselves in the old, slow, lousy trams. We met others and ensured that none of the baggages were missing, if it had, we couldn't do anything about it. But at Sealdah station we made sure that none of roomie's belongings were taken away in all the chaos, luckily Abhijeet who had come with us all the way to Belur math and to the station..had bag. We bid him a goodbye and boarded the 'Darjeeling Express' for New Jalpaiguri.