Victoria Memorial is one of the most famous landmarks of Kolkata. Erected as a memorial for Queen Victoria, the monument is now a popular hang out for local and tourists alike. And like almost everything in Kolkata, it is an excellent value for money. Stroll in the premises, sit and talk, ride on a tanga outside and grap a few Phuchkas (Golgappa/ Panipuri). Here’s a shot taken during my visit to the place more than a year back.
Victoria Photoshoot - Panorama View
Further Reading:
TEM Feb - The Great Indian Train Journey
Train journeys in India give you terrific insights – into the look and feel of the places your train travels by and the people in those places. After a train journey, especially a longer one, you get a feel of the way people look, speak, behave and live in several parts of the country.
As an ode to this experience, I’m hosting ‘The Great Indian Train Journey‘ event at my blog this February. So, write your train experiences in India at your blog and let me know. Here’re some post ideas – your travel to home during summer holidays at boarding school/college, your first local train experience, 5 things you love/hate about Indian Railways, why you love travelling in sleeper class more than AC-2/3, or vice versa, vendors at railway stations, Indian Railways as a cultural change agent etc. For some more ideas, you can read my posts on Indian Railways. On 20th February, I’ll post a round up of this event with a link to your post.
Rules of the event:
Acknowledgements
This is my 3rd post on Murudeshwar. Here’s my 1st post and 2nd post.
I loved Murudeshwar (also called Murudeswara, Murudeswar, Mrudeswara) Beach. The Beach has visibly two parts – one flanked by the tourists (not large in numbers though) and the other visited by only those who want some ‘private’ space. This private space is just 400m off from the where the beach starts. During the beach walk, I saw few children (presumably of local fishermen) pushing a boat off the beach. Here’s the 1-minute video:
After this video, I asked two kids whether they would like to be photographed. They agreed but were really shy. Clicked them though.
Dont be shy my Honey
Other children sniffed the opportunity to get clicked and rushed towards me shouting ‘Photo, Photo’. During the next few seconds, I managed another click. Here you go:
Me too
The fisherman was on his boat sailing through the waves. The scene reminded me of ‘The old man and the Sea’.
Old Man and the Sea
Acknowledgment: Post idea courtesy Mridula
About Murudeshwar: A sylvan beach by the temple, some beach-side eateries, beach activities (boat ride, snorkeling, banana ride, diving, eating fish fry etc – no bikini beach tan though), an island (Netrani) and some shopping (items made of local root) pretty much sums up the place. A good weekend getaway from Bangalore during Oct-Feb. More.
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In the aftermath of Mumbai attacks, the security apparatus everywhere seems to have been beefed up. I witnessed that on my trip back home – at Bangalore airport, at Calcutta airport, and at the railway stations at Howrah, Dhanbad and yes Bandel.
From the door of a moving Train
I de-boarded a Howrah-Bandel local train with my sister and her two kids. While getting out of the station, I noticed a metal detector outside. It seemed defunct and people were happily giving it a miss. To top it all, I couldn’t spot any security person in the vicinity. Appalled at this utter apathy to reality, even after 11 major blasts in 2008, I thought of doing something. I took out my camera and took a stance that gave an excellent shot of the scheme of things. ‘This is unacceptable. I would send this pic to the leading Bengali, Hindi and English dailies‘.
However, before I could click something else happened.
‘Ke aapni? Chhobi tulchhen kaino? Paarmishaan niyechhen‘ – ‘Who are you? Why are you clicking pictures? Have you taken permission?’ Asked a seemingly infuriated bystander. The middle age pot-bellied of medium height and with curly hairs meant business.
‘Dada aami to emnei chhobi tulchhi. Ghurte beriyechhi kina. Taai‘. ‘Oh, I’m travelling and just taking pictures’.
‘E bhabe saurkaari saumpottir chhobi tulle teente dhara lege jaabe‘ – ‘Taking pictures of a government property without permission means violating 3 sections’. Now, this was something I had no clue about. No-argument strategy sounded apt under the circumstances. I tried to calm him down by stating usual stuff – I’m a responsible citizen; I’m from Bangalore; I’m not a localite; I didn’t know that this is violation. Blah Blah Blah. But it backfired. The guy became impatient and suddenly caught me by my arm.
Train at a Railway Station
‘Cholun Baudo Babur kachhe. Ja baular onake bolun‘. ‘Lets go to my Bada Babu. Whatever you’ve to say, say to him’. Situation was getting out of hand. A couple of steps away was standing Baba Babu, with 2 TTEs and a lady in Khaki (policewoman probably). The guy was in civil dress, but other had a I-respect-you stance towards him. Bada Babu glanced with his enquiring eyes at me. The pot-bellied guy explained the situation Bada Babu and beemed with pride.
‘Kono ID achhe’? ‘Got any ID’? Bada Babu extended his hand towards me. I handed over my PAN Card.
‘Aami amar didi are bhagna bhagni saathe tallygonj theke ekhane maasir baadi esechhi‘. ‘I’ve come here from Tollygunge with my sister and her two kids’. I took out my mobile to call her. And lo, my angel was already in sight.
‘Aare ki korchhen dada. E amar bhai. Traivel Raaitaar. Nijer lekhar jonnoi chhobi tul chhilo. Jete din na‘. ‘What’re you doing sir? This is mu brother. Travel writer. Was taking some shots for his article. Please let him go’. Now a lady with her two kids pleading for her brother to the Bada Babu ended the enquiry. Bada Babu gave me a clean-shit, returned my PAN card and asked me to delete the picture from the camera. There wasn’t any, still I deleted the last picture I clicked – which was of a rickshaw puller in Tollygunge.
Morals of the story:
Could you fathom any other MORAL of the story? I would be glad to know.
What kind of traveller are you? Your best friend? Your boss? Parents? Here’s my observation on what makes people travel, and I’ve grouped such reasons. Where do you fit?
You HATE the idea of leaving your city but may go if needed.
An occassion to celebrate
You LIKE the idea of travelling but only if somebody else PAYS for it.
When the trip is free
You LOVE travelling just for the sake of it.
So, What kind are you?
Elongated Bus - Bangalore
Further Reading
Readers of my posts usually come via search engines – my blog stats reveal. The search queries usually make sense – how to go to murudeshwar from bangalore, one day mysore trip, hogenakkal parisal etc. And sometimes, they are outright funny. Sample these:
tamil woman saree bathing – Well, that’s certainly not the subject I deal with in my posts. The query might take you to metacafe/youtube videos but certainly not to a post that talks exclusively of tamil women bathing in saree. But yes, I talked about Tamil Nadu in 3 posts, women in 2 post, saree in another 2 and bathing in Hogenakkal post. On second thoughts, I’ve talked about bikini babes in Gokarna as well. And I’ve certainly had experience of Bangalore Men bathing in vest in river Cauvery at Hogenakkal. Related query – saree bathing
Bangalore Men Vest Bathing
Summer tanga – My first hunch was someone wanted a Tanga ride in summer and fired this query. Must have got my srirangapatna post, I thought. But a little google search revealed the unexpected. Tanga, it emerged, is nothing but another name for thong. So, the one who fired the query must be pretty disappointed if he stumbled upon my post that talked about remnants from Tipu Sultan’s era.
horses thieir indian spirit – absolutely clueless on what this is supposed to mean. I’ve talked about horse only once – in my tanga ride at Srirangapatna. And about Indian spirit – clueless.
Summer Tanga Horse - Indian Spirit
deoghar waterfall – I’ve mentioned about deoghar, have written on places that have waterfall but never about a waterfall in deoghar. In fact, I’ve never been to Deoghar.
from kolkata to kodaikanal by train,how – Well, its funny since I have never talked about Kodaikanal and Kolkata in the same breath in this blog. In fact, till I saw the train list of Kodaikanal, I wasn’t even aware of such a train. Disclosure – I’ve been to both the places.
indo saracenic architecture – Come again? Oh, now I remember. Both Victoria Memorial in Kolkata and Mysore Palace are built in this style. But I in no way claim to know its nuances, let alone be a reliable resource.
Indo Saracenic Architecture - Victoria Memorial, Kolkata
So much for relevant results in search engines.
Acknowledgement – Sudipta’s post long time back.
Its Friday and I thought I should share a soothing pic with you. This one had been taken during an afternoon at a GOA beach. Every year, Goa is flanked by tourists (domestic and international alike) this holiday season. But this time around, terror has cast a shadow on the celebrations. Plus a gloomy economy has dampened the spirits. But those of you who are tough nuts to crack and don’t get bogged down so easily, Goa should be a perfect getaway. So hang on your boots and GO GOA.
An afternoon at a Goa Beach
To Gokarna
En route Gokarna
After my one day Murudeshwara trip, I ventured towards Gokarna, which I anticipated to be yet another temple town by the beach – somewhat like Jagannathpuri, Rameshwaram, Kanyakumari, Mahabalipuram or Murudeshwara. Gokarna has an interesting legend, dating back to Ramayana times. A local bus (in fact, it was a cramped 10 seater with 15 odd people aboard) took me to Kumta in INR 16. The bus (if I may call it that) covered part of the journey on the National Highway, and the other part through the villages en route. It was an interesting forty minute journey, since it has been awhile since I visited a village. But the potholes and turns on the roads, the packed bag on my lap, a man leaning over me from the left and a woman in a half seated posture in my front ensured I had a little cramp on my back. I accepted the cramp as a souvenir from yet another Great Indian Bus Journey of mine. The bus stopped at Kumta and it was time to catch another 10 seater. Boarded it 10 minutes later, and in another 40 odd minutes, I was at Gokarna.
Gokarna
Typo at the eatery board
Gokarna bus stop doesn’t stand out from any other small town ‘city bus stand’ in India – a shed with few concrete settees, a ticket counter doubling as registration room for bus drivers, an eatery, a shop selling travel items (snacks, mineral water, handkerchiefs, wallets, lock and keys, local newspapers and stationery), two toilets (HE and SHE) and an area where buses arrive, stand and depart. And of course, there was a typo on the eatery board – jues for juice. A group (3 pairs) looked familiar. These folks were on the same bus (Bangalore to Gokarna) as I. Incidentally, they planned their return next evening – same as me. That implied they planned to stay at Gokarna for a day more than I did. I made my return booking on the same 7:30pm sleeper bus leaving next evening.
The Folks
Eenlightment
A little chat with a pair revealed that the group was staying at a shack in OM beach – in just 100 bucks a piece. These guys were on a roll here. Beach, Booze, and Breeze. Add Babes to the list and you can imagine these pairs having one the best weekends of their lives. During my entire stay at Gokarna, I encountered these folks time and again. Predictably, I observed them pretty closely and they were so absorbing, they justify a separate post on themselves. Nevertheless, I got some useful tips from them – a bird’s eyeview of a day in a shack, must eats and auto fares. I bid them adieu and boarded an auto to OM Beach – 120 bucks.
Road Ahead
I had cool 34 hours to explore Gokarna, and I wanted to feel its religious significance as much as soak in its beaches. The auto meandered through hillocks and roads bordering the sea. There was vegetation, but in clusters. A 25 min auto ride took me to the OM Beach entrance. My next posts will talk about the what happened next.
The Other Side
Diary of a Weekend Traveller 