Payer Tolai Sorse

Gopalpur on sea " There's no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing. Alfred Wainwright, A Coast to Coast Walk Prelude: "As you can see,the sea level has raised,the coconut trees are swaying dangerously. We are getting reports( verified or unverified,only God knows) from various sources( who are the sources????) that the road connection to Gopalpur is snapped. Huge areas are deluded by the landfall due to Titli"-- barked the ABP Ananda reporter . I switched off the TV . 3days still left for our road trip to Gopalpur....and Titli is creating a havoc to our plans. The journey "Durga Durga"....my wife made a small prayer,before we started our journey to Gopalpur on sea . The last 3days had been full of hectic phone calls to friends,relatives and hotels in Odisa to know about the ground realities. Bengali news channels are notoriously famous for over dramatization of events,so their reporting should be taken with a pinch of salt. After a brief snack...

"একটা ভূতের গল্প হয়ে যাক", ফার্স্ট  পেগ এ চুমুক দিয়ে যশ বলে উঠলো।        কলেজের ফার্স্ট এমবি শেষ, মনটা উড়ু উড়ু। এদিকে মাসেরও শেষ, পকেট গড়ের মাঠ, তাই ইচ্ছে থাকলেও দিঘা পুরী যাওয়ার রেস্ত নেই। রবিবারের সক্কাল বেলায় ক্যান্টিন-এ ব্যাজার মুখে রাবারের মত ছিবড়ে লুচী আর পচা আলুর দম গিলছিলুম আমরা চার বন্ধু,আমি যশ নিকুঞ্জ আর অর্ক। অর্ক কে বাদ দিলে আমরা তিনজনেই কলকাতার বাবু। হোস্টেল প্রায় ফাঁকা, আর যারা ছিল তারা ভিক্টোরিয়ায় প্রেম করতে গেছে; হোস্টেল এ বসে আছি শুধু আমরা এই চার প্রাণী। হঠাৎ নিকুঞ্জ বলে উঠলো, "অর্ক, তুমনে বোলা থা না তুমহারে গাঁও মে এক পুরানা জামিন্দার হাভেলী হে, চলো উহা সে ঘুম কে আতে হে "। অর্কটা বেজায় কৃপণ, মিনমিন করে বলে ," সে তো ভূতুড়ে বাড়ি, সাপ খোপ থাকে, কেউ নেই এখন, সেখানে  যাবি?" কিন্তু আমরাও নাছোড়বান্দা, রাত বারোটায় বেট করে পার্ক স্ট্রিট সিমেন্ত্রী ঘুরে এসেছি, আমরা  ভয় পাবো, কাভি নহি। তাই ঠিক হলো শুভশ্র শ্রীঘম, পরশু ভোর ভোর রওনা দেওয়া হবে অর্কর "জামিন্দার হাভেলী" দেখতে।      তা পরশু হতে ঢের দেরি আছে, এই ফাঁকে অর্কর ঠিকুজি কুষ্ঠী...

The lakes of Tawang " It was the  best  of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way "   Charles Dicken's, A tale of two cities (1859)         Sitting in front of my Lab computer, i could think of no better quote than this to portray  the uncertain times that we live today. As colleagues and friends  and mentors fight and die in the war against the Corona virus ( fancifully called SARS-nCov2), and depression and despair rob our hearts of hope, like the kiss of Dementors of Azkaban, i sit here staring at the dark pensive monsoon sky across the window of my office desk. One thing...

"You are calling it a bridge,and you are saying that it is living,you must be joking!" my bemused wife retorted back as I told her that the next point of interest is the Living Root Bridge of Riwai,after we had a pathetic meal at the "cleanest" village of India,Mawylilong. Apart from the tree house,the village reeked as a  tourist trap. Riwai was a welcome change,  a small village with a few houses and shops. We were walking down a unpaved path through a green jungle in the month of April. The climb down is a bit steep,but won't take more than 10mins. And then the living root Bridge came into view. A natural bridge made with interwined roots of two fig trees across a shallow stream,which had dried up in the summer,the bridge being reflected in the shallow puddles of water. It was afternoon,the sun shining through the thick foliage of the forest,making interesting patterns here and there. It felt like we are in a set of the movie Avtaar. A place where humans ha...

A quick recap- I had been snoring on a Tuktuk on the way to Baentey Srei. A detailed recap- Read the first part(and doze off like me.... especially for those who suffer from insomnia) 11:00 AM: Woke from my slumber by the simultaneous announcement of the Tuktuk driver and a hard prod on my protruding belly by my wife.Walking briefly through a forest path,was welcomed by a rather small temple complex surrounded by a moat. Doubts have already started playing in my mind if the extra $5 and 1hour loss was worth it to come here. A small temple complex surrounded by a moat.....rather uninspiring from a distance. But Baentey Srei , is the chupa rustom of Angkor. What it lacks in size,it compensates by the intricately carved murals,so delicate that it is called the Citadel of Women (Baentey Srei,for only a women could have built it!) What makes this even more special,is that this Shiva temple was not built by any king,but by an ordinary Brahmin ( the Tutor of Jayavarman V)...