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Went to Bangalore for two weeks. Initially the plan was to go and come back by airplane, but I decided to go by train and come back by plane. The reason was because my most favourite Blogger wrote about the beauty of long-distance train travels. I just love her Blog. She is really an unique human being.
Embarked on a long distance train journey after almost three years. The last time I had gone to Delhi and Bhopal in 2010 by train.
My first choice was to travel by Duronto, but sadly didn't get the reservations. The next choice was Howrah-Yesvantpur Express. Two nights and one full day inside the AC Three Tier compartment. Lovely.
The sight of Howrah Bridge always makes me happy. I don't know why it happens. The Coolie with a trolley was well mannered with an innocent smile and thus the Lalmohan Ganguly styled 'tang maat karo' was not needed. Mental counting of luggage was done. Home made paratha and dry boneless chicken for dinner on the first night. Coffee after dinner. Slept in the topmost berth. I always prefer it because it gives me a sense of being on top of the world. Sms-ed someone special almost throughout the night. And she was sweet enough to keep on replying back to my sms-es.
Woke up before sunrise. Watched the sun rise by standing near the door. Stepped down on the platform of each and every station where the train stopped. The stations where the train stopped for ten minutes or more were Khurda, Brahmapur, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Renigunta. Watched the sun set from the opposite door position. At night the crystal clear sky was full of a trillion stars. Living in the city we don't get to see so many stars in the night sky. I simply love this view of the night sky full of all the stars which the human eye can see. It is like peeping outside the exosphere and into the unending universe.
During the day, the uninterrupted and never ending view of green fields, red soil, hills, mountains, forests, streams, rivers, vast areas with no human habitations soothed my eyes. Endless cups of tea and coffee continued. Bread omelette breakfast. Non-veg lunch and dinner from the Pantry. Bought those magic picture cards full of optical illusions. Bought soap-papers too. Played magnetic chess with a co-passenger. I won. Played cards also. Walked up and down the entire compartment a couple of times in search of a fine specimen of the opposite sex, located only one, but could only talk to her for about half an hour when she was getting ready to get down at Krishnarajapuram station. She seemed eager to talk to me too. :)
However because of someone's voodoo or any other form of black magic, just a few days before the Bangalore trip, I suddenly fell ill, started having stomach ache and had continuous hiccups. Still undertook the strenuous train journey. Didn't want to miss it any cost. I thought that people usually die inside their homes or inside hospitals. For a change it would be nice to die inside a moving train, if at all the situation came to that. My ghost would then haunt the train forever and travel free of cost on this Calcutta-Bangalore route.
Upon reaching Bangalore I had to be hospitalised. After birth, this was the very first time ever in my life when I was admitted to a hospital. It was a completely new experience for me. Relished every moment of it. I had to go through a series of medical tests. I had trouble breathing also. A lot of injections and saline went inside me. Enjoyed every moment of it. I felt like Rajesh Khanna from the film Anand. Was mentally prepared for any news from the doctors. The culprit was an ulcer inside my food pipe near my stomach and some other complications in my lungs. Thank God the ulcer was not malignant or cancerous, though I was really mentally prepared for that too. The doctors said no more alcohol and cigarettes for me for the rest of my remaining life.
Luckily my junior doctor turned out to be a bengali girl. It was so nice talking to someone in bengali inside the hospital. And she was sweet enough to take extra special care of me. The doctors were amazed by my positive approach. Even under anesthesia and in that super-trance-like trip, I was still smiling and was in a joyous mood.
And loved the hospital coffee very much. South Indian coffee tastes much better.
After spending a few days in hospital, I was okay again. First things first. Loved the Bangalore weather the most. Throughout the day it was pleasantly cool and at night it used to rain. Loved the rainfall each night. You see, I am a Pluviophile.
Explored and enjoyed most of the nook and crannies of Bangalore. Loved Lal Bagh, Bangalore Palace, Government Museum, Big Banyan tree, Bandi MahaKali Temple, UB City, especially City Bar and Skyye Lounge, long drive on the Bangalore-Mysore Highway also called NICE road to Ruppi's Resort etc.
Got involved in a major event which took place at the Bangalore Palace Grounds. In the course of this event, met a very sweet and friendly girl. She was really a very nice human being. Instantly we became good friends. It was really very nice meeting her and this friendship made my Bangalore trip extra special.
Came back to Calcutta by air. Whether it is bus, auto, private car, train or aeroplane, I always love to have the window seat. I simply love the moment when the plane starts to take-off from the ground. Rising above the clouds, the view kept on getting better and better. Clouds of various shapes and sizes in different shades of white. Breathtaking view of the sky. Excellent view of the ground below. A splash of magnificent colours on the horizon. And obviously those beautiful air-hostesses! Reached Calcutta around 7:00pm. The city looked so mesmerizing from above. Looked like a huge cluster of fireflies. The moment the wheels of the airplane hit the Calcutta runway, these eight lines of Kabir Suman came instantly to my mind :
Tomakey Dekhchhi Ultodangai Soja
Tomakey Dekhchhi Football Stadium-ey
Dum Dum ChoNya Boeing Biman-gulo
Asholey Kintu Tomar Jonnyo Naamey
Naamley Biman Runway-er Moshriney
Boeing Kinba Rushki Ilyushin
Cockpit Thekey Pilot Bujhey Nen
Eshey Gelo Taar Tomakey Dekhar Din...
PS : In 2010 while inside the train to Delhi, I met this extremely gorgeous girl named Diyanshi. Had a lovely chat with her. She told me that she and her husband had met at Yahoo Chat and had fallen in love without seeing eachother. They continued with their courtship for around six months and deliberately avoided seeing eachother's photos. Then finally they decided to meet oneday and get married on the very same day in a temple. And they really did it. Later their parents came to know about this marriage. I was amazed by her true love story. Hats-Off to this couple. Wish them all the happiness of the world. Truth is indeed stranger than fiction...
PPS : Because of this hospital incident, the doctors advised me to quit alcohol and cigarettes forever. Throughout the last several years I have smoked everything from biri to cigars and drank everything from Khalasitola's bangla mod to Jack Daniels. I guess these days the roof of Khalasitola remains closed for general public. Even a few years back the roof used to be open in the evenings and me and my friends used to have a surreal experience boozing on the rooftop and discussing poetry. Its time to stop all that now. One of my ex-girlfriends was a chain-smoker. And due to such excessive smoking she used to get these small dark spots on her lips, especially her lower lips. She was more concerned and worried about these dark spots on her lips than the ill effects of smoking on her lungs. She tried to cover the spots with lipstick but I have always hated the taste of lipsticks. I once bought a set of plastic cigarette filter-tips for her. She used to keep it in her bag, but every time she smoked, she used to forget to use it. Then one day I scolded her very badly. After that she started to use these filters. Slowly but steadily the dark spots on her lips started to disappear. But the harmful effects on her lungs still remained. Dear, if you are reading this, then I have only one request for you, please quit smoking...
---
Went to Bangalore for two weeks. Initially the plan was to go and come back by airplane, but I decided to go by train and come back by plane. The reason was because my most favourite Blogger wrote about the beauty of long-distance train travels. I just love her Blog. She is really an unique human being.
Embarked on a long distance train journey after almost three years. The last time I had gone to Delhi and Bhopal in 2010 by train.
My first choice was to travel by Duronto, but sadly didn't get the reservations. The next choice was Howrah-Yesvantpur Express. Two nights and one full day inside the AC Three Tier compartment. Lovely.
The sight of Howrah Bridge always makes me happy. I don't know why it happens. The Coolie with a trolley was well mannered with an innocent smile and thus the Lalmohan Ganguly styled 'tang maat karo' was not needed. Mental counting of luggage was done. Home made paratha and dry boneless chicken for dinner on the first night. Coffee after dinner. Slept in the topmost berth. I always prefer it because it gives me a sense of being on top of the world. Sms-ed someone special almost throughout the night. And she was sweet enough to keep on replying back to my sms-es.
Woke up before sunrise. Watched the sun rise by standing near the door. Stepped down on the platform of each and every station where the train stopped. The stations where the train stopped for ten minutes or more were Khurda, Brahmapur, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Renigunta. Watched the sun set from the opposite door position. At night the crystal clear sky was full of a trillion stars. Living in the city we don't get to see so many stars in the night sky. I simply love this view of the night sky full of all the stars which the human eye can see. It is like peeping outside the exosphere and into the unending universe.
During the day, the uninterrupted and never ending view of green fields, red soil, hills, mountains, forests, streams, rivers, vast areas with no human habitations soothed my eyes. Endless cups of tea and coffee continued. Bread omelette breakfast. Non-veg lunch and dinner from the Pantry. Bought those magic picture cards full of optical illusions. Bought soap-papers too. Played magnetic chess with a co-passenger. I won. Played cards also. Walked up and down the entire compartment a couple of times in search of a fine specimen of the opposite sex, located only one, but could only talk to her for about half an hour when she was getting ready to get down at Krishnarajapuram station. She seemed eager to talk to me too. :)
However because of someone's voodoo or any other form of black magic, just a few days before the Bangalore trip, I suddenly fell ill, started having stomach ache and had continuous hiccups. Still undertook the strenuous train journey. Didn't want to miss it any cost. I thought that people usually die inside their homes or inside hospitals. For a change it would be nice to die inside a moving train, if at all the situation came to that. My ghost would then haunt the train forever and travel free of cost on this Calcutta-Bangalore route.
Upon reaching Bangalore I had to be hospitalised. After birth, this was the very first time ever in my life when I was admitted to a hospital. It was a completely new experience for me. Relished every moment of it. I had to go through a series of medical tests. I had trouble breathing also. A lot of injections and saline went inside me. Enjoyed every moment of it. I felt like Rajesh Khanna from the film Anand. Was mentally prepared for any news from the doctors. The culprit was an ulcer inside my food pipe near my stomach and some other complications in my lungs. Thank God the ulcer was not malignant or cancerous, though I was really mentally prepared for that too. The doctors said no more alcohol and cigarettes for me for the rest of my remaining life.
Luckily my junior doctor turned out to be a bengali girl. It was so nice talking to someone in bengali inside the hospital. And she was sweet enough to take extra special care of me. The doctors were amazed by my positive approach. Even under anesthesia and in that super-trance-like trip, I was still smiling and was in a joyous mood.
And loved the hospital coffee very much. South Indian coffee tastes much better.
After spending a few days in hospital, I was okay again. First things first. Loved the Bangalore weather the most. Throughout the day it was pleasantly cool and at night it used to rain. Loved the rainfall each night. You see, I am a Pluviophile.
Explored and enjoyed most of the nook and crannies of Bangalore. Loved Lal Bagh, Bangalore Palace, Government Museum, Big Banyan tree, Bandi MahaKali Temple, UB City, especially City Bar and Skyye Lounge, long drive on the Bangalore-Mysore Highway also called NICE road to Ruppi's Resort etc.
Got involved in a major event which took place at the Bangalore Palace Grounds. In the course of this event, met a very sweet and friendly girl. She was really a very nice human being. Instantly we became good friends. It was really very nice meeting her and this friendship made my Bangalore trip extra special.
Came back to Calcutta by air. Whether it is bus, auto, private car, train or aeroplane, I always love to have the window seat. I simply love the moment when the plane starts to take-off from the ground. Rising above the clouds, the view kept on getting better and better. Clouds of various shapes and sizes in different shades of white. Breathtaking view of the sky. Excellent view of the ground below. A splash of magnificent colours on the horizon. And obviously those beautiful air-hostesses! Reached Calcutta around 7:00pm. The city looked so mesmerizing from above. Looked like a huge cluster of fireflies. The moment the wheels of the airplane hit the Calcutta runway, these eight lines of Kabir Suman came instantly to my mind :
Tomakey Dekhchhi Ultodangai Soja
Tomakey Dekhchhi Football Stadium-ey
Dum Dum ChoNya Boeing Biman-gulo
Asholey Kintu Tomar Jonnyo Naamey
Naamley Biman Runway-er Moshriney
Boeing Kinba Rushki Ilyushin
Cockpit Thekey Pilot Bujhey Nen
Eshey Gelo Taar Tomakey Dekhar Din...
PS : In 2010 while inside the train to Delhi, I met this extremely gorgeous girl named Diyanshi. Had a lovely chat with her. She told me that she and her husband had met at Yahoo Chat and had fallen in love without seeing eachother. They continued with their courtship for around six months and deliberately avoided seeing eachother's photos. Then finally they decided to meet oneday and get married on the very same day in a temple. And they really did it. Later their parents came to know about this marriage. I was amazed by her true love story. Hats-Off to this couple. Wish them all the happiness of the world. Truth is indeed stranger than fiction...
PPS : Because of this hospital incident, the doctors advised me to quit alcohol and cigarettes forever. Throughout the last several years I have smoked everything from biri to cigars and drank everything from Khalasitola's bangla mod to Jack Daniels. I guess these days the roof of Khalasitola remains closed for general public. Even a few years back the roof used to be open in the evenings and me and my friends used to have a surreal experience boozing on the rooftop and discussing poetry. Its time to stop all that now. One of my ex-girlfriends was a chain-smoker. And due to such excessive smoking she used to get these small dark spots on her lips, especially her lower lips. She was more concerned and worried about these dark spots on her lips than the ill effects of smoking on her lungs. She tried to cover the spots with lipstick but I have always hated the taste of lipsticks. I once bought a set of plastic cigarette filter-tips for her. She used to keep it in her bag, but every time she smoked, she used to forget to use it. Then one day I scolded her very badly. After that she started to use these filters. Slowly but steadily the dark spots on her lips started to disappear. But the harmful effects on her lungs still remained. Dear, if you are reading this, then I have only one request for you, please quit smoking...
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