MY AVERAGE LIFE AS A MANCHUNIAN

Most of the time when I ping my friends over Social Media sites, the first question they ask is how am I spending my days in Manchester. So I thought let me describe my normal days, in this post. Here, I would mention that I have classes only two days a week and the rest of the five days are usually spent at home when I am not going out to explore the place with friends.

SUNRISE OVER BEETHAM TOWER

 My mornings begin the last, that is after my father has gone out for work and after my mother finishes her breakfast and starts chatting with some of her friends back in India. I happen to open my eyes at such a time. Of course I have never seen the colourful hues of sunrise here except for once but I could not capture it though my lens (maybe it would be my next New Year’s Resolution). The first thing I do is check my phone and later proceed to have my breakfast after a quick wash.

DOGGIE

 While I eat breakfast, I get to see my neighbour taking their bull dog for a walk. The dog seemed cute until I managed to make him angry by switching on my camera flash right at him. Since, then he has mood swings when he sees me. Some days I am non-existent and other days I am fortunate enough to evoke a little wag from him. But it is for sure that this dog will not shake paws with me EVER!

THE NEXT DOOR CAT

 My other neighbour, who I have no clue about, owns a cat. After a lot of research I have managed to figure out that it is a British Semi-Longhaired black cat. This cat does nothing but sit at the window staring at something. It is only when it rains that I do not get to see him.

After breakfast comes my daily routine of going to the garbage dump at the basement and to the letter box.

WATCHING TV

 Thereafter, I sit on the couch with my laptop and watch the television and improvise on my blogs when I am not writing my assignments. This takes most of my time and I head for lunch. After lunch it is T.V time again.

The evenings are mostly kept for household shopping for which I go to the Manchester ARNDALE. After shopping I usually make a stop at the Hasty Tasty Pizza which stocks some of the best takeaway pizzas I have ever tasted.

With the rain clouds hovering above our heads most evenings see a shower here. After shopping we are mostly stuck in rain and have to brave the heavy rain and wind to come back to our apartment again.

Subsequently, it is laptop time where I sit with my laptop, watch CID or listen to songs till dinner is announced.

After dinner, I go to sleep.

Most of my days are spent like this. When I wake up here, it is already afternoon for my friends back home and by the time I am free in the evening, it is midnight for them. I can’t remember how many days has it been since I last heard their voice. It is mostly email and Facebook or Whatsapp chats nowadays where we reply as and when we are free. But behind the veil of glamour and beauty of this place, there is a night of darkness and loneliness that this place possesses. It is not that I am having a bad time here, I love this place and my friends here, but I also long to be in touch with my friends back home; to know where they are now, what they do, to meet those who I have not met for years, to take part in festivals. Durga Puja and Diwali just went by, but the noise and the lights never reached me except for in the colourful photo messages sent by my friends.

So, for all the people back home who think I have become a Bileti person, you guys probably have a life that I envy a lot. Life is not as full of glamour as it seems to be. It is, in fact, really difficult and sometimes tests your patience and limits to endure against the weather, the place, the dark gloomy nights and your inner demons. To end this post, I’d rather quote Iris Murdoch “We live in a fantasy world, a world of illusion. The great task in life is to find reality.”

CITY COUNCIL COMES ALIVE WITH THE LIGHTS OF CHRISTMAS

7^th November 2015 saw a gathering of  thousands of people around Albert Square in the Manchester City Council to welcome the Season of Christmas by sharing the fun of lighting the Santa, followed by an amazing display of fireworks. My friends and I went there too and it was an experience worth remembering. I decided to walk up to the city council as it is not far from my apartment. Moreover I could peacefully take some snaps on the way (which I did).

LIGHTING UP THE STREETS

A DISPLAY ON THE STREETS

 When I reached the venue, Albert Square in the City Council there was a huge crowd (I had no idea that in some time the crowd would multiply even more). Everybody waited patiently in the queue to be let in. There was a stage built up where music was being played. The enter premise was being managed by professional event managers. After some time it started raining and quite heavily! While I waited for my friends I saw many umbrellas being blown away in the windy ambience. But the rain did not dampen the spirits of the people.

SANTA WAITING TO BE LIT UP

LIGHTS 

PEOPLE ENJOYING THEMSELVES

On the arrival of my friends, we realised we had almost two hours to kill before the lights were lit so we decided to take a little detour to grab a quick bite. When we arrived after our quick bite the crowd had multiplied to almost thousands of people. Everyone waited patiently for the lights. Children came with their parents and after waiting for a long time climbed onto the backs of their fathers. Friends were waiting for members of their gang to join them. But such was the crowd that they had to lift up umbrellas and glowing sparklers to indicate where they were in that multitude. Interestingly enough, there were many lights up at the same time and some poor fellows travelled from one indicator to the other in order to reunite with their friends.

KIDS CLIMBING ON THEIR PARENTS BACK

Exactly at 7:59:50 by the City Council Clock the countdown began 10….9…..5…..4….3…2….1 and the big Santa was lit up to all its glory. The fireworks which started then lasted for a good ten minutes. All around me cameras and mobile phones were recording the elegant display of fireworks.

LIGHTING UP THE BIG SANTA

FIREWORKS

FIREWORKS

LIGHTING UP THE SKY

 After the fireworks, the crowd started thinning out. But the festive season is far from over. This was the start of a month and a half long preparation for Christmas. The pubs had to work harder to serve many of those who came to witness the spectacular visual display and decided to stay back and have dinner. Christmas markets are being prepared which would open from the 14^th of November. These Christmas markets are world famous and I would definitely visit them and let you know how they are in the days to come.

CHRISTMAS MARKETS IN THE MAKING

VENUE AFTER THE LIGHTS WERE LIT 

REFLECTIONS OF A FESTIVE MIND

While everybody is busy immersing themselves in the slokas of Birendra Krishna Bhadra, I happen to be planning about editing my assignments and submitting them on time. For the last 15 years Pujo has been an essential part of my life. Every year, whether it be in school or in college Pujo for me used to start a month earlier than it was actually scheduled to take place. Right from going to Pujo shopping with my mother and excitedly discussing what my friends and I bought and from where to which place had great outfits in reasonable price or which brand was giving heavy discounts, none of these talks ever evaded us in Kolkata. 

All three years of my college life, there was a specific date reserved for lunch with my school friends. Ashtami was always earmarked for the yearly get together of a crazy trio (including me). 
In fact as the days of the Pujo came nearer, news always reached me which pandal was being made of what and we started planning with our friends to visit those pandals. One day was of course reserved for pandal hopping with my family.

Instant plans were also made when we were out of plans.I still remember a friend (as adventurous as me) calling me up in the morning saying that there is still one day of the pujo left and we had no plans. So it was decided we cant let this happen and met in an hour to enjoy the one day left before bhashaan.

Residing in an area which is the hotspot of Durga Puja in South Calcutta it is impossible to not miss it. In Bengali people say 'Ashche Bochor Abar Hobe' to reiterate that there would be double the fun next year. But I would say 'Ashche Bochor Hotei Hobe' to console myself by saying that next year I will have to make it for the Pujas. 

Here in Manchester there are a few places that host Pujas. But I would call it a silent festival as there are no Dhaakis to announce the onset of the Festival; there are no children playing the drums constantly near your ears; babies in the laps of their parents do not take to the blowing whistles , the noise of which starts blowing your mind after a certain while; there are no colourful balloons in the air and neither are there bubbles reflecting the colourful environment.Hardly do even a hundred people gather around for the celebrations.

But nevertheless, probably it would turn out that staying away from home and the festival for a year will make me enjoy it in a grand scale next year. So, I leave you guys with best wishes for this Pujo and a very advance Subho Bijoya . Hope you guys enjoy this year and some of you are kind enough to send some photographs (Wink). The photographs used in this post are from my archives of previous year's Pujo. 

OFF TO A NEW CITY : MANCHESTER DIARIES

Life takes a different turn when you decide to relocate to another country. Apart from the feeling of missing your house, bedroom, study table, friends and other objects of interests, you have to face the herculean task of facing what's waiting for you in the new country.  The people, the landscapes, the language, everything changes . Most importantly you have to start establishing connections and make friends all over again. But, this is part of your journey . In fact, I believe that relocation does not only correspond to physically moving to another place but mentally moving yourself and adapting to the newness of the place.

Most know why I am talking about relocation but for those who are unaware it is because I am having to go through the task of adjusting and settling down in Manchester after having taken the decision of relocating here for a year to complete my higher studies.

Manchester is one of the most beautiful places I have seen, not because geographically it is picturesque but also because the people play an immense role in making it look beautiful. The city flourishes because of the people who live in- Courtesy seems to be everyone's middle name. The smiling and cheerful faces even on the rainiest and darkest days in this city can brighten up anybody's day . 

To be really honest I have not been around the town in my sightseeing mode so as to start describing the city ; but there are some photogenic places which I have been able to capture at this stage through my lens. So, the photos in this post can best be considered as a prelude to what is to come. 

With new experiences and friends in this cosmopolitan city, hardly will there be a day when I would not have anything to share with you. But as of now I would leave you with some photographs so that you get an idea of what is to come in the following days.

TOWN HALL MANCHESTER NEAR THE CITY COUNCIL

EMPTY BENCHES NEAR THE TOWN HALL

BEAUTIFUL AND COLOURFUL  TREES OUTSIDE (SOMEBODY'S) WINDOW

RANDOM STREET PHOTO

STREET SHOT OUTSIDE MY WINDOW

STREET SHOT OUTSIDE MY WINDOW

CLOUDS OUTSIDE MY WINDOW

Travel, Memories and Me

Travel has no real meaning without memories collected from experiences. This post as the name suggests, is on a very personal terms, where I try to recall and relive the memories gathered from various travels. Of course, while some were made with friends most were embarked upon with family. I do not wish to hinder the privacy of any person and thus the names are strictly withheld. But the memories which are shared by many would surely make them remember their part in it. This post is a rather different listicle than I have ever made till date; and I do so because most of us are on a verge of starting a new life- joining work, pursuing masters, maybe even getting married (who knows!). This may well be the last time before we hear of many until we meet in person years later.

So, let us begin!

1. I remember having gone to Shantiniketan with school friends for a project. Though the project itself took us only three hours of field work (and God knows how many months of analysis and factory manufacturing of graphs later); the rest of the time was free to explore the place. The excitement of travelling with friends (maybe for the first  and last time) started our day with some of us actually forgetting to bid goodbyes to our parents (me included).Upon reaching the place, all of us were most interested in taking in the air of a new place and enjoying a part of the authentic culture of West Bengal. We visited a park- played bowling, took some groupfies (the term wasn’t very popular then), and caught our teacher lying flat on the grass trying to capture some insect which had camouflaged itself in the grass. The next morning a dear friend was greeted by a monkey and I, well saw someone rather good looking outside my window. Well, I cannot miss out on the great food that we had especially snacks (at least I had never had such tasty veg pakodas in my life before and sadly never after too). The evenings were spent working on our project, sharing ghost stories and one distinct night we indulged in a sleepover. Most of us are in different parts of India today, but I am sure that these memories of our trip together (and also a promise to have a reunion ten years later in 2021) would always bind us with an invisible chord.

2. Mandarmani has been covered at large in the blog previously, but here are some more tit-bits which actually made the trip so interesting. This trip was made immediately after my higher secondary examinations and involved my family members. We had a quite uneventful journey except some constant blabbering from the driver regarding the choice of  songs that I played on the mobile phone. Our first day spent in the beach passed quickly. We admired the beauty of the place. My grandmother started talking to the people of the hotel. We found out the timings when there would be no electricity and planned to leave for sightseeing during those times. I also spotted a couple (maybe honeymooning, who knows) wearing  matching clothes at all times. Evening came, and our super smart driver instead of taking us to the local shops drove us straight to the fish market and got the tyres stuck in a quicksand! The rest of the evening was spent in telephoning the reception to fix our AC till both we and they got equally irritated of it and replaced it altogether. Oh and I missed the shell collecting part! The next day saw my uncle hastily entering our room while my aunt and I were playing (cards probably) to say that he had been calling my aunt many a times but she had not picked up. She replied calmly that the phone was on silent mode and thereafter he left. I spoke aloud just then that he actually did not say the purpose with which he was calling though he came and asked why she did not pick up the phone! That apart there were no memorable incidents and after a two night stay we reached home safely and I was indeed happy with the trip and to get rid of the fidgety driver.

3.  The first time I went to Delhi was in 2009 and I fell in love with the place. The ambience is such that every nook and corner of the city reminds you of an era of royalty. Our first destination was the Rajghat where I almost burnt my feet. The second was the Red Fort where I almost fell down in the moat below. It is said that in the Mughal era, the moat was filled with crocodiles .I thanked my lucky stars that I did not fall on a moat full of crocs! Let me also hint, that this isn’t the first and last time I was about to fall on a moat. Looks like I have a magnetic pull towards moats of all forts. The usual sightseeing followed with Lotus Temple, Street Shopping, Birla Temple, Humayun’s Tomb and Qutub Minar. I distinctly remember the name of the hotel we had lunch in -Art Chillies. Delhi Haat was reserved for some shopping. In fact we had such a friendly driver this time, that he actually influenced us to change our train schedule to Mussoorie, the next day to another road trip to the place. (But it was not altogether a bad idea!)

4. My visit to Mussoorie deserves special mention. I was practically dragged out of bed- a groggy eyed me – at 3:30 am by my mother. All of us were up and ready by 6 am. It was to be a long trip and we were to start as early as possible. But we got delayed. Apparently, the driver was not informed that we were to reach Mussoorie and so he backed out. But, the hotel staffs were cordial enough to get hold of another chap who took us. We stopped for breakfast at nine at a place in the highway (the name of the inn quite evades me) but I never knew highway food could be so tasty. We resumed our journey through sugarcane fields, a very rocky stretch of road near Ghaziabad and lastly hit the mountains. We stopped for lunch at the foothills and then continued. On our way back a day later we proceeded towards Haridwar before going back to Delhi.

5. My next trip to Delhi (2014) was just a stopover to check on a relative and then proceed towards Agra the very same day. But, the day happened to be the oath taking ceremony of PM Narendra Modi. Delhi was jam packed and so we were diverted to Jaipur for a halt till the Delhi airport got cleared. We were already delayed by a long time. Nevertheless, we resumed our journey checked on our relative and proceeded towards Agra. The next morning finally ended my patience of 19 years to look upon the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort (where I  was about to fall in the moat again !). The evening was reserved for shopping. But  Agra is an expensive place. The handicrafts are best to look at for people like me. For those who know me, they might recall the fact that a baby donkey, which I was trying to photograph, did not appear very polite and its push nearly wrecked my camera.

6. The same journey continued the day after to Jaipur stopping en- route to Fatehpur Sikhri and Salim Chisti. I had great fun riding  a local shared auto which is quite different from the ones found in Kolkata. It is more colourful and spacious. Of course thereafter inside the monuments I burnt my feet . A little kid started stalking us inside Salim Chisti repeatedly saying that he would recite poetry for ten rupees. Finally after seeing the monument we heard his poetry, gave him some money and bid him goodbye.

7. Jaipur was my favourite amongst the lot. The feel of Rajasthan is something different and invokes in me an excitement that no other place has managed to invoke. Chouki Dhani a village resort is a must visit for those who haven’t seen it. That apart I visited the usual places. The best part of the place was our hotel. It was built on the upper storeys of a shopping mall. The food was nothing less than that of 5 star hotels. The only thorn in the entire trip was the return journey when our Kolkata bound plane got delayed by almost six hours .

8. Asansol was my last family trip taken in December 2014. This trip also had our neighbours join in. Actually, it was on the insistence of my friend and me that our parents took this short journey. The first blow was when my father’s flight got delayed and we had to shift the entire schedule by a day. We were to start early in the morning but got delayed because I slept on. I was woken up by my friend at 5 am but then I got back to sleep and was late by almost an hour. We visited Maithon and Kalyaneshwari Temple. The next day just as we were about to start our journey – the car broke down. It took around an hour to get it fixed. We saw Panchet and so excited were we to reach our next destination that we forgot all about lunch. At nearly 2 pm we remembered , abandoned our destination , started food hunting and got something to eat nearly an hour later. The rest of the journey was quite smooth and on our way home we stopped at Saktigarh to buy Langchas –which are my favourite sweets. The days ahead were filled with my examination and were quite boring.

This post is probably the longest I have ever written but what is the fun of reiterating memories if not explained in details? Keep following for more such experiences, memories and travel accounts. 

5 Exciting Outdoor Adventures

I am sure there are many of you who love to spend your time carrying out various outdoor adventures. In fact most of the common ones have been covered by you in the mountains or on the beaches. If you still haven’t covered some of the exciting outdoor activities then do plan out your holidays to undertake some of them in this year.  I bring to you five of my favorite outdoor activities.

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 White Water Rafting- Goes really high on your adrenaline. River rafting in India is a famous activity on the Alakananda river, Uttarakhand, Kali, Zanskar , Kameng and the Brahmaputra river. River rafting can be done individually or in a group. However, experts always advise to go for team work.  There are six grades of river rafting identified by the International Rafting Federation. Various techniques need to be employed while rafting and thus a professional guide is a must. For all the environment conservationist the environment, water current, and safety measures are looked into first before undertaking a trip.  Moreover, you should be physically and mentally prepared to take on the thrill and stress of this activity lest it leaves a post traumatic stress on your mind and health.

http://goo.gl/cXP3bB

Specially made bikes are made available for all those who like to explore the mountains on bikes and at their own free will. The two frequently undertaken sports are cross country trail and trail riding. The following is mandatory while going on this journey-

·         Knowledge of handling a bike

·         Knowledge of mountain routes

·         Mental and physical strength

·         Bike gears

·         Rucksack

·         Water

·         First aid

It goes without saying that such trails should always be undertaken in a group. In fact nowadays special groups of only women are made where they take on this thrilling activity.

Some of the best mountain trails in India are:

·         Kufri-Nankhari- sungri- Tiuni- Lakhawati in the Himalayan Ranges

·         Manali- solang Valley in Himachal Pradesh is almost a  26 km ride

·         Cochin- Kumarakom- Munnar in the South should be travelled from October to March.

http://goo.gl/VGAVW4

Waterfall Rappelling is a method of quick descent through the waterfall. The water sprinkling all over your face and body during such a descent makes it an all the more enjoyable experience. This is very common on the Vihi Waterfall in Kasara apart from being carried out in the major waterfalls of the country. This activity is always performed under the visions of trained professionals and is also a great method to bid goodbye to your fear of heights.

http://goo.gl/RRvD0x

Night Trek is not available in very many places of India. There are few organizations which offer night trek on selected routes. One such route is the Anthargange Caving and Night Trek. This takes a minimum of three hours for a distance of four kilometers. One can experience caving, bonfire, amazing food, sunrise and nocturnal creatures during the session. Kunti Betta, Skandagiri and Rajmachi  are three other routes which offers night treks.

http://goo.gl/aXCv4q

Flying Fox or aerial runway truly makes you feel like a bird and view the world through the eyes of a bird. It enables a person to travel from top to bottom of a hill through a fastened rope and pulley system. This is common in most of the rainforests like Costa Rica, Florida, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua etc. Flying Fox is India’s first and only Zip Line Company.  So if you want to experience this thrill then you can know more about this organization and the trips that it organizes in http://www.flyingfox.asia/.

Although I have covered only five there are hundreds of other activities that you can carry out on such adventurous holidays. If you have experienced something different or tried out any different activities do share them with me.

Asansol -E-Hoi-Choi Part 2

The day two of my Asansol trip was filled with greater adventure than the previous day.  The day started very normally with all of us getting into the car and asking the driver to take us to Panchet. No sooner did the car start that the tyre was left punctured and we were to wait till the car was fixed. While the boys of our group huddled near the car with my father explaining the problem and the steps required to fix it; the girls found a quieter place to sit in and talk with the local shopkeeper. Soon, the shopkeeper turned himself into a guide for us and gave us tips as to which places we should visit and how to reach them. While talking to him, we found out about the ruins of an old fort –Gaurponchokot. In fact we did plan to visit the place as well after laying our eyes on Panchet. However, ultimately the plan was cancelled. It took about an hour of waiting (for others) and jumping about impatiently (for me) before the car was repaired and we finally resumed our journey.

Panchet was a well thirty-forty kilometres from our hotel and it took us about an hour to reach the place crossing through farmlands, small villages and barren lands. Panchet is a dam and has been maintained very well.  In fact the view itself is amazing. On one side there are steps to go down and enjoy the beautiful landscape gardens and on the other side one can view the clear blue waters flowing under the bridge to the other side. It is essential that the pictures do the talking here instead of me. As this was a short trip, my narration ends here itself .But there are lots of other exciting trips that I have been a part of after Panchet and I cannot wait to share those stories  as well.

VIEW OF THE LANDSCAPED GARDENS FROM THE STAIRS DESCENDING FROM THE DAM GATES

VIEW FROM THE GARDENS TO THE DAM GATES 

LITTLE BUDDY I FOUND HIDING IN THE BUSHES 

VIEW OF THE RIVER FROM THE GARDENS

VIEW OF THE WATER BANKS 

CLOSE-UP OF THE WATERFALL

DAM GATES 

BOATING

BIDDING ADIEU

Asansol- E- Hoi Choi- Part 1

Short weekend trips are a blessed luxury in the busy schedule of our lives. That is why, to avail the luxurious opportunity I agreed to a three day trip to Asansol and the nearby areas. Thus we left Kolkata on a very chilly and smoggy day at seven thirty (which in my opinion corresponds to dawn) so that we could reach Asansol, our destination as soon as possible and without wasting time get on with our sight -seeing. 

A VERY FOGGY ROADSIDE

TRUCKS AND CARS ON THE HIGHWAY

The almost five hour long road trip from Kolkata to my destination is a story in itself. Having had to wake up at five to be able to get ready and leave by seven thirty I had to compromise on my sleep. However, I made it up by sleeping in the car for an hour (and yes blissfully without being disturbed.) .Then started the regular war –of-the- music -sessions which included demands of old songs from our parents and the new hip hop ones from the younger lot (which included only two poor souls). We came to an understanding of having both types for an hour each!

Soon time flew by and we came to Shaktigarh. For me, I would call it the Land of Langchas- a traditional Bengali sweet. What was funny was that the whole stretch of land had small roadside sweet shops and hotels all named after Langchas- Langcha More, Langcha Sweets, Langcha Sagar, Langcha Junctions and many more Langchas with a variety of prefixes and suffixes.

SHOP IN SHAKTIGARH

HOT FRESHLY MADE LANGCHA

After a tiring nearly five hour journey witnessing two very morose and disastrous truck accidents and a huge traffic jam caused due to repairing work on a certain road and yes not to forget my first time usage of the GPS system that my mobile has, so as to locate our hotel, we reached our destination.

After a sumptuous meal and a photo session, we left for Maithon. Apart from being the dam that it is for an endless list of uses, it has become a very prominent tourist destination. With its clear blue waters where one can occasionally spot fishes and its boat rides to two nearby islands ; it has started attracting people from all over Bengal, Durgapur, Jharkhand, Asansol and the likes. It has become a weekend hub for many families living nearby.

BOAT RIDES FROM THE RIVER BANK

CAPTURED WHILE BOATING IN THE RIVER

VIEW OF THE DAM GATES FROM THE BOAT

To be very honest, the dam itself did not spark any glow to my face. In fact all I could notice was a lot a gates, water flowing from various parts of the dam, levers, machines, turbine room, engine room and the likes. This would probably have interested engineers a lot and in fact it did to the two engineers we had with us in this trip. What interested me more was the scenic beauty of the place.

The boat ride along the river was a mesmerizing experience. Not only did it give me an opportunity to experience nature's beauty but also gave me varied  angles to capture photographs from (which was my main aim of getting onto the boat anyway). As we were short of time, we decided not to visit the islands and explore them.

RIVER BANK

MOTOR BOAT

ISLANDS ON THE RIVER

KIDS POSING ON THE RIVER BANK

SUNSET FROM THE BOAT

SUNSET FROM NEAR THE DAM 

While going back I could see many visitors who were awestruck by the beauty of the sunset on the river waters. On our way to the hotel, we did visit the sacred Kalyaneshwari Temple.  However, as  camera's are not allowed inside I was unable to capture any photographs. But what intrigued me the most was I saw a jackal for the first time in my life happily trotting along cars on the roadside.

It is suggested by everyone in the area that it is not very safe to wander out of hotels and houses after four thirty –five in the evening. Thus we went back to our hotel to an evening of well -deserved relaxation and to prepare for the adventure that lay in front of us the next day.

And truly so, the next day was filled with adventures and amusing tales!

 But more about that in the next  post!