A SANGUINE TALE UNFOLDING THE LIFE OF A PROJECT ENGINEER

From childhood, I was a bit naughty and enjoyed with people who do not take life very seriously. Never miss any opportunity to enjoy any moment to celebrate with noise and naughtiness. All kinds of mischievous ideas were coming to my head all the time; I appropriately used such tricks when getting a chance to apply to somebody, irrespective of their age. Still, I was careful not to disrespect someone or target their ego. It was only for enjoyment for me as well as the victims. This nature was inborn may, be, and till today, in this latter part of my life, I also want to live a life like that, a child within me. Something innocent only for the sake of entertainment. I hate people with a no-nonsensical attitude and always remain serious; people are afraid of talking to them and forget about a joke about them.

When I entered my professional college, the situation in my state was very bad then, and we were normally taken by bus full for picketing in some vital installations at night also. It was picketing round the clock. There were no classes and evening we gathered in front of the college canteen. One day I was joking with my friend, mimicking one of our professors, and all my friends laughed. One of my friends repeatedly elbowed me, but I did not understand; at that time, someone had taken my ears, twisting with his hand and to my utter shock, when I looked back, he was the professor about whom I was joking. He also enjoyed it and told me to re-act; I just ran away. Many such things happened in my life, but I was good at my studies also, so I did not face many problems of this nature of mine.

When in service, I also tried to enjoy doing my job, finding out something which made my job interesting, and my naughtiness remained intact. My target this time was my seniors or my contemporary friends, and it was my favourite pastime to caricature the senior officers who are normally of very serious natures. My topmost boss knows about it, and he is also my type of character who always enjoy life whenever gets a chance. He always preferred to take me on tour and started cracking jokes on the road. We normally forget how long we travelled and always have a beautiful time. We built a very good relationship like friends during tours, though he is of my uncle’s age. But he was a different man in office, and senior officers were also scared to talk with him.  I also behave like a serious obedient officer with him in office. Life was going like that, and my absence in any get-together was felt by the other people asking for the Joker. But I have a problem, those people I do not like; I can not pass the time with them and never try to mimic them. Gradually, I went up the ladder and came to a senior position. My juniors know me very well as I always try to help them grow, but I was also very particular about timelines, so people were also scared of me. But I enjoyed every word or dug out pleasure in my work. Humour is a part of my life. 

After office hours, I enjoy with my junior colleagues, cracking jokes or having some kind of get-together; of course, drinks were a part of such events, but I have sternly told everyone on such occasions not to cross their limit otherwise, I will not come to the next event. 

Soon, the days of Facebook have come. I started to have a lot of invisible friends and share jokes or good pieces of music. I am a great music lover (I have a lot of collections of old melodies, gazals and videos, of course, all are now available on youtube ). People also share a lot of interesting, entertaining videos. The Facebook reels are a good source of entertainment. If I enjoy such reels without any vulgarity, I also share them with my other friends; some may enjoy them, and others may delete that was not my concern. One day I got a friends request from a very small girl, as understood from her profile, and I accepted her request. In reply, she addressed me as “Khura” (Uncle). I liked it and advised her to call me “Koka,” (grandfather) instead of uncle khura. She agreed, till then we, the grandfather and grandchild, have a lot of interesting time communicating and enjoying each other’s company. I do not know how time passed, and I retired from service one day. One day, my granddaughter told me very proudly on one of her birthdays she had completed her twenty Ist years and now entering twenty-two. But we still behaved like grandpa and granddaughter. Till then, we did not meet, but one day, she messaged me that she had seen me in a particular location where I was exactly there. I told her how she knew it was me, and she told me her father had shown me to her. On asking, I learned she is the daughter of one of my younger colleagues, and she shares all our messages with her parents .it was a great surprise both enjoyed. Many similar incidents happened to me in the real or the virtual world.

In the meantime, my Facebook friend was growing, and I was communicating with very few of them out of the total list. Actually, due to some health issues, I left smoking and drinking totally, and so gradually, I could not enjoy parties of our classmates or ex-colleagues. They have also become uncomfortable with my presence. I almost avoided such gatherings, politely giving some excuses and keeping myself busy with other activities. After my retirement, My friends and ex-colleagues also had come down drastically. I prefer to the friends on Facebook on my free time, but though the numbers are growing daily, I have only a very small group of people to whom I can open up and enjoy messaging. I started messaging when free and had a very limited number of people with whom I opened up. We share many jokes, important pieces of information, kinds of music, and comical videos, and rarely talk about families. Some relations were becoming closer, and some went away automatically as our mutual interests were not matching

One day,- I was sharing a beautiful Shayari I got from one of my friends, which I liked very much and therefore shared with a few of my friends. Almost everyone liked it and sent a return message to me, but I was shocked to get a message from one of my good(?) friends telling me it was jabbers and not to sernd such jabbers. The same person shared such messages with me earlier, so I was shocked. I asked what the problem was, I thought the person might not have been in a good mood on that date, but I requested to tell me why the message was but did not get any reply. After some repeated messages from me were ignored, I was forced to delete the person from my friend’s list. I can not change my nature at this age, and I want to live a life like Rajesh Khanna in “Anand”, even if no friends are with me. Romance in older age is rare but being romantic in mood is life long . Shayeri is one such think which make people romantic by its expressions and all shyer express such emotions so niceIy. Normally being in Urdu , sometimes it become difficult to understand but if one read it repeatedly , It becomes easy .None dislike a romantic melody . I can not be like a dead man waiting for my last days in remorse and would like every opportunity to enjoy my life, of course, without harming the ego of anyone. Be a joke or music or anything where there is humour, sometimes point blank or sometimes intelligent and tricky, which have to read a few times to understand(Tube Light) and enjoy my time. But this comment from a good friend was unexpected and hurt me a lot. That should not have happened, at least with me. Yes, I share jokes and other such things with people without any motive except to share the laugh and entertain someone I consider a friend and, as a result, get enjoyment myself. But this incident has made me consider whether to continue on FB or uninstall it. Several times, I tried to uninstall it. Still, I did not do it as my WhatsApp is not only used for communication with supposed-to-be friends but the various other activities I carry out beyond FB, which I used only to connect with my invisible friends,  without knowing whether they are genuine or fake. So I gradually thinning down my friend list and am still to decide where it will stop in this process.

After some days, I may be cracking jokes with Brownie, my sweet dog who knows nothing about this virtual world and human as species.

In April of 1976, during the Bihu Holidays, I visited Tezpur, a small and very beautiful township north of the Brahmaputra river—a very clean and historically important place. My eldest sister was married in 1975 and stayed in Tezpur. There was no bridge connecting the south bank with the north bank then, and people had to cross the river through a ferry run only once by the Inland water department of the state government at around two o’clock in the afternoon from Silghat. Another Ferry goes to Biswanath Ghat connecting Biswanath Charali. (Meeting of roads from four sides) from Silghat almost at the same time. The road communication from my place, Golaghat, to Tezpur, was very interesting. One Assam State Transport (ASTC) Bus plys between Jorhat to Silghat in the morning, and it has a quota of six seats to accommodate passengers from Golaghat. This bus takes us to Silghat ferry ghat.

In Golaghat, we must catch an ASTC bus to Kamargaon, nearly 30 km from Golaghat. We are to wait at the Kamargaon bus stand for almost an hour to catch the bus coming from Jorhat. The bus takes us to Silghat, and at Silghat ferry ghat, before the bus stops, people start jumping out of the bus throwing their luggage through the bus window and running over the sand beach to the ferry ticket counter, nearly half a Km to a KM away depending on the month of visit. In summer it is near, and in winter it is far from the bus terminal. The passengers create chaos, and they can not be blamed as if they fail to get a ferry ticket, they will be stuck there where no accommodation is available. It was a horror for the older people unless someone was with them to run and arrange their ferry tickets. After reaching the North Bank, people must run to catch the only ASTC bus half a Km away from the ferry ghat to Tezpur. One person in the family normally runs and occupies his seat and places a handkerchief or some baggage in other seats to occupy the seats for their family members coming behind. I enjoyed this thrilling experience, but it was horrific for senior citizens. The chaos in the bus is worth seeing. Those who did not get a seat on the bus created a stir by throwing out the handkerchief put on by someone else to block the seat by some other passengers and occupying the seat by force. This chaos continues for some time before the bus starts. There were a few taxis ( Ambassador and Jeep only) was also available at a very exorbitant cost, but those who did not get a seat in the bus compelled to take their services, paying the extra charges or otherwise walking nearly 5- 8 km(Depending on the location of the ghat which goes on changing with the water level of the river) to the town.

My earlier visit to Tezpur with my parents gave me a fair idea of the communications, and I am mentally prepared. During the Puja holidays in October of that year, I told my father I wanted to go to Tezpur. I was then studying in class Xiii, and my immediate elder sister was in class X. My father hesitated to permit us to go considering these communications issues, but I was adamant about going, so he ultimately yielded. I booked two tickets for us in advance, and the next day we started our journey from Golaghat to Kamargaon. Only a few private buses were plying in those days, except very few running between nearby places, and ASTC was the only service for long-distance travel. The red buses with a Rhino logo attached have a great authoritative look.

In Kamargaon, we were waiting for the bus from Jorhat to come after taking Samusa and Jelebi in a small shop near the bus stop, and ultimately the bus arrived. There was no hurry as the bus waited 15 minutes, and we occupied our seats. Soon we reached Jakhalabandha Bus station, where the Bus stops for quite a long time, and the passengers normally take their food there in the nearby restaurants as there is no more food stall available till reaching Tezpur. We also took some food, and I told my sister to come slowly with our luggage at the ferry ghat to the ferry, and I would run to get the tickets. Knowing the situation, we were carrying a small bag, and I ran to get the Ferry ticket, and my sister walked to the ferry with our pack. I arranged the ticket, and we soon occupied the ferry seats. It was nearly a two-hour journey before reaching the other side, and there also my sister was coming comfortably, and I ran to occupy two seats in the bus to Tezpur.  Luckily I managed two seats for us, but we had to share our two seats with accommodating an older lady who could not get a seat for her. From the bus stop, we took a rickshaw to my sister’s place and found my sister and brother-in-law waiting for us at the gate. On the road, we got a Public call office and informed my father that we had reached safely.

Next week we visited the Famous MahaBhoirov temple and the Padum Pukhuri(Lotus Pond), a beautiful pond with a road dividing them. The lotus was in full bloom, and the area was very beautiful. My sister and brother-in-law go for their duties, and we roam around the town. There were so many beautiful locations to visit, and we wanted to go to all the places, which was impossible. But we did not miss going to The famous Agnigarh, built on a hilltop by King Bana, who ruled during the Kurukshetra war and fought with the Kauravas against Pandava. The same is within the centre of the town. His daughter Usha was beautiful and in love with Aniruddha, nephew of lord Krishna. King Bana made this fort to keep her daughter Usha so that no one could take her away. It is now preserved as a place of visit for the tourist. The location is calm and quiet, and the mighty Brahmaputra and its sandy beach can be seen. The beautiful Cole park was nearby. Originally made by that time commissioner of Assam, Mr Cole, in 1906, Cole Park, named after him, is a major attraction of Tezpur. The park was renovated from time to time and maintained very well., 

Suddenly, my sister, who was with me from golaghat, fell sick, and my brother-in-law took her to a doctor. We had just entered the doctor’s chamber when there was a commotion outside. A few people brought inside a gentleman who was constantly shouting. He was well dressed and looked like a gentleman of around 65-70 years of age. His wife also accompanied him and looked like a lady from a well-to-do family. She was crying without stopping. The doctor put the gentleman in the bed and tried to check him up, but he was not allowing him to do that, pushing the doctor back with his hands and foot. With the help of the accompanied people and us, the doctor measured his abnormally high blood pressure. He was still shouting consistently. The doctor immediately injected him, and after some time, the patient gradually cooled down and slept. The Doctor asked the people what the matter was. The lady told him that they were travelling from Silghat to Tezpur through the ferry service and were perfectly alright, but 5-10 minutes before the ferry reached, he started behaving abnormally and gradually, it was increasing. The other two people who were their co-passengers noticed the change and helped the lady to bring him to the doctor. 

The Doctor asked the lady whether they had taken anything on the way. The lady first said No. But suddenly, she remembered something and told the doctor that one gentleman was travelling with them and had become very friendly with them. Half an hour before arrival, he gave them both paan(Betel nut with paan leaves). The gentleman had taken it, but the lady did not; it was still in her bag. The doctor wanted to see the same, and she took it out of her purse. The doctor opened it and found the  Dhutura (thornapple or jimsonweeds or Devil’s trumpet ) flower seeds mixed with it, which is a poison and makes people senseless. So the diagnosis was completed, and the doctor pushed him for another injection. By this time, their family members had reached and, as advised by the doctor, shifted to a nearby hospital for any requirement at night. The doctor then told us that this was not the first case. Some unscrupulous people normally get acquainted with people who look from a well-to-do family and give them something to eat. Without a doubt, the victim takes such things and becomes unconscious. Then these people took all the bags, cash etc., from the victim and left. Likely the gentleman has not taken the full Paan, and he did not faint by the grace of God. Due to our curiosity, we visited the hospital the next morning and met him. He is fully fit and apologised to us regarding his bad behaviour under the influence of the poison. I learnt a big lesson, and from then on till today, I do not take any offerings by any unknown person during travel anywhere. The person could have died if his co-passengers did not help him to bring him to the doctor.

This incident had affected us mentally so badly that we decided to cut short our Tezpur visit and return to our house. The journey was the same in the reverse and the last bus from Kamargaon to Golaghat. 

Rajat 

11/07/23

It was nearly 45 years ago, five of the child of my family, Four of my elder sisters and I grew up in a small town in Assam and were very close to each other. Being the youngest, I was the most pampered, and even though I was growing up, no one took me seriously or allowed any work to be done by me alone. If I am doing something, some of my sisters or parents will keep someone with me so that I am always under someone’s care. They never allowed me to go alone, especially after the evening.   Some of my relatives also reside nearby, and society then was different from what it is today, a closely bonded group. Everyone knows almost everyone, and people are more relaxed than today. There was no mobile, no TV, and only some well-to-do families had radios. Some local programme on the radio were very popular, and the News was very important, we all, our parents are waiting for the news during the scheduled time. The radio was also not for 24 hrs, and people become used to radio timing for their various work without looking at the big pendulum clock generally kept hanging on the living room wall. Presenting news on the radio is a great art, and both male and female news readers have a very attractive voice with clear pronunciation. At those time the news readers were known by everybody by their voice over radio. News presentation was also strictly limited to the news only and not the personal views of the news readers as in today’s world when News reader gives more importance to views than news on TV. The use of Radio is climbing down after TV gradually replacing them.   Our nearby ladies normally visit our place on Sunday at 13-30 hrs when a very popular Assamese play was broadcasted in the programme “Aidew r Bulini “which means ladies’ forum. Those were the day’s people were more oriented towards family and society. Everyone respected the seniors, and they also cared for us like their own family. Unfortunately, now, we all are becoming too busy doing our work and working like mad people earning a lot of money, but the human touch is gradually waning slowly, and they do not even know what the mad race is for. 

“Durga Puja” is one of the main festivals in Assam, and in Golaghat, my native place, a small township having two major Puja pandals during those days within a distance of half a kilometre between them. Both sides of the road had temporary stalls selling a lot of items: games, balloons, decoration items, Imitation jewellery (not Gold or Silver), Toy guns, etcetera and also some fairs where the Ferries wheels were very popular.

 There were a lot of food stalls temporarily placed for these four days. In Golaghat, all the people move within this half km area of the road several times, after praying to Ma Durga and then having special food on the roadside stalls, going to the fair and enjoying a lot. People from the nearby villages also gathered there, and practically there was a huge rush, and you needed to move on the road clasping each other hand with whom you are going, to avoid being lost in these human gatherings in such large numbers. we were all together 8-9 people, my sisters, their friends and a few of us boys junior to them. The girls were waiting wherever they found a jewellery stall or some hot pokora type of food, and we were interested in toy guns and the fair nearby. My sisters were not allowing me to go to the wheels and they themselves are scared to use it. suddenly all of a sudden, my sisters and their friends were missing. must have waited in some shop and by the time we cross the place. I and they also realised these after some time only as in the chaotic crowd moving in those confined areas with all enjoying food, the fair and shopping and finding out someone is very difficult if we are not clasping each other’s hand. I could not find my sisters, and during the process, my other two friends took me to the fair to go for a round in the wheels . During the process of pushing and pulling off the crowd as we came down the wheel, unfortunately , I lost contact with my friends also, and  I become alone in the crowd. I was moving from one side to the other but could not locate my friends or sisters. I was sure, they must be also looking for me but we could not get to each other. It was quite late already, and I thought they must have gone back home and later I came to know that after searching for us for a long time and not finding me, they had also decided to go back and were scared when they found I did not return till then. 

After searching for my sisters and not finding them and also losing my two friends, tears came to my eyes, and I started to go back home alone which is about a Km and a half. I may be around 8 years of age, then.

 From the place of worship and mela, there are people on the road, but after coming nearly half a km we have to take a turn from the main road. This road was totally empty, and most of the street lights were not working. I was very scared, but since there was no alternative, I was moved with great fear in my heart as I had never moved alone this late. Every noise coming creates my heart pump faster. Suddenly, I looked back and saw a man ( I am not sure) with a completely white dress from top to bottom with a monkey cap. I got shivering to see that and started moving faster, almost running. Sweat comes out. Suddenly, I heard the man in white shouting my name. I was terrified, and some stories of ghosts who took human shapes and behaved with their victim like a known persons came to my head . As must as I think, I was more and more terrified, and my legs were trembling. I suddenly look back to find the ghost I thought to be is also running behind me. There was a big peepal tree in the road, and we were scared to cross this area even in the day time . just ahead of the peepal tree, there is a culvert, and I heard many people have seen a couple always sitting in white dresses in the culvert at night. All these thoughts make me totally incapable of moving any further, and I was assuming the ghost in white will catch me now and kill me . I do not know when I Got fainted, and after maybe a few hours I find myself in my bed running with high fever and still shivering . My mother was beside me, and I found some pairs of eyes gazing at me from outside the glass window . I jumped out of my bed, and my mother , hugged me and told me that everything was alright and there was nothing to be scared of . My sisters and father came inside , and all sighed in relief , seeing me alright. I was given some medicine, and my temperature was gradually coming down. I asked everyone what had happened to me.

My sisters , after a lot of searching, could not locate me and thought I must be  returned home not finding me and they also came back home . But I did not reach home till then . My father was very angry with my sisters, and my father was almost going out for search me .   Then one of my neighbours came to our house , with me in his back in a totally unconscious state and placed me in a bed . after some time and putting water etc in my eyes I gradually came back in a sense and asked where I was and again went unconscious . My father called a nearby doctor , he pushed an injection, and I was going fully asleep to come back to sense after several hours. 

My neighbour  who was behind me in a white dress saw me coming alone, and he called me to stop so that we could go together because he thought I will be in frighten going alone on this dark road. But as he was calling only to help me, I became more and more frightened and finally 

Collapsed . but for me , my sisters got good banging from my father . A few days after, when I was fully fit , my father called me, and he explained to me that there is nothing like a ghost and it is only our fear that brought those thoughts to our mind .Then that evening after having our dinner , my father took me with him to the place where I got collapsed, and with the high-powered torch, he showed me the area , and told me to see everything with my eyes . He told me to go to the peepal tree alone , but fear again came to my mind – maybe a ghost came this time in my father’s shape, and I ran back to my home leaving my father there . I heard my father laughing . But he did not leave without removing my fear , and took all my sisters with me the next night and told my sisters to go to the peepal tree , and she obeyed, and after touching the tree, she came back safely. All of us were told to go one by one , touch the tree and come back . I also did that . Then my father , show us the culvert , with his torch and told us to see . Nothing was there . Though originally , I was very scared , my fear gradually evaporated when our father showed up and got done those exercises .

 I came on that road later even late hrs and fear is not coming to my mind. 

Rajat 17/06/23

SECTION 3,

Nuwara Eliya to banderwala is 2 hours by road .We did not wait anywhere on the road and went straight to a beautiful restaurant cum bar in the city’s centre. The weather was comfortable, around 22 degrees centigrade, and it felt a bit hot as it was a fully sunny day, and Nuwara Eliya was around 16-18 degrees at night. We three, including Nishi, sat at a four-seater table and asked for a beer. As usual, my wife went for soft drinks, and coconut water was available, her favourite; I told Nishi no more than one can as he had to drive another few hours. We slightly changed our travel plan and went to Bentota, where we booked a two-night stay; our tour operator made the necessary changes without additional cost. We discussed with some of the tourists from the south and the Manager and made some changes to our itinerary after consulting with some tourists at Banderwala, and we met the owner of our restaurant. With this temperature and the middle of the day, beer is quite comfortable, and I took one more by the time my wife and Nishi jointly decided on our lunch order; the waiter told us it might take half an hour, but we said that was ok. A hotel Manager is a man of around sixty years, and he came to us and gave us many tips; he has white hair and looks pretty cheerful. He recommended some changes to our itinerary. My wife was going looking the menu card for some special Lankan delicacies.  

Sri Lankan dish for lunch. It took some half an hour to serve. Nishi told us that while returning from Yale ( we have a two-night stay at Yale), he will arrange our lunch at one of his friend’s houses, who is running a small restaurant near the beach and on our way. We agreed immediately. The Manager was talking to us about the city, how he had started his restaurant nearly 20 years back and asked about our family. He wants to visit India, but for whatever may be the reason, it has yet to materialise so far. I told him to make a plan, and if he had informed me earlier, I could arrange some hotel for him and his family at a reasonably low cost as our department has a lot of Guest houses all over the country and putting a room will not be that difficult in those places which are pretty good. He thanked me. His elder son is an Engineer who passed out from Chennai in India and is now working in a company in Colombo.

We enjoyed talking to him and, during the process, took one more can of beer and enjoyed the whole ambience. The restaurant attracts many customers, and since it is peak lunchtime, it is almost complete, mainly tourists. Many customers were coming and going, some waving at us and some we talked with before changing our plan to go to Bentota. We waited outside, where there was small but beautifully maintained carpet grass and flower plants. There are swings in one corner, and I used them for a long time. It was delightful. There I met some more tourists. Also, all seemed to enjoy and relax during their visit to this small country, having every kind of weather and a reasonably developed tourist infrastructure. There is no language issue, and people can speak English well In most of the places we visited.

After nearly half an hour, we started to Bentota. If we had decided earlier, Bentota would be nearer to Nuwara Eliya; from here, it is almost four and a half hours. We chose and were happy later that our decision was correct for people of our taste. My tourist operator arranged this, and he charges nothing extra for the changes except the difference in hotel tariffs. Banderwala to Bentota is 265 km, almost 5 hrs, and has many hotels to stay alongside the beach. The road could be better, and we have to go slowly, again, no wait anywhere. The hotel manager gave me two cans of beer for the road, which became very useful. We reached around 6-30 pm and told the reception people to take us to the room straight. I was feeling for a bath badly and slept for some time. In all the hotels I have seen, there is an arrangement for the drivers’ accommodation and fooding as many tourists come by bus or cabs /car. If they do not provide the facility, the drivers or the tour operators will book you in another hotel. So competition helps the drivers for accommodation and food free from the hotel. Nice business arrangements.

When we reached the hotel, it was almost dark, and the hotel was lovely. The rooms are cleaned and maintained properly. Our room was on the first floor featuring a balcony with a beautiful sea view and the coconut trees enhancing the beauty, and dining was on the ground floor, with a village-like ambience created beautifully. Two artificial ponds were created inside the dining area with different varieties of sea fish.  Through the door, we can directly go to the beautiful beach, and there are few tents, and sitting arrangements are made where room service is also available. We decided to have our dinner early. We were also hungry and decided that tomorrow morning, we would go to the beach before sunrise.  

We got up quite early and went to the beach, which was clean, and the sea was also calm. We saw the sun rising gradually, and it was such a lovely view. Soon hotel residents started coming, and all were enjoying the scene. After some time, we decided to go to the sea and play with the seawater going and coming with the sea waves. How the time was going, we did not realise. After an hour, we came out of the sea and cleaned in the showers placed in one corner so that we should not carry the sand inside. We sat under an umbrella-like tent and placed the order for our breakfast which was complimentary. We sit there for a long time enjoying the sea views, and as soon as the sun rises, more and more people go to the sea. We came back to the room. I saw the TV and emails I had not seen for the last few days.

We had our bath, slept, and woke up only when the room intercom rang from the reception that lunch would be closed within some time and whether we would take our lunch.  I told him we would be dining hall within 10 minutes and have lunch. The receptionist, a young girl, was giggling and enjoyed my panic reaction of missing the lunch as I heard over the intercom. We reached the dining area within the next 10 minutes as no formal dress was necessary, and I wore shorts and a T-shirt. I asked Nishi whether he had his lunch, and he said yes. I told him I was not going anywhere today and told the tour operator to cut my two days stay at Colombo to one and increase my stay here for one more day. It was so relaxing here.

TO BE CONTINUED

SECTION -2

 CONTINUED from section -1,

After seeing the map and discussing it with our favourite Nishi, we almost fixed our plan for the next day and told Nishi to report at 8-30 am and to leave by 9 o’clock. The place to be seen was almost decided. But there was rain for some time at night. I was hoping there would not be rain tomorrow. The room was comfortable and cold towards the morning, but AC was unnecessary. Here individual room ACs were fitted, and the room was comfortable. 

The hotel is at a height from where we can see the lush green tea gardens in the morning. It is an eye-catching view. I am told that Nuwara Eliya is the leading tea-producing and exporting area of Sri Lanka. The morning was sunny, and the fresh air made our day fabulous. We were ready and finished our breakfast when Nishi came. We took a backpack only with us with our camera and went out, telling the receptionist that we were not coming for Lunch and we would check out early the next day. 

Nishi told us that the area near Nuwara Eliya has a few breathtaking waterfalls, tea plantations, a beautiful hillside grassland, a lake, and so on. The impressive colonial architecture may be more than a hundred years old, which increases the charm of this place.

We have rechecked the list and found three powerful waterfalls: St. Clair’s, Ramboda Falls, Laxapana Falls, Aberdeen Falls and Bomburu Falls, etcetera. And several beautiful tea gardens, especially, The Pedro Tea Estate and Bluefield Tea, attract many tourists. The Horton Plains National Park was another major attraction. To reduce our travel time, we decided to go only to one fall, the grassland and the lake, and the National Park, and return to the hotel early to walk through the city of Nuwara Eliya.

We immediately started for the National Park, which is around 30 km, and took nearly 40 minutes. It is at a height of 7000 ft from sea level. About 30 km away from Nuwara Eliya lies on a plateau. The park is famous for leopards, but unfortunately, we did not see any. From the top, the city looked great, and I was coming back lazily while Nishi was saying to go back early to cover the other places. World’s End viewpoint is lovely and passes through Bakers Falls, our next destination. These are also trekking routes, and tourists enjoy trekking through these routes.

We then proceeded to Gregory Lake, an ancient lake almost as old as the town. It was constructed to supply electricity. It is now a popular tourist destination. 

The lawns around the lake are a jogger’s paradise, and street food vendors are getting their livelihood from their small shops in these areas. We got our cardamon tea here, which was very good, and I took two cups and filled my flask full, which would be sufficient for me till reaching the hotel. We used the paddle boats look like a swan neatly arranged at one end of the lake to take us around for what can only be described as a ‘surreal’ ride.

We were already late from our schedule and moved to Victoria Park, which is also ancient but nicely maintained. Nishi told us that most of the trees here were once brought from Scandinavian countries by the Britishers. A dedicated kids’ section with playgrounds and other facilities was also available to entertain its young visitors. Nishi told us that the park also has many migratory bird species, and we could see if we came in the morning. The area is extensive, and we cut short our travelling around the park so that other places are noticed.

 

Moon Plains is about 12 Km from our hotel, The Second Worlds End. Almost all famous peaks of Sri Lanka are visible from here, including single-tree mountain, Piduruthalagala, kirigalpoththa, and these areas produce much potatoes in Srilanka. We have seen a herd of buffaloes and deer on our way.

We dropped our visit to Hakgala botanical garden as we had already seen the National Park. It is at an altitude of around 5000ft, and we were told it has a massive collection of different species of trees and orchids. Since it is not the flowering session, we may not have the flowers blooms at this time of the year.

Galway’s Land National Park is inside the city and is a comparatively new and small wildlife sanctuary for birds and flowers mainly and protects few endemic species. Barking wild deer and the wild bore is also available, and it is open throughout the year, Nishi told us as we skipped this place also. 

One more day was required here in Nuwara Eliya to cover all the sites, but we had to leave the following day and skipped whichever was not very important or came in the same category.

Lover’s Leap is a beautiful waterfall and a collection of streams falling from around 150 ft from the peak of Piduruthalagala. Nishi told us that there are some exciting stories of this fall near the city, and the route going through a beautiful tea plantation where the tea leaves are now coming up, and plucking has just started.

Nuwara Eliya Golf Club has one of the world’s oldest golf courses and owes its existence to the British colonial rulers of the time In the hilly terrain of the Golf Club. It is as old as 1889. The grounds are very well maintained, and visitors are allowed to play, unlike most golf courses in other parts of the world where only members are allowed entry.

We just had a bird’s eye view of the Golf club and were hungry too; we told Nishi to go to a roadside Dhaba(restaurant) where good Indian food was available. Nishi took us to a small but spotless restaurant, and we got the menu card after thorough research of the menu card; we finally selected our food, but the waiter was having a language problem, so Nishi was talking to him in his language. We had pretty tasty food but a bit spicy, but we enjoyed it; we were too hungry.

Adams Peak is one of the most revered religious places at 700 ft. The significant foot-shaped location there is believed to be the footprint of Buddha, and the Hindus believe it to be of lord Shiva. We avoided visiting the place as it needed climbing up many stairs, and my wife needed help walking those uneven stairs. We prayed from the area till which the car could go and come back. 

Seeta Amman Temple,  Seeta being the wife of Lord Rama, it was believed that Sita was born not from her mother’s womb but from the earth, and people pray to her as the daughter of mother earth. The footprints of Hanumanji are there, as believed; this is the famous Ashok Vatika where Sita, wife of Lord Ram, was kept by Ravana after the kidnapping, which became the cause of the famous war of Ramayana.

Ambewela Farm is a lush green farmland known as the New Zealand farm. The blue skyline and tall mountains and famous for organic cultivations there. About 20 km from Nuwara Eliya, a very peaceful place. People come for a picnic, having a lot of small coffee/ tea stalls. It has the flavour of a typical village atmosphere with countryside charms. I would like a place like this to spend my days after retirement. Tea plantation is abundant in and around Nuwara Eliya; whichever way you move, tea plantation is visible.

  We were pretty tired when we reached our hotel, and my wife told me she would not go for the city walk and rest. A had a hot bath and immediately went to the Bar, had two rounds of whiskey fast, and was about to leave for the walk. A gentleman came to me, and we got introduced. I was lucky; he was also looking for someone to go for the city walk. We started. He is from Denmark and seems to be very happy visiting the place. He has two girl children working in the UK now, and he divorced a few years back. Now, whenever he can, he visits a few countries yearly. He is a lovely gentleman who likes to speak and goes on talking about his country, but he comes back every time, why they divorced and he did not marry again. Soon we became good friends, and till today we are mailing each other or talk.

Walking around the city was an excellent experience, and my new friend Victor made it more interesting.

The walk taking us through its colonial bungalows keeps, yet nicely, the beautiful streets, temples and churches. The town beautifully waves itself with nature, and you can walk by jungles upon jungles and tea gardens not far away. We walked for an hour and a half, returned to the hotel, and went straight to our favourite destination, the Bar with dim lights welcoming us. Victor, by this time, I am calling him as Vicky ordered two whiskeys, and soon we give a repeat. I called my wife, but there was no response; the second time, she picked up hers, and from her voice, I understood that she was fast asleep when I called her. She asked me the time, and it was 9-45 pm. I told her to come to the restaurant for dinner, and in the meantime, Victor ordered the third. We were about to finish when my wife arrived, and I introduced her to my new friend Victor. 

After a light dinner, we parted, telling each other, Brother, we will meet soon. He was such a nice guy.  I was pleased.

We told Victor we would leave early after breakfast and may not meet tomorrow. Still, we will meet somewhere someday, but we will keep contacting. In the morning, we were taking breakfast and checked out. Nishi has already arrived. I was astonished to see Vicky waiting for us to say bye. We hug each other and leave.

Our next destination was Hambantola via Bandarawala.

 

TO BE CONTINUED

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এটা অণুগল্প

কালি মোৰ খুব ভাল  বান্ধবী এজনীয়ে এটা গল্প পঢ়িবলৈ দিলে পঢ়ি আগ্ৰহটো লাগোতেই গল্পটো শেষ, ম‌ই

 কোৱাত তাই জনালে,এইটো বোলে অণুগল্প,  আগতে জনা নাছিলো  অণুগল্প কি । উওৰটো মই এটা

অণুগল্পৰে দিলো কেনে হৈছে কবচোন ।

বজাৰত গৈছিলো শাক-পাচলি কিনিবলৈ এই গৰমত ফুটপাথত বহি বৰ কষ্টৰে দুপইচা ঘটিছে | মানুকেইজনীক দেখি দাম কৰাৰ মন নগল, কি কৈছে তাকে দি বস্তকিপদ চাইকেলখনত তুলি ঘৰলৈ বুলি উভটনি কিন্ত্ত কি, চাইকেলখনৰ যে দুয়োটা চকা puncture , ওচৰত দোকানো নাই ঠেলি ঠেলি চাইকেলখন লৈ ঘৰ পালোহি | মুখত মাত ওলাবলৈ অলপ সময় লাগিল পানী গিলাচ খাই

SECTION -1

We landed at the Bandaranaike international airport, Colombo, after a nearly 3-hour flight from Kolkata. The driver was waiting in front of the arrival with a placard with my name and his company’s name.  

I was worried whether he would be there and this was my first visit to Colombo and all the arrangements and bookings, a new travel agent made this time. The driver immediately escorted my wife and me to his beautiful white colored car and put our luggage in the boot space. He was a young man with a lovely smile and maybe around 25 years old and spoke fluent English. He told us that during the whole tour, he would be with us in his car, and he would also act as our guide. We were delighted at the very first introduction to him and with his mannerism. The tour operator printed your program and was with our driver, and he gave me the same, which was as per our booking. Today we will be relaxing in an excellent hotel in Colombo, and the next morning, we will start our actual program immediately after breakfast. The hotel staff were terrific hosts and led us to our designated room. The lady who came to drop us in the room described all the facilities the hotel provides and how we can get any assistance required from the hotel. She gave us the intercom list, bar, and menu card and told us that the bar and restaurant are available till 11 pm and breakfast is complimentary, and starts from 6-30 am in the open restaurant on the ground floor. The Lunch and dinner and the bar are on the first-floor restaurant. She was a thorough professional and spoke in excellent English, very polite, a charming girl maybe of around 25 yrs of age with a long bunch of hair and wearing a beautiful flower in her hair. She looked very beautiful in a white saree with red borders and a red blouse, she was adorable, and her smile made her more beautiful. We thanked her, and I decided to have a bath before going to the restaurant for our buffet lunch instead of ordering room service as it allows us to meet people and take food together instead of having food alone in the room.

 It was 2-30 pm local time when we reached the restaurant, which was nearly full. I took a Vodka, and my wife started with some soups. The food was delicious, and all kinds of foods were available, and especially for us Indians, there was no problem with the food. All the restaurant people have a smile on their faces and are always prepared to see if you need any help. It was a lovely time. We spent nearly an hour there before coming back to the room. The weather was very comfortable, and I kept the room temperature at 24 degrees in the central AC and decided to sleep and plan for tomorrow. The Itinerary we made in a way that we should relax more than running from one place to another as happened in a conducted tour. We made our stay a bit longer enough, and our main objective of the visit was to relax for a week before going back home to again get busy with our hectic schedule.

The next morning, we start our day early. Having a cup of tea in the room, I went to the pool to spend some time in the beautiful atmosphere. I returned to the room, my wife was ready, and I hurriedly took my bath, and we went to the ground floor restaurant for breakfast. The hotel boy came to me and informed me that our car had already been reported. The relaxing atmosphere of this open restaurant made us very happy. We got introduced to many families from the USA, Canada, European countries, China, and many people from India. Soon we checked out of the hotel, and our driver, Nishantha, put our luggage in his car. We started calling him Nishi, and he was pleased.

Nuwara Eliya is our destination today. We selected the road via Kandy from Colombo; Nuwara Eliya is well connected from Colombo either via Kandy or via Hatton; if traveling by road, Nishi told us, Both the roads are not in good condition to drive to Nuwara Eliya, but the Kandy road offers excellent scenic views. Nishi told us that we would go through Kandy, and it would take nearly 7-8 hrs, considering the time for Lunch and photography on the way. The distance from our Colombo hotel to Nuwara Eliya is almost 175 km. In Sri Lanka, this township is one of the most suitable and famous tea plantation sites and a hilly place with comfortable weather at this time of the year. As I am from Assam, we have enough experience of tea garden views, but we still want to see the place on a mountain slope. The road could have been better, and we had to go slowly. Nishi is giving us a complete description of the area, people, and their food habits. I told him to play some Singhalese fast music in his car music system, and he played some fast music which was very entertaining. The communication between these places is very good for Colombo. The city of Colombo is the nearest airport to Nuwara Eliya. One can reach the city by taking a flight to Colombo; the tourist can take a cab from there to the beautiful mountainous paradise. Nuwara Eliya is very well connected from Kandy and Hatton, and frequent bus services are available. Nishi told us that Hatton Road and Kandy for cars and vans are almost the same, but Kandy Road is steeper and more beautiful though it takes some more time. We told him to go whichever way was better, and we were enjoying the natural beauty. It was the month of January, and Colombo was quite comfortable, but as we approached our destination, we felt cold and took out our warm clothes.

Kandy is connected by bus or train journey and a beautiful hill station. The fare is quite nominal. It is around 115 km from Colombo.

Kandy is a major city in Srilanka’s central province. Nishi, Our driver cum guide, goes on explaining every small thing we are crossing, and it seems that he is a master of the subject. On asking, Nishi told us that he had been in this tourist business for a pretty long time, and said with a beautiful smile that he was working in the company when he was very young and continued working with the tourist bus operator carrying tourists and learned all this information from the guide who travel in that tourist bus, Soon he started driving a car in the same tourism company. Only last year purchased his car with a loan and is now independent and better off. He got his customer from the tourist agency, which took a commission from him. During this period, he heard the guide explaining to the tourist, and he learned about these areas. Kandy is in the midst of hills in the Kandy plateau and was once the capital during the king’s era. There are several tea plantation areas here, and they have breathtaking views. Kandy, in the central province, is both an administrative and religious city.  

The original name of Kandy was Katu Bulu Nuwara, but the more popular historical name was Senkadagalapura. I asked our driver Nishi, several times the words so that I could keep the same name in my memory after reaching the hotel; I can keep those in writing. The name Kandy was most probably given by the English from the word interpreting the land on the mountain. The city is in a loop of the River Mahaweli, the largest & longest river on the island, and the climate changes, and we gradually feel comfortable coming out from the hot and humid climate of Colombo. This area is famous for its Tea gardens, rubber plantation, and paddy fields, a perfect site for our eyes. And Nishi goes on to talk about all those places; he speaks perfect English and describes things in such a way that becomes so interesting. This area also produces a lot of bananas, pineapples, mangoes, and other fruits, and going up the hill, we found cinnamon and nutmeg plantations also. Nishi told us that during the week, he would be with us till dropping us off at Colombo airport for the return journey; he would take us to a place where Cinnamon is planted in a big way and produce the Cinnamon ready for sale stage. We told him that we would definitely like to go there. Nishi and my wife went on talking, as there was no end to the question from my wife, and he answered all such things with a smiling face. I noticed sometimes he talks to someone when he does not know the answer and then tells us. We were too happy with him.

From Colombo, We first visited the glorious Kelaniya Royal Temple, which is around 10-15 km from Colombo. This place is of significant spiritual value to Buddhists, and the temple stands majestically on a higher plain of the west bank overlooking River Kelani (Kalyana) that flows right in front. There was calm and peacefulness in the entire place, no other sound than the chanting of the monks, most soothing to the ear. We make a round there and sit for some time and feel fresh. We passed through various places, and with advice from Nishi, we skipped most of the sites except, Pasgama tourist village, Miriswatta (Uruwala Temple, Henarathgoda Botanical Gardens), Kegalle, Pinnawala elephant orphanage Spice Gardens, The Millennium Elephant Foundation, Peradeniya Royal Botanical Gardens with River Mahaweli flowing right behind it. We took tea (red) wherever we got some shop as I need tea very frequently and 8carried a flask of tea. We did not go to the tea center as my state Assam is famous for tea, and we saw lots of tea gardens. We did not wait anywhere between Kandy and Nuwara Elia as it was already late, and since we would be staying one day more, we postponed those places for the next day.

 Because of our on-road activity, we reached the hotel late, after 7 o’clock, and I went for a hot bath and then went to the bar to have a peg of scotch. Next to me was a Spanish couple sitting with their drinks, and we went on gossiping after the introduction. Their English could have been more fluent, and a lot of the time, we were explaining things with our hands and facial movements. They are friends who have not yet decided to get married and live together. They told me that they usually, for a few months in the year, rent out their property, and with that money and from their savings, they roam around the world every year. We went on refilling our glasses, and by that time, my wife had also joined us and participated in our conversation. They also told me their intention of going to India from Sri Lanka, but they only knew about my state Assam if it is full of jungles and famous for rhinos. It took me some time to give a lecture on Assam and how beautiful it is. They were surprised and told me if they could manage, maybe in two or three days, they may come to Assam. They took my numbers and never called again. Maybe their plan for visiting Assam could not be materialized.

We planned our tour to reach Colombo on the west coast and then go south to the central province of Nuwara Eliya. From there, we are going towards the east coast to the south. 

TO BE CONTINUED