Travel Diary

     Sikkim is the most preferable holiday destination for people of West Bengal and near by states. In the midst  the Himalayas, the state has many hill stations, where people can breathe free from their busy working schedule and relax their body and mind. Throughout the year, the temperature of these hill stations remain cool and enjoyable.     As part of our annual trip, this year we had been to Gangtok and Pelling. Gangtok, the state capital of Sikkim, is a famous hill station with all modern facilities. Though a crowded place like all other state capitals, the city life enjoyable and not so complex. Pelling is a city of Sikkim in the West Sikkim district. Both the places have near-by site seeing places and monuments. People, planning to relax, should opt for lesser travel time on the hilly roads. Though this was my 3rd trip to Gangtok in 6years, still I enjoyed each moment of it.     It was the first time, I was traveling in a...

     On the eve of Christmas and New Year, I have been to my home town. It was fully a family time to enjoy, as my sisters and relatives also visited to our home. We had few small trips near my home and around Keonjhar.     Our first trip was to the Gadachandi Temple and Hadagarh Dam. The motor bike ride in the forests of Baula Mountains was an exceptional experience to cherish about. The Gadachandi Temple is situated on the foot hills of Baula Mountain, around 8KM from my home. Maa Gadachandi is the adobe of the temple. A small fountain flows in front of the temple, provides water for the temple as well as to the visitors, round the year. The source of the fountain is still unknown, most probably from the Salandi River, flowing though the rocks of the mountain. Visitors, preferably the youth, prefer climbing the rocks along side the fountain through the forest. Due to insufficient time, we could not climb for a ample amount of time. ...

     During Dussera holidays, I have been to the Pink City, Jaipur, the state capital of Rajasthan. Pink color symbolizes the hospitality. In 1876, during the visit of Queen Victoria, the then king of Jaipur, Maharaja Ram Singh painted the whole city with Pink color to welcome the queen. Pink in color and pink in vibrancy, the city of Jaipur is one of most beautiful and magnetic cities of India. Jaipur is named after the Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, who had established the city. He was not only a great warrior but also an astronomer. The glorious past of Jaipur comes alive in the Palaces, Forts and monuments made by the royal family. The culture, architecture, traditions, art, jewellery and textiles of Jaipur have always charmed the visitors.     Including the weekends, I had a 4 days holiday this Dussera. This was the first time, we colleagues could not plan a single trip ourselves. Few of them teamed up with their friends to enjoy the ...

       It was long time since we were planning a trip to one of the southern hill stations. Last week, we, Sankalpites, had our trip to Vizag and Araku Valleys. It was a memorable trip for me and hence, I want to pen this down, so that the memories remain afresh.     We started our journey from Kolkata by train. We enjoyed the train journey by playing cards and small games. Our train reached Vizag (Visakhapatnam) in early morning and our trip planner has arranged vehicles to go to hotel. We became fresh there and started our site seeing around 10AM. The day we reached AP, the Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Parliament) passed the AP division bill. The major fear that all of us had in throughout the trip that the division of AP should not impact our tour. We started our trip by visiting the Simhachalam Temple, where Narasimha avatar of Lord Vishnu is worshiped. The temple is situated amid the mountains, close to the top of a mountain. The visit to the ...

      This year during Durga Puja, 10th Oct to 14th Oct, I was in Kolkata. Few of my relatives have come to Kolkata for visiting. My role was like a guide for them through-out their stay in Kolkata.     Kolkata is famous for Durga Puja and Kali Puja. On the very day they reached Kolkata we visited few Durga Puja Mandaps near Shobha-bazar, Ultadanga, Sribhumi and Kestopur. The theme of the  puja mandaps  and the light decorations were outstanding. The famous puja at Sribhumi has attracted thousand of visitors. We have wait in the queue at least for 1 hour to get a glimpse of goddess Durga. Few other interesting themes were, "mandir in jungle", "volcano on earth", "Belur math model" and "Kedarnath disaster and a view" etc.     On 11th morning, we visited Kalighat, a Kali Pitha. We went to sobha-bazar by bus, assuming that the metro rail will be running. But during puja, the metro rail had changed and trains were running fro...

     Indian Railways is the world's 4th largest railways network, owned and operated by the Government of India through the Ministry of Railways. We Indians have coined multiple names for Indian Railways, based on our experience on train journey and cracked multiple jokes on its routine behavior. I am a frequent commuter in the East Coast Division of Indian Railways. I would like to share some of my experiences ( P.S. : Only for reading, not interested in offending any person, community or government body ). At Boarding Station: Every time I reach the station, I have to look around and see whether I am safe or not, as if I am in the most wanted list of beggars. It is not only beggars, but the child beggars, who follow you as bees in the whole station, be it in ticket booking counter, waiting room or the bench on the platform. You will find that they will not leave you, unless until you give them some money. You will find some more number of beggars on the foot over ...