Off To The Jungles

The month of September have been a good one. It started with my semester getting over and there was a seven days long sem-break.While I was reeking my head about what to do in those ten days, a splendid opportunity came my way. A senior of mine from the university, who is presently writing his doctoral thesis, proposed me to go on a backpacking trip to the forests of Bandhavgarh in Madhya Pradesh. It was last in 2013 that i went on a trip like this, and naturally was very excited and said yes. I am generally very choosy about my traveling mate, and considering that i know this man for quite sometime I was sure this was going to be fun, and I wasn't disappointed  at all.

So we left on the 9th by train. Since it was a last moment plan, reservations were a big deal, but we managed two seats in the sleeper class. The journey was not a pleasant one considering the heat and the number of ill mannered co-passengers. But our tiredness vanished when we entered the forest by jeep, arranged by his father, who luckily for us happens to work in the forest department. He arranged a wonderfully comfortable forest bunglow for us as well, right in the heart of the forest. After freshening up a bit, we went out for a walk around the bunglow. As it was already 4pm, we couldn't venture farther into the forest.

The sun sets suddenly there and by 6 PM, its pitch dark. We spent that evening sitting in the balcony and listening to the birds coming back home. As the night grew darker, the sounds of the forest became interesting. now and then we could hear a deer bark or a monkey chirping and then the elephants. There was a salt pit about 2KM from the bunglow and if we stood at the window, and flashed the search light, we could see herds of elephants coming to lick the salt. The first to come were the elephants. then the monkeys, the deers, the jackals, and wild boars. All night long, I would stand at the window and flash the search light to look at the animals. No animal caused any trouble to the others. They behaved like a united lot, letting everyone get their fair share. It was a wonderful thing to watch. They came in groups, licked the salt and when they were done, went away in herd.

My friend told me that the early morning sunrise is a beautiful thing to watch and he spotted some rare birds as well, but I was fast asleep then, having stayed awake all night. We left the bunglow at around 9 AM for a jeep safari. We had expected to spot some animals, but sadly elephants and deer were all we could see. According to our forest guard, its too hot for the animals to come out during this season.

However, I enjoyed the evenings in the bunglow balcony much more than the safari. The sounds of the forest are much more a beautiful and thrilling thing to listen to than spotting animals.

On the last night, while we were sitting in the balcony sipping our drinks, I heard the sound of rain falling from the leaves, but when I looked closely it wasnt really raining. When I asked my friend if he could hear something, he closed his eyes and said, "Sri, this is the most peaceful sound on the Earth. Dew drops falling from the leaves." I was amazed. I never thought, the sound of the dewdrops could be heard. It was indeed the most peaceful sound. Serene. I closed my eyes and took in the sound. Everything the forest had to give me. We the people of the cities, miss so much that the nature has to offer us. The sound of the dew drops, the mating call of a deer, the sight of a mother elephant protecting her baby. The peace that I felt that night, sitting in the balcony of that forest bunglow, is something I have longed for. Something I will always be thankful to my friend for giving me. That was the best gift he could ever give me.

We came back on the 17th of September and got back to our regular lives with a renewed energy and freshness. However I had more to look forward to. My cousins and I have planned a trip to the Sunderbans in the following weekend. 25th being eid, it was long weekend till the 27th. So we took leave from work on the 24th, and left for Sunderbans, early in the morning. Now unlike the earlier trip, where it was only the two of us, this was considerable a big group of us 7 cousins. Daddy was kind enough to book a car for us till Godkhali, from where we would have to take the launch to our resort. The road to Godkhali via Bantala was anightmare. As soon as we crossed Malancha, there was practically no road at all. It was a bumpy way with huge potholes. we couldn't sit straight in the car for at east 2 hours, and when we reached a proper road, I started feeling pukish. From Science City to Godkhali, was a 4 hours ride. At Godkhali, port, we were greeted by a plumpy, friendly, amicable man, who was supposed to drive our launch to our resort. We boarded the boat and was informed that we would go through the forested area and it would take us 2 hours to reach. All through the journey we anxiously stood at the deck, straining our eyes, looking at the green surroundings, hoping to see some animal. But not even a monkey was spotted by us. We were utterly disapointed.

By the time we reached the resort, it was 3 PM, and our manager told us that we can't go anywhere that evening. So we stayed in and walked around the resort garden and talked about this and that. I found the ducks very amusing. They would stare at me and when I turned around and walked away. they would follow.

The next morning started early, and we left on our boat for Burirdabi, which was at a 4 hour distance from the resort. The weather was terribly hot and we were all drained of energy and any hope to spot any animals in this heat, by the time we reached the watch tower. There was no luck on the watch tower as well. I guess only we the humans were mad enough to come animal spotting in this heat. Not even a bird could be seen. However when we spotted a few tiger pug marks, we were very excited and the cameras went clicking away.

The next day we cancelled the plan to go to the buffer area anymore and coaxed and convinced our manager to get us a permission to the core area. He finally agreed and we set off for Netidhopani, about 2 hours away. The good thing about the journey was, only half an hour after we started the ride, the unprotected forest started and we were glad to spot a few deers, and monkeys and crocs. However no tiger luck. But the watch tower at Netidhopani was a beautiful place. We had to walk through a canopy and reach the watch tower. There were a number of butterflies fluttering around and none of us could sulk anymore. By the time we reached the boat, we were all smiling and talking about the canopy walk and even though we just spotted deer, we were happy.

The next day we took the boat back to Godkhali and then we were back home. We were sad that our trip was over and it was monday again and the monday blues were starting to take over, but there was a renewed energy in us and we promised to go back to Sunderbans again. After all we spotted the pug marks, who knows next time it might be the royal animal waiting for us...

Of Father and Daughter

Dad and I was recently having a conversation about what we mean to each other and what the love for family really is. This rare conversation was spurred by watching of Piku.

The movie talks about the love we have in the family or the lack of the same. My father reminisced that all fathers are Piku's father. Some like to come out with it and others pretend to be strong. For some of you who haven't watched the movie yet, Piku's father is a character who is very much dependant on his daughter on almost everything. He won't let his daughter marry someone or even come close to any man because he thinks otherwise he will have to live a lonely life.

My father is still going strong, with God's grace and is not at all dependant on me in any way. Well not at least physically. I mean he can take care of himself and go for his walks and even cook his own meals. But somewhere down there he is Piku's father. He can easily go and stay at his kolkata flat by himself and quite comfortably so, but he would stay with me in Burdwan and cook me meals and take care of me. If I am not there for a day, he won't go for his daily swim, because he is used to going with me. When it comes to marrying me off and mother expresses her regular anxiety about it, dad would calmly say, "She is just 25, now is not time yet." I somehow get a subtle tone of Piku's father, when he says, only uneducated lowly women, who has got no aim in life, gets married.

Dad and I am very close to each other since the time I can remember. Yes we had rough patches and both of us hurt each other in ways which we though were irreparable, but we can't do without each other at the end of the day. Obviously, I don't want my father to be Piku's father, dependant on medicines and thinking all the time that something is wrong with him. I want him to be a healthy man up on his feet as long as he can, but i like the small dependencies he has. I like it how he wants to live with me and how he wants me to accompany him on our daily activities.I like it how he goes for all the movies with me and how he stays with me so that he doesn't feel lonely.

True at times this closeness feels a burden, which makes me worried about his future, but I love him and I don't mind how he is possessive about me. He won't show it but I know he can't live a day without me coming to his room at night and covering him up or adjusting the temperature of the room.


I know someday I will have to live without him, and get used to the absence, but till I have him, I will get the most of him. I don't mind his crankiness or his scoldings, as long as I know he loves me.  

After A Long Time About This And That

I have been absent for a while, due to some personal and some not so personal reasons. it took me some time to recover from some unwelcoming changes that came to my life. However its summer again and though I hate summers, and this year I am in Burdwan so they are much worse.

Durgapur being a familiar place I knew the little pleasure spots of the city, But we moved out of the city and I thought I had enough of the place and would never miss it again. But with the summers setting in and the memories of that wonderful swimming pool makes me miss the place (Just one of the few things I miss.).
However to make me happy daddy pleasantly surprised me today by enrolling himself and me in the local swimming club in the town and we would be going swimming from next week.

Over the last one year I have changed two houses. We moved out of our 20 years of residence in Durgapur to our flat in Kolkata. Mom worked hard for over a month to make the house a home and she did a commendable job. But as soon as we were settled there and I started feeling at home after arranging and rearranging my room for like the 5th time, I got through the Masters course in Burdwan University. I tried travelling up and down for a few days and realised it was not very possible for me. So I took up a rented apartment in the town and Kolkata is just a weekend runaway for me now.

It took me some time to settle in but I like the course, and the people in my class. We are a small class of fifteen people and hence very close knit. I am getting all the attention from the professors and my Computer professor is really kind enough to give me extra time and extra effort to drill the very innate mechanical ideas into my head. I never understood machines and their process. They scare me.

The university campus is huge and green. There are three ponds in the campus and the buildings are old and thick walled. Its really comfortable in this summer heat.

Since my interaction with the world in particular was completely cut off, I had come close to my family and cousins because they were all I had. My cousins and I made some short winter trips and are planning to do some summer trips now.

Cutting myself off gave me a chance to think and I realised that all this time I was running after a mirage. I was running after and looking for the kind of feeling and companionship which can never exist. It was kind of selfishness that I was looking for. Good that i was hit hard on the head and brought back to reality. No I haven't given up on love but my perspective have changed. I still love but I dont expect to be loved back anymore.

The truth is the more we run after it the further away it goes. The trick is to just let it be. Just enjoy the feeling of love. Happiness is to realise that I was in love with the idea of loving and not in love with any particular person.

It took some time to sink in, but once I understood the feeling completely what I experienced was peace. A peace of mind which is bliss. Its like loving the lord himself and knowing that he is always looking over me. It doesn't matter if he cant be touched and felt.

That's all for now and I promise to be regular again.