Kolkata-Howrah

I happened to visit Kolkata erstwhile Calcutta last month. I was there to attend a convention of our Indian railways interest group. The moment venue was announced as Kolkata, I immediately registered for the event. Kolkata is the most prominent major cities in India which had remained elusive to me. I had never been to Kolkata before or on this eastern part of India. I was quite excited for this trip and waited patiently for the day to arrive. Kolkata forms a significant part of Indian conscience having been bred through several literary, culinary, historical anecdotes. It being a city bigger and grander than Mumbai till some time back, capital of British India, home state to Rabindra Nath Tagore, place in Indian freedom struggle, contribution to Indian film industry and most importantly due to its colorful people whom I have met time and again and have become good friends. Here’s the famous symbol of Kolkata or the hyphen (aka bridge) connecting Kolkata and Howrah, the mighty Howrah Bridge.

Howrah Bridge - defining symbol of Kolkata

Though I had initially planned to spend 3-4 days but had to curtail it to just 2-3 days due to some personal work. With convention happening over 1.5 days, practically I had only one day to explore the city. It took more time to reach Kolkata than I had time to go around. Due to lack of credible trains from Pune, I decided to take train from Mumbai which was in the evening. The train was Duronto express which is a non-stop (no commercial stoppages) from Mumbai to Howrah and would reach next day in the evening. The train ride was comfortable and enjoyable which also formed important part of the trip. Most of the time I was glued to the window looking out as I was traveling on this line for the first time. I got down at most places where the train made unscheduled halts. Finally I passed through all the places which I used to draw on geography maps in school – Rourkela, Bhilai, Tata Nagar etc. famous for their Coal, Iron and Steel industries. I was passing through Odisha erstwhile Orissa, Jharkhand and West Bengal for the first time. That day most of the route was foggy which was surprising but I think it was due to lot of air pollution due to several industries and thermal power stations.

The train reached around 45 minutes late by 8:30 PM which was a bit late for foraying into an unknown city. However, my companion obliged and insisted on dropping me to my guest house before proceeding to his relatives place. For people who are not familiar, Howrah and Kolkata are two separate municipalities though Howrah station is the main terminus for Kolkata city. The station is huge and for certain platforms one can bring their vehicle all the way adjacent to the platforms. Such luxury is not there in cities like Delhi/Mumbai. We were beneficiary as the car to pick us up was right next to platform. My guest house “Marble Palace” was located in “BeckBagan Row” close to Lal Masjid. The street was abuzz with activities – eateries, shops, traffic, pedestrians, people washing utensils, shop floor and themselves from the open water faucets. My companion told me about these open faucets where water keeps on flowing without stop for general public. Kolkata seem to rare water surplus city. It was a little unsettling initially to be located in such a place but on my companion assuring me of values of this city to be polite, helpful and cultured I was fine. My guest house was an old bungalow now converted into a guest house. The rooms were of Royal size – high ceiling, huge windows, old-style spring and coir sofas, really long door bolt for tall doors and huge bathroom which was basic but thankfully clean. I was alone today but other delegates and my friends from Hyderabad were expected next day. For dinner I strolled out on the street and after failing to find a decent restaurant settled for a hole-in-wall eatery selling chicken, mutton delicacies, parotta and roll. I decided to give a try and had parotta and mutton tikya which I felt took its name form detergent tikya which we use to wash clothes. The meal was delicious and it set me back by princely Rs 27. I reminded myself about cheaper cost of living in Kolkata. I am told you can still get a decent meal for Rs 10 in the city.

Next morning I woke and was out by 8AM which was a bit late considering sunrise happens early in eastern parts. There were roadside tea stalls every few meters and first thing caught my eye was tea being sold in earthen cups called “kulhars“. They were ubiquitous especially on train stations till past 10-15 years but have disappeared since but are still available in Kolkata. I relish having tea from these cups so had tea number of times in these cups during my trip. For breakfast went to a sweet shop and had veg cutlet and “singhara” aka samosa. I had chalked out a plan before starting for this trip to go around Maidan area witnessing all colonial buildings, Indian Museum, Shahid Minar, Fort William, Eden Garden etc. I referred to this http://wikitravel.org/en/Kolkata where a rough itinerary is chalked out. I straight went to Victoria Memorial but came to know that interiors and museum is open only from 9:30 AM onwards. There was still almost an hour to go. Fortunately, the garden around it was open. I decided to skip the museum and take a stroll around the building capturing it in wintery sunlight, filtering through the light fog. There were not many people at this hour and a cool breeze was blowing. My spirits soared and captured the building from various angles. The garden was very well-maintained with lots of exotic flowers and clean and clear water bodies. Somewhere I read that building was built to compete with Taj Mahal and indeed it does carve a place for itself.

Victoria Memorial and garden around it

Victoria Memorial in full grandeur

Queen Victoria sitting on throne in front of Victoria Memorial

I exited from the other side gate and after walking a bit came to Maidan which means “ground” in english. I decided to walk and cut a diagonal through it. The major occupants that day were cattle – goat and cows and there were several herds were there bathing in sun.

Maidan

Cattle grazing and sunbathing in Maidan

Victoria Memorial from Maidan

After crossing Maidan, I walked across watching names of several sporting clubs dotting the area. After that I came onto Chowringhee Road and could spot the Shahid Minar from distance. It is very close to Esplanade, seemingly heart of Kolkata, bus and tram terminal station and has a Metro station as well.

Shahid Minar

Eye catching building and hustle-bustle at Esplanade

I was little ahead of Indian Museum on the road so decided to walk unto the museum. By this time the footpaths along the road were starting to get occupied by hawkers selling all sorts of wares. I came to Indian Museum building which had just opened its counters. I did not have any expectations form the museum and thought I would just skim through it. However, it turned out to be a real treat. It has geological, archaeological, animal, avian, marine specimen over several galleries. The galleries where huge with several things at display. The display units were either tall wooden almirahs or wooden boxes placed on the floor. Rather than specimen I was more amused by rarity of such display furniture. Somehow the thought came to me that the museum itself should be kept in a museum :) Its a mecca for people interested in above disciplines and would take weeks to go through the exhibits. It is at par or richer than National museum at Delhi.

Exhibits inside Indian Museum

Magnificent Indian Museum building

After coming out from Museum I walked further on Chowringee Road and took a road left to go towards banks of Hooghly. While walking I walked past some old buildings and when I peeked inside had dimly lit staircases and offices, decor and everything from a past generation. In other cities, such buildings are long demolished and new ones have come up. The streets and roads were all busy otherwise with activity. In between there was a street vendor selling meals was quite busy. I thought of giving a try there. I ordered mutter paneer korma and mix vegetable and two tandoori “rotis“. The meal was nice and it costed me princely Rs 24. I walked further without asking but keeping idea of direction however it seemed I was just circling that area. While doing this passed through more sights of buildings, trams and people.

General street scene

Heritage buildings reflecting in a pond

Finally, I asked direction of BBD Bagh and went in that direction. I knew that there is a ferry service from here to Howrah station. I wasn’t sure whether I want to take the ferry now or later as I wanted to walk on the Strand road adjacent to Hooghly so spent some time at adjacent Millennium park to take rest and brood. Just then my companion called and told about their ferry experience earlier this morning and how they missed Howrah Rail Museum which opens only at 1PM. I looked at my watch and time was just about 1PM. I made up mind to take the ferry and visit Howrah Rail Museum. This would give me a chance to ride on the river, give some rest to my legs and take pictures of ghats and Howrah Bridge. The ferry is quite popular as evident from the sizable crowd using it. The fare was Rs 4. The ride gives sweeping views of Howrah Bridge. I wasn’t expecting to be awed by this old steel bridge now that many modern, longer bridges have come up but it towers above any other structure and was quite awed by it. I tried to recall images of this bridge which I have seen in movies and recalled the scene from “Do Bigha Zameen” where Balraj Sahni and his son are awed by it.

Ferry in Hooghly with Howrah Bridge in background

Rush in ferry as well as on the Howrah Bridge

Howrah Station from Hooghly

Howrah Station jetty

From Howrah station jetty I walked to the rail museum which a little further from the station. It was well maintained but there was no visitor at that time. There were handful of exhibits much less than National Rail Museum which used to frequent in Delhi. I came out quickly and went back to ferry jetty and this time bought ticket to Pincep ghat aka Babughat which is a bit upstream in Hooghly. I got down there close to Eden gardens. There was no crowd around the stadium not even usual hum-drum of city. After that I walked back to Esplanade.

Exhibits at Howrah Rail Museum

In the evening local volunteers were supposed to take people out on Metro and tram ride for people new to the city. It was decided to meet in front of Metro cinema at Esplanade by 4 PM. We decided to take Metro to Dum Dum and back. We took the contact-less tokens and went to the concourse waiting for the train. The train arrived soon enough. We boarded and it was comfortably crowded. This particular train was not AC though there are other AC trains. Due to window being open, there was lot of rattle of train and difficult to keep a conversation. We got down at Dum Dum and took train back to come to Esplanade. Entire metro experience was comfortable and efficient almost at par with Delhi Metro. Though currently there is only one single line from Dum Dum to Kavi Subhash, there are many spurs which are planned and under construction. At Esplanade, some of our group members wanted to buy local delicacies so we got into a K.C. Das outlet. We bought Sandesh and Rosogullas and ateRajbhog. I had not seen a rosogulla so big in life though it was light to eat and I could finish all of it. After that it was decided for everyone to return to their guesthouse using tram ride. Apart from myself in Beck Bagan, rest were around Park street which are close by. We took # 22 to Park circus. The fare was mere Rs. 3.50. The streets were choc-o-bloc and it took a long time to reach Park circus though I was not complaining. After that I walked to my guest house where by that time friends from Hyderabad had arrived. After some chit-chat having met after long time we decided to go for dinner and have some beer. Our caretaker suggested some restaurants and we walked in that direction. However, we couldn’t find a single restaurant with bar. We went to other direction and asked certain folks who kept on assuring us that we will find some restaurant just a block or two down. We kept on walking but didn’t encounter one. Never in any other city did I had to walk so much for a beer. May be we were not located at right place. Anyways, we finally found one called SoHo which seemed slightly upmarket but found that its prices were stratospheric even beyond for cities like Hyderabad/Pune. None of us were ready to spend so much in a city known for cheap cost of food. I was reminded of delicious Rs. 27/- meal I had. I suggested my folks to go there and everyone agreed. We attacked that shop and occupied the only two tables available there. After that we ordered things one after the other. After eating heartily the total bill was less than a single veg starter in SoHo.

Next day we had convention for whole day at Rotary Sadan very close to Rabindra Sadan. Entire breakfast, lunch and dinner was provided at the venue. The meal menu was carefully chosen to give a flavor of Bengali cuisine.Lucchi, Chicken Korma, Baigan bhaja and Nanglur rosogulla. Dinner was equally enticing with Fish fry, Alooposto etc. We had a break for couple of hours in which I went in metro to the other direction till Kavi Subhash. Apparently most of the stations on metro are named on famous Bengali personalities from art, movies and literature. That is why I missed famous names like Tollygunge and Bhawanipur. After “Mahanayak Uttam Kumar” station, train runs on elevated section and I could witness some views of the city. Today was SaraswatiPuja day which is a big auspicious day in Bengal. Most of the men & women were dressed colorfully dressed in traditional attires which was a pleasing sight.

Next day we had convention for half-day till 1PM. As a special guest the drivers of first metro train service in 1984 were invited who gave us some anecdotes of that day. I had to catch Gitanjali express at 1350 so had to leave by 12:30 from venue. My host said that even if I leave by 1PM, it should be fine as stations is some 5-6 km only. However, I left a little early to give buffer and it turned out to a good decision. I took an ambassador cab which sprinted initially but while approaching Howrah bridge there was a jam. I waited for few minutes impatiently and kept on pestering the driver. He said that bridge is nearby and one can walk down to station. On seeing some other folks walking with their luggage, I decided to leave the cab. I walked for some distance and seemed that jam will open up. Not to lose out I climbed a bus going to Howrah. Soon it too got stuck and I had to again get down and walk. Now I was just before the bridge’s mouth and it seem things will ease out from here so again got into a cab who asked me 50 rupees. I said fine as long as I get in time. The entire stretch was horrible, horns blaring, vehicles screeching and overworked police folks trying to manage the traffic and humanity on the move. I entered from platform 1 side and figured that my train was on pf 21 almost half a km walk. Huffing and panting I finally reached the platform and boarded the train. This time I was in sleeper coach so remained glued to the window and watched the landscape of West Bengal and Jharkhand pass by and brooding over my trip.

I had just scratched the surface on this wonderful city. Other cities tom tom about fusion of old and new, preserving tradition and embracing modernity but I feel Kolkata does it without trying. I am longing for next visit already.

Some transport heritage of the city – Tram, Ambassador cab and Hand Rickshaw.

Tram @ Esplanade

Yellow ambassador cabs @ Esplanade

Handrickshaw still going strong

Dream to purchase land

Like every moderately settled person the dream of purchasing agriculture/farm land has started appearing and days and nights.

What should one be looking for:

1. What is the area of land and what is its shape

- Area could be in Acres. 1 Acre equals 44,000 sft.

- Shape would be rectangular mostly but it could be L shaped as well

2. What is the rate per square feet or Acre?

3. How much is the water table?

- This is the height at which water could be stuck in a well. This should be reasonable 20-30 feet cause o/w expense of drilling a well could increase.

4. Is there already a tube well or irrigation system in place?

5. What is the type of soil?

- The type of soil would lead to what could be grown. Generally it would be similar to adjoining land. Whether it is alluvial, black or laterite soil?

6. What could be grown on the land?

- Generally we can easily discern from the adjoining land what could be grown. Mostly it is cash crops as people do it for living. However, ask around for any exotic crop could be grown. Any fruit or vegetables should be good enough.

7. Does the farmer from which you are trying to purchase has 7/12 of the land?

- 7/12 or "Saat-Bara" is the document mentioning that land belongs to the person.

8. Which Gram Panchayat does it come under?

- All the land is within some Gram Panchayat or the other. One need to obtain No Objection from GP.

9. Whose plots are adjoining?

- It is important to find out adjoining plots. There might be some understanding one has to come up with so important to find out.

10. Do the people do their own ploughing or people could be hired for it? What is the rate of hiring in these parts?

11. How is the village (Gram)? Are the school, medical facility and connectivity to the road?

12. Where is the registry supposed to be done for the land sale deed?

13. How does one pay the money to seller?

14. What is the ready-reckoner rate for the land? That would define the stamp/registration duty one has to pay. Generally it is quite less than the deal you may have stuck.

14. What is the connectivity with road?

- The closer the road, more is the cost.

15. Is there any project proposed nearby? Like canal, power station, any other project.

- This would have a bearing on the cost of the land and its appreciation etc.

16. What papers one should look at while purchasing the land?

Glossary

NA - Non Agriculture

TP - Town Planning

Generally an Agriculture Land is converted to Non-Agriculture and then Town Planning is done.

- Gram Panchayat or Nagar Parishad would be there.

- 500 meters around Gram Panchayat does not require NA-TP.

- Without TP we cannot do construction.

For construction of anything on Agriculture land, one requires permission of Gram Panchayat. However, nothing would be available in terms of pipeline, sewage etc.

Vidarbha Sojourn

Shakuntala Railway is set of two narrow gauge lines radiating south and north from Murtizapur in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. The southern line is 113 km long going up to Yavatmal. The northern line is 89 km long going up to Achalpur which is close to Paratwada town. Murtizapur is located on Mumbai-Kolkata mainline. The lines were laid by British to transport cotton from hinterland to the mainline. The lines were steam hauled till 1994 when it was converted to diesel. Now days there is one train only per line. Both the trains leave Murtizapur a little after 7 AM and come back to Murtizapur by late night. Recently the speed was clamped to 20 km/h because of which the Yavatmal train comes back only by midnight. Another interesting fact about these lines is that they are privately held by a British company called Killicks-Nixon and leased to Indian Railways which operate them. These lines have lost their economic importance and are run simply for local political compulsions. The train fares are very cheap and anyways there would be lot of ticketless travel. The roads are much faster and takes one in one-third the time. Still these lines run and remain the symbol of bygone era.

I harbored a longtime wish to travel on these lines to witness how is the life and operations in this part of the world. To finish been there done that. I got that chance this year in March when I was visiting Nagpur. I made a circular route plan which included traveling on these lines, visiting Chikhaldara, then traveling back to Nagpur via Morshi, Warud, Katol which is the region in the foothills of Satpura range. I termed this entire trip as Vidarbha sojourn.

Chikhaldara is a small town close to Achalpur/Paratwada, near Amaravati. It is the only hill station in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. Vidarbha is one of the hottest region of India and Chikhaldara being a hill station, I was always to curious to see how it is. Though it was not the best time to visit it but went with thinking that if it turned out well, it would much better at other times. I am even contemplating living there later in life so just wanted to see it myself. It is situated at 1115 mts above sea level, supposed to be cooler than plains, amidst forests etc.

I started from Nagpur one morning for Yavatmal. I took an state transport bus to Yavatmal at 9AM to catch return train from Yavatmal to Murtizapur at 1PM. However, when I reached Yavatmal, I came to know that the train arrives only by 3PM and returns back by 4PM. I tried to strike a conversation with personnel in Station Master's office who became conscious on my queries. The person asked me whether I was a journalist or some official who is asking such questions. I allayed their fears by telling them that I was just a simple railfan who is interested in rail heritage. Since there was quite some time I thought of going back to town and have meal and come back. After a decent lunch I even spent an hour in a cyber cafe just passing time. I came back to station by 2:30 PM. Now I got to speak to the real Station Master who showed some interest. Before I could ask for his permission to take photographs, he himself asked me whether I was carrying a camera in the pouch dangling from my shoulder. I said in affirmative to which he requested whether I could take some pictures for him? I was delighted. He said that I could go ahead and click in the station premises.

The station was unlike the stations we know. Though the railway land where it is located is quite big and barren, the station is diminutive. How could it be big which receives only one train in the entire day that too a slow, decrepit narrow gauge train. The passengers over period have shunned it and have taken to buses. The only saving grace for this station is passenger reservation system (PRS) which receives some footfalls during the day and something for the station staff to manage. After the permission I took a stroll around. I was more interested in capturing some historical facts, emblems etc. from British period and steam era. There was a huge old style metal water tower with canopy like roof resting on structure made of old rails.

There was water in that tower still probably to provide to station. I circled it and after careful examination spotted a rail with marking of year "1864". Wow that was a discovery. Earlier the foundries which manufactured metal equipments used to etch the year of manufacture on the rails and other structures.

Apart from that a separate line coming near the water tower was present with a pit. On this line, the steam engines used to come to fill water and even to drop ashes. The blackish soil around the pit was evidence of that. Further towards the end of line there were masts with hollow lamp like structures. These must have been oil lamps used to signal during night operations. I sat there thinking and imagining how the scene would have been? Steam wafting from engines over these lamps in a wintery night with full moon creating a surreal moment. There were hardly any people in the station waiting for the train. At around 3PM the train finally arrived snaking among the line side bushes. I was clicking it till it came to a halt.

I briefly met the driver which was a character unto itself. More about him later. I clicked the stationary train from all angles and came back to the station master. He wanted to send these photographs to Central Railways headquarter for their magazine. Though this place has no importance in terms of traffic but makes a good topic of heritage and trivia. Now the problem arose of how to transfer these photographs. I said I could email it to them in few days when I return or transfer to any PC but neither was feasible as there was no PC around nor he could wait for long. He came up with idea that we could go to town and copy it in a cyber cafe. When I asked wouldn't the train leave by then to which he jokingly said that I was with Station Master and train would not leave without his order. He assured me that they are not holding the train back and it anyways stops for an hour for drivers to relax and nobody's in a hurry. So I jumped pillion to the Station Master on his bike and rode up to a cyber cafe and quickly transfer photos. While coming back he offered to have some drink. We had a glass of lassi each for which he insisted on paying. So I had a glass of lassi on Railway's expense. We came back then station master made a paper authority which is a procedure to give permission for train to leave. He introduced me to driver, guard who were friendly.

I kept my bag with the guard and boarded in one of the coaches. The train trotted out of station by 4PM and passed through some filthy suburbs before coming in the open.

I was surprised to see the residents of these suburbs standing alongside and enthusiastically watching the train and children waving and running along it. The train though has no significance outside is still a welcome visitor in their lives.

Now about the driver. How it happens that one encounters most interesting people at unexpected juncture. When train stopped at the first station, I walked towards the engine where the driver invited me to join him which is what I was looking for. I climbed atop and driver gave his seat to me and himself sat on the space in front of instruments. When I first saw him at Yavatmal, he turned out to be an untidy though dutiful person, a muslim as due to his skull cap. He wore his uniform over an inner clothing with his ID card neatly hanging from the pocket and mobile phone hanging form the neck. He had worn skull cap, a deliberately kept beard which was black, brown and white making his persona of that of a Muslim. First he enquired about myself like where I was from, what do I do, married or not etc. After satisfying himself he started his story. He told me that he has four wives at different locations which kind of confirmed that he was a Muslim. He explained about his wives how he happened to marry them. It was only happenstance that he took over hapless women as their wives. During childhood he was a rowdy and everybody disliked him. His parents and relatives would taunt him, how would somebody give his daughter to him to marry to which he would reply that he would show them by keeping four wives. So even though his marriages were not pre-planned but destiny turned out to be that way. Two of his wives are sisters, one an abandoned woman and another through some circumstance. His children from his first wife are of my age and do their own business. He stays with his first wife at Murtizapur. After only some time I come to know that he is a devout Hindu. He turned out be a benevolent candyman who distributed candies to children around this line. He was not just a candyman to children but to adults too.

He would give sugar candies to children and tobacco candies aka various pan masala/guthkha pouches to adults. He said that he spend Rs. 50/- everyday towards this and showed me his stock for today. I picked a couple which were locally made candies. This largesse and benevolence came from his contentment. He looked really content with his life in his conversation. He was earlier a driver of broad gauge trains at Bhusawal. Then he took a salary cut in terms of perks he would receive on mainline and came back on this line to live a peaceful life. He himself is a vegetarian, tee-totaler, non-smoker and even does not chew tobacco which he merrily distributes to people. He eats only home-cooked food that too with a little salt and spice. At one station children gathered around the engine and he gave them candies.

One of his so called wives, a widow with a child from earlier husband lives in a village on the route. She came up to the engine and handed him over his tiffin for that night. Every other day he would take the train out from Murtizapur either going south or north and returned the same day. He was a quack of acupuncture as well where he would put pressure on pressure points in hands and shoulders. He gave me a demo of it by working on my hands. I was so intrigued hearing his story that it gave me goosebumps. His life could be made into a movie.

While he narrated his story we passed few stations. All the stations seemed like they are in middle of nowhere. The stations themselves were nothing, just a board and an abandoned stone house. None of these stations had any staff since very long. The guard doubled up as ticket clerk and sold tickets to passengers from his coach window. The sun set while we were on the move. We stopped at a station called Darwah Motibagh which had some staff. It was a tea break station.

From here a new driver joined who would take the train all the way to Murtizapur. This arrangement of another driver was put as it would be really tiring for one person to bring the train all the way from Murtizapur and take it back. Now my driver friend went back to guard coach to rest. The new driver was equally friendly and showered warmth. We now strutted along the countryside in complete darkness. There were hardly any settlement or any road or any other activity. The engines headlight beam was piercing the dark as knife. The stars were out and expectedly denser than what we see in cities. At around 9PM I got off the train at a station called Karanja which is a town. I decided not to travel up to Mutizapur which would be quite late and I may not find a lodging and then I wanted to catch next day's train. I wanted a night's rest before that and I also wanted to eat. I bade goodbye to both the drivers. They informed me that they would be on the north train day after and invited me to join them. According to my plan, I was supposed to return back day after from Chikhaldara so hoped that I would meet them and come back with them from Achalpur. After getting down, I walked through the town which was closing down looking for a lodging. I walked for 20 mins all the way to bus-stop but there was nothing. Then I asked a cycle rickshaw to take me to a decent hotel. He took me to the most decent hotel where I was reminded of CWG saga of our standard of hygiene could be different than theirs. The rooms were filthy though cheap. After looking at few rooms, I settled for least filthy. For dinner I had veg biryani at their restaurant which was spicy. I went to sleep to wake up early for next day's travel. I woke up in time thankfully getting some sleep. After taking a bath quickly left the lodge and went to the bus stand. I was promised that there would be buses going to Murtizapur but there was none and earliest was expected at 6:30 AM which could have been late considering that north train leaves Murtizapur by 7:15 AM and it takes at least 30 minutes to cover the distance. There was a private vehicle which languishingly started a little before 6:30 after loading passengers. I was glad when I reached Murtizapur that train is yet to leave. Infact, both south and north trains were there and drivers and guards were doing final preparation. This was late spring so at this time, there was a nip in the air and sunlight filtered through the haze. The light was great for photography and I took several pictures.

The drivers of north train were not that welcoming even after narrating my stint yesterday with their colleagues. Finding that I wouldn't be lucky this time, I reluctantly settled in one of the coaches at the door. The train lazily started and continued at same slow pace. I was feeling nice, sitting at the door, nice weather and fields passing before my eyes.

We stopped at a station where I hoped that we would find something to eat, at least a cup of tea but found only a small vendor. I had biscuits to satiate my stomach. After some time we reached Banosa aka Daryapur which is a significant town. I was told that train would stop for some time for breakfast etc. The station is adjacent to bus stand which has lot of activity and hence some eateries. I quickly ruches to an eatery and had decent breakfast. There were lot of passengers who got down and embarked on the train. My foot board was taken and had to share with a old, drunken farmer.

Folks in the train were amused at me taking photographs. At one station I saw some folk sitting at the rooftop. I decided to go upstairs myself to enjoy unhindered view and space. Since the train would go maximum to 20 km/h there not much danger of falling off. Though I was very cautious my companions at the rooftop were sleeping! The line went dead straight for most time surrounded by fields at both side which were empty at this time of the year. Here one sows only when there is rain as ground water is limited and irrigation too is not there. After some time we reached Anjangaon which is again a significant town. I decided to detrain here and take bus for onward journey to Paratwada which is the gateway to Chikhaldara.

At Anjangaon I took a auto-rick to bus stand. While I was waiting there I was just taking a stock of where I am? I was hopping from town to town all alone in this part of Vidarbha which is my home. I was not worried here and I thought I would make it through without any trouble. A little a bus came destined to Paratwada coming from Akot. Akot reminded me of my sojourn to Indore in Meter gauge train from Akola. Akot was first major station there. I was in the same territory. The road to Paratwada was a state highway depicting Baitul as one of the destinations 100 km away. Baitul is a station in the heart of Satpura on Delhi-Chennai route very well know to train travelers. I have a wish to visit that town as well but that was for some other time. At Paratwada bus stand there was a bus ready to go to Chikhaldara. I quickly boarded it but it left only 40 minutes later. I was happy to find a window seat as it gets very crowded. After some time we started climbing the hills.There were a couple of wind turbine which are visible from very far away.

It wasn't really cool in the afternoon but town was quaint. When I got down I was thinking where should I stay. I could see there were some lodges around. One guy approached me regarding a hotel and cab to go around. I accompanied him and got a room for Rs. 400/- per night which was decent. The person told me that this being off season, the rooms are available otherwise in season like monsoon and winters, there is lot of rush. After lunch I took a stroll around in the market and found that it is quite laid back.

The place reminded me of Matheran. In the evening I visited a couple of points like Bhimtal and couple of other points. There is a huge garden in the town which had coffee plants. I have been to coffee growing regions like Chikmagloor in Karnataka and found that the atmosphere here is equally salubrious. Next morning I thought of waking up early and visiting the sunrise points which was couple of kms away. While I was still walking up to the point, the sun rose from within the tree leaves.

It wasn't cold just perfect atmosphere. There was no hustle-bustle, in fact not many people could be seen around. I just took a long walk along a circuitous route and came back.

Then I went for breakfast in the eateries near main station. After freshening up I decided to leave the place and head back. Whatever exploration I wanted I had done that and it was enough for me. I got a picture of the place. I decided to come back in season with family to properly explore the place. There is no major towns beyond here as it is mostly forest and very sparsely populated. Most of the people are tribals because of which any commercial activity is anyway discouraged. There is a Project Tiger site close by - Melghat which has significant tiger population. To visit that one has to go to a point called Semadoh from where one could enter it. The entire area must be turning into a heaven in Monsoon but one should have their own sturdy vehicle to visit around.

The return bus was the same I traveled in while coming. The bus got crowded just like while coming up. The settlements on the way have only these buses to their rescue. There did not seem any auto/tempo services probably due to poverty and not much economic activities around. When I reached Paratwada, I was thinking of options. Should I take the train with friendly drivers or should I simply catch a bus to Nagpur but that too via which route? After waiting some time I realized it is time for the train to arrive at Achalpur station. As I had not seen the end of line at Achalpur so I decided to receive the train at Achalpur station and then think of returning. The Achalpur station was surprisingly within 15 minutes walking distance from Paratwada bus stand. I went to another dream again. What if we could extend the narrow gauge line from Achalpur to Chikhaldara? It would be another mountain rail in India. However, my dream was shattered looking at state of Achalpur station. Such dreams require visionaries which sorely are lacking in this part of the world, that is why the region is anyway backward. Probably they are happy in the bare essential existence. The station again like Yavatmal had a passenger reservation system which brought in some footfalls. There was some business activity like ice-cream seller and a nicknack seller. I went around the station and it was similar to Yavatmal, a water tank, a separate line close to water tank with a pit with blackish soil. All signs of steam operation which stopped long back. I went up to the end of line which was just before the road with bushes covering the ground. The train arrived soon and the friendly drivers were happy to see me. The benevolent driver immediately gave me an acu-pressure therapy to my hands and shoulders. I clicked pictures of the train and other artifacts around like levers.

Just like Yavatmal I found a sign of British era with a point lever where "Worcester, England" was etched.

The folks suggested that there is an old bridge just 10 minutes from the station which could be a good subject but I did not have energy to walk that much in heat. The friendly drivers went for their refreshment and I bade them goodbye. My objective of traveling on this line was fulfilled and handsomely covering the two terminals.

I soon came back to Paratwada station where luckily a bus was ready to depart to Nagpur via the route I wanted. The bus started soon and went via Morshi, Warud, Katol. There is a new railway line being laid from Amravati to Narkher which would be a direct short route. We crossed the line at many places but regular operations are yet to start on it. This region is a little blessed in terms of productive soil, water. This region is the Orange county whose produce is traded at Nagpur which gives it the name of Orange city. I saw several orange fields on the route. There is a huge Nal-Damayanti sagar in this region and we skirted around it. The Satpura hills were visible at a distance. How I wish I would be able to visit this region in my own vehicle someday without any plan and savoring this entire region. At Katol, we crossed the main Delhi-Chennai line while sun was setting. After that it was run to Nagpur. The road was dotted with lot of farmhouses. Lucky folks.

That brought down an end to my Vidarbha sojourn.