Two Men To Shantiniketan

                                             On the way to Guskara

A few weeks ago my friend Shilbhadra and I went to Shantiniketan on my Bullet and came back without a problem. I wasn't in the right frame of mind to write about it earlier. But now I suppose I can because as of last Sunday Monisha's father - whose fast deteriorating health was keeping me disturbed - is no more. 

Initially I was invited to join a Bulleteers' group to go to Shantiniketan. I had planned to go alone with them but was a little skeptical because I don't know any of them except one whose participation was doubtful. And then Shilbhadra wanted to come along. I asked the group if it was okay to take a pillion who is not a Bulleteer and they didn't reply to my SMSes. So I decided to give them the boot and go on my own.

The journey started from where Monisha's parents were staying - near Deshapriya Park in a house on Satyen Dutta Road. It was Saturday 15th September. SD and I met there to start together at around 6 am. We put our belongings inside SD's bag and started with just one rucksack.

Earlier in the morning I had to wake up my mechanic Dilip to borrow a spare clutch cable from him. Mine was kept in a bag that could not be found (which is rather common in my house). I carried a clutch and accelerator cable, a spark plug, a bulb and the usual tools.

                 I took this pic in SKtan. Rest all are by SD

We went without any major drama upto the Dankuni bifurcation of GQ and Delhi Road. From there we wanted to take the old GT Road (via Delhi Road) but serious jam prompted me to stick to the main four-laned GQ. 

I was crusing along fine on the GQ (incidentally GQ is toll free for two-wheelers) but at Baidyabati - just before the abandoned Nano factory the right exit to GT Road looked inviting. I wanted to explore GT Road and took the exit to Baidyabati town. Soon enough we hit GT Road and the real journey started. 

I have been using the GQ ever since it was born. God only knows how many times I have used it going mostly to SKTan or Katwa. It is a flat, featureless, smooth and almost empty road with no villages or towns in the vicinity. You just drive on the road at your top speed. There are green paddy fields that  often extend up to miles on end. But otherwise there is absolutely nothing to see or do on this road. It is often difficult to just stay awake on this extremely boring road.

This is the reason why I chose this opportunity to explore the old GT Road. Here you get to see semi-urban life of Bengal in action. I am not in too much love with it but this journey down GT Road quite appeals to me and I always wanted to do this. This was the opportunity and I grabbed it.

Soon enough our good old Pal Sweets of Bhadreswar came. The shopkeeper recognised us and even before we could say anything he said, "the stock of jilipi is exhausted sir. I had some leftover from yesterday and that's why didn't fry too many this morning. This stock is not worth eating really."

Pal Sweets - Bhadreswar. The man is sweeter than the sweets

I am yet to meet such an honest shopkeeper. In fact he went and got us some fresh jilipis from another shop somewhere nearby. But those weren't half as good. Anyway, post breakfast we moved on again. We crossed Chandannagore, Chinsurah, Hooghly and Adi Saptagram where old GT Road meets with Delhi Road. On the way we had to take a few rain breaks. Road conditions were awful and there were lots of level crossings. All these kept our speed slow.

The next significant towns we crossed were Pandua, Bainchi and Memari. More rain breaks. Significantly bad roads. But traffic is obviously less. And urbanisation is also waning. Bainchi is quite rural in fact. Memari has a big Axis Bank. One of our school juniors is the manager of this branch but I gave meeting him a miss to learn later that he was no longer posted there in any case.

After Memari the road bends to the left and meets with the new 4-laned GQ just past the Palsit toll plaza. I calculated later and realised that this detour via GT Road cost us an extra riding time of close to 5 hours.  But I have no regrets.

                                                Rain-break at Bainchi

Our next stop is a dahaba beyond Shaktigarh near the entry into Bardhaman. Had ridiculously cheap food and moved on again. I was in two minds about choosing the next route to SKTan. I can either go via Panagarh along the smooth GQ. Or take the smaller road connecting Bolpur with Bardhaman via Guskara. This route is far shorter, has zero traffic and is very pretty. But and this is a big but - there is one short stretch of the road that goes under the railway track. Those few meters are generally under waist deep water in monsoon. How will I manage that part?

The GQ route via Panagarh/Ilambazaar means about 30/40 km of extra travel but on mostly excellent road.

We were running pretty late and so I chose the shorter route. I shall cross the water when I come to it, I reasoned. This road connecting Bardhaman with Bolpur used to be a red morrum one with a fairweather bridge over Ajay that used to be operational only in winter. We had used it way back in the early 90s to come to Calcutta riding a scooter. It's a proper road now with a concrete bridge over Ajay.

There were several rain breaks and photography breaks for SD, especially over bridges to take photographs of "kash ful".

                        Crossing the Haldi river near Guskara

Soon we came to that uncrossable stretch of a few meters under the railway track. Over the years the roads on either side have been raised for repairs and relaying etc. But the stretch just under the rail track has been kept low to let trucks pass. Therefore that stretch has now become way lower than the two sides and collects water. It's like a cistern basically. I stopped in sheer fear. This stretch cannot be crossed with a bike because I have no clue how deep the water is. Presently a large ambulance, which is basically made out of a truck, came along. I realised the water was deep enough to touch my seat. A couple of trucks came along and one of the drivers told me there is another route for smaller vehicles.

I changed track and went via Guskara railway station where there are other exits that are dry. But these exits can be used only by two-wheelers or small cars because they are very low tunnels. From here reaching SKTan is like a cake walk. We had to stop in Bandhgora for buying our supply of Old Monk. A bottle of rum. We put up for the night in a homestay kind of guest house in Purba Palli. 

The guesthouse is nothing great. No AC. But it was just the question of one night. Next morning we started after a brief breakfast. We came back via Ilambazaar, Panagarh and the 4-laned GQ. Lots of rain breaks on the return journey also. One funny thing worth mentioning here - on the way back I suddenly realised that I had finally forgotten to take the spare tube that I had bought the day before !! But thank God it wasn't needed.

The return journey was completely featureless except the huge jam due to President's movement on the highway before Dasnagar near Kona. We took an exit through the interior roads of Howrah and discovered this new route via Benares Road and Kadamtala. It might be useful sometime in future.

                           Shilbhadra Dutta at the guest house

Another great spin off benefit of the trip - Dilip, my mechanic was hugely impressed by the news of my completion of this trip. When I went to see him after coming back he seemed terribly impressed. "Dada you have courage. Hats off," he said with a smile. I must say I am more impressed with his skills as a mechanic than he with me for my riding courage. The bike gave me just no trouble. 

This page has a few more photographs, if you are interested.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.443272765710879&type=1

Water Jet Cleaning At Rs 60

Today I realised how ridiculously cheap manual labour is in our city. Went for a mechanised cleaning of my motorcycle at a petrol pump near Gol Park. They charged a princely sum of Rs 60 for the entire job that lasted for about 20 minutes. The job involves thorough cleaning of the bike with water jet. Loved the way he cleaned the inside under the mudguards.

After this the old man filled a can with diesel and sprayed it on the bike with a different attachment. Then he wiped the bike dry. Then he cleaned the bike once again with high pressure water jet. Yes, all over once again. After this a round of air spray to dry the bike and finally some good old hand wiping with the piece of red cloth.

All this cost me Rs 60.

The bike is old and cannot look new. But if the chrome wasn't rusty I am sure it would look sparkling clean. I gave the old man - Ali - a small tip. He didn't seem to bother about it. The pump in question is the one at the corner of Purna Das Road where it meets Gol Park. They seemed like the only pump in South Calcutta that does this job for motorcycles. Most pumps, incidentally, have stopped water jet servicing altogether. I realised this while looking for a pump to get this job done. A. Hardly anyone does water jet servicing even for cars. Those who do don't entertain motorcycles - I don't quite understand why.

Two French Loaves And An English Bike

Yesterday, that is Saturday the 23rd June 2012, my friend Shilbhadra and I went on a motorcycle trip. I picked up SD from his home in Kasba at around 6 am and then went in search of the GT Road. Our destination, as pre-decided, was Mahesh to see the rath. The actual ratha-yatra had already happened on Thursday but we just wanted to keep that as a destination. The real purpose of the journey was to ride the bike and ride on GT Road. 

We took Vidyasagar Setu. I wasn't too sure as to how the bike would negotiate the steep gradient of the bridge. This was the first time after the restoration that I was taking this route - the gradient when crossing from Calcutta to Howrah is much steeper than it is from the other side. But the bike behaved pretty well and we reached the chaos of the toll gate that is Vidyasagar Setu. There were huge queues of trucks and private vehicles. Finally we went through the VIP gate (as did many other private cars) and cleared the jam comfortably.

From Dankuni we took the right exit on Delhi Road. This is the older (relative to the new expressway) road that meets GT Road near Baichi. GT Road is further to the east, nearer the Ganga and is obviously oldest of them all. 

At Srirampore's Nawgar Morh (I think its official name is Nabagram but the locals have corrupted it to Nawga) I took the right turn towards GT Road. It is just one km from here. I have been to my friend Ritwik's house near here before. So I didn't make any mistake with the turn. And soon enough we reached GT Road. From here if you turn right you go back towards Rishra and then onwards to Calcutta (through the confusion of Howrah) - that's also the direction for Mahesh. Left turn takes you to Baidyabati and onwards to Bardhaman or even Delhi.  

As per our schedule we were to turn right. I turned left. Somehow the lure of a relatively empty GT Road invited me to ride on and not finish the journey so soon. We had tea in a shop there on GT Road and then started again. I wasn't too sure as to where I would go. Completely destination free and feeling liberated. I thought I would go as far as Baichi where GT Road and Delhi Road meet and then turn left on Delhi Road and come back. I also thought if I felt like it I would rather turn towards Calcutta from where the old GT Road meets the Expressway (also called GQ) near Shaktigarh. 

Infront of Chandannagore's Dassco Bakery (behind the main church near the Strand) to buy French loaves. Kanailal Dotto School where French is still taught is just a couple of buildings away. 

After crossing the Baidyabati level crossing (this line goes towards Tarakeswar) I suddenly decided let's go to Chandanagore (which should be on the way soon).  I realise now, that having lived a normal domesticated life for a long time, I now feel a little uncomfortable when there is absolutely no destination. The mind wanders and I feel a little jittery. Once there is a destination I feel more comfortable. I wouldn't mind changing the destination once we reach there (like we did when we reached Srirampore) but while on the road it is good to have an immediate destination.

Actually Rishra, Srerampore, Baidyabati, Bhadreswar etc are well known names of stations on the Howrah Bardwan main line where I have travelled hundreds of times. So these are pretty well known names to me as railway stations. But actually going through the heart of those towns is quite thrilling. And when you see XYZ GT Road you feel a certain thrill. You have seen this GT Road written in Benares or Agra also. It is such a unique connecting thread for the nation. Somewhat like a man made Ganga.

At Bhadreswar we couldn't help but stop to see a cycle repair shop with the sign board reading Chineese Cycle Repairing Shop. Apparently they do everything from charging batteries to getting insurance for vehicles. Quite a one stop shop for all problems related to maintaining everything from a cycle to a car. But since the shop had yet to open we couldn't understand the scale of the operations. From the simple Chinese lock that was keeping the ramshackle door closed I could guess it was something very humble. SD took some shots of the signboard.

There were three sweet shops just across the road where we enquired about kachuri for breakfast. The shopkeepers said they weren't ready but locals told us to move a little further and get the kachuris from a shop called Pal Sweets. The kachuris were ordinary but the jilipis were simply heavenly. Crispy. Sweet. But not very syrupy. I had three. If I didn't have diabetes their stock would have been finished.

We crossed several jute mills on either side of the road. We saw the river right next to the road at many places. Finally we crossed a small culvert and saw the entry gate of Chandanagore with those famous French words - liberty, equality, fraternity - written in French.

As per directions given by the owners of Pal Sweets we turned right from the next crossroad. After turning right you turn left for about five minutes to reach the strand.

The Strand is the most important part of Chandanagore. It is a wide road, remarkably clean and clutterless, by the side of a full river. The river here forms a crescent. There is the very impressive St Joseph's School here (where my cousin Jhumadidi went and I called her from here though we couldn't connect then) and the French Museum (which was closed then). The Jagaddal Jute Mill is just across the river. I remember as a child we used to cross the river from Jagaddal and come to this side of the town. My uncle used to work for the JJM. The mill is still there but the old jetty is probably gone ("they sold off all the old wooden planks sir," said someone very bitterly when I asked about it).

There is also a beautiful church and the famous Das Bakery where we bought ourselves two freshly baked French loaves. A short note on Dassco. Everyone refers to it as Das Bakery. At the spot there are basically two bakeries one is the prominent Dassco Bakery and the other is less conspicuous Das Bakery. We found the people at Das Bakery very rude and we didn''t see any local customer coming to it. Dassco in comparison was more friendly and lot of local people were buying their "daily bread" from this shop. So we bought our French loaves from here. One for each of us.

Kanailal Dotto Vidyamandir is right next door where they still have a French section that teaches French to the students. The English section of the school has a very impressive "red brick" kind of atmosphere. I called up one of its most illustrious students in Bombay - Saibal Ghosh.

There is a ghat near the Strand built by some very French sounding Bengali called Durgacharan Rakshit and his son Shyamacharan Rakshit. The spelling of Rakshit is not as simple as I wrote. I think it is Raquitte. Even the good old Bengali revolutionary/martyr is Kanailal Dotto and not Dutta or Datta as we normally write in Anglicised India. What is the French equivalent of Anglicised? Francocised? Franconised somehow sounds better :-) I have no idea.

On our way back we took the Delhi Road right from Chandanagore itself. It is quite far from the GT Road. One has to go under the railway line near Mankundu station. There are some exquisite zamindar styled palaces on this road. I regret I was not carrying the camera. SD took some shots.

The return journey, much like the morning journey, was totally event less. We reached home safely after a 132 km ride and needless to say there was no problem whatsoever from the bike. We were on time to have lunch at home.

Sound of Music

This is a recording of my Bullet as done this morning infront of our house. Just kick started it and then left it to idle. It was at around 6.30 am after we came home from the Lake.

Very little editing really. Just boosted the bass a bit and added a fade out towards the end.

Last night I tried to record the same sound. But the file was just not opening in Audacity. This morning I recorded again and it worked just fine. I think the problem lies in the fact that last night, while recording, the recorder had stopped on its own as the batteries went dead during the recording. The file probably got corrupted somehow. So, though it was audible on VLC, it wasn't working on either Audacity or on Switch (the software for changing the format from WAV to mp3 etc).

Pure Musical Beats

I got the bike back from Dilip after he tuned it at 1000 km or so. The beat is like pure sweet music now. My bike has never sounded so sweet. That clanking sound is completely gone now. The gear shift is smooth like never before. The bike rides like a charm.
I couldn't meet Dilip when I went to take delivery of the bike. Wanted to find out if he changed the engine oil. The gears are shifting like knife through butter. But I wonder if it is perfect tuning of the clutch wire or new engine oil.
The rear view mirror it seems was a good investment. They cover a much wider area and are freely adjustable.
Dilip has also added the lights on my dashboard. The dials are now illuminated but it puts strain on the battery when you blow the horn with all the lights turned on. That's marginal only though.

Two Hours of Pure Bliss

Last Saturday - June 9, 2012 - I went out alone for a long ride. I am getting the bike to break in slowly after the engine overhaul and this ride was a part of that process. I had gone on a 65 km ride with Monisha the previous Sunday - basically rode upto the airport and back. Today I wanted to push the bike a little further. I wasn't very sure about any destination. So instinctively I followed the previous Sunday's path and reached as far as the airport. Here I thought let me cross the Ganga at Nivedita Setu and come back via Vidyasagar Setu after riding along NH6.

After touching the forehead and chest with my finger and remembering my departed father (who I feel is always protecting me from somewhere above) I turned towards the Belghoria Expressway. On this road there comes a point where it bifurcates into two. One goes towards the new bridge - this is the tollway - the other goes towards the old Bally Bridge which is toll free. I turned towards the toll way. It's a marvellous eight-laned road (4 + 4). 

But soon after going a few hundred meters there is a notice on the left hand side - No Entry For 2 and 3 Wheelers. This is announced in such a place that you can do nothing but turn around and go against the traffic flow. I saw a lane coming in from the Dakshineswar side and there was a traffic guard kind of person in uniform waving at me. I went close to him and they (there were two more people there) said, in a very friendly tone though, that no you cannot go to the new bridge. You have to go back and take the old bridge. But the question is how? 

They said go along this road - and showed me the road towards Dakshineswar via the wrong side. I was hesitating a bit. They asked one of their men to accompany me, as he was actually waiting to go where I was going. I took him on my pillion and we crossed the old Bally Bridge comfortably. 

After this I took the NH6 going left towards Kharagpur. From here I know the route like the back of my palm. Soon enough I came to Kona from where I turned left towards Vidyasagar Setu or 2nd Hooghly Bridge. And then came home via Sharma's kachori joint in Bhawanipore. A total of 78 km in two hours. From home to Bhawanipore was a non-stop journey. I am slightly surprised that the home-airport-home distance was 65 and this journey was only 13 km more. I would have thought that would be a lot more. But anyway.

Needless to say I am happy with the performance of the bike. Later on Saturday I bought a pair of rear view mirrors from the Bullet spares shop on AJC Bose Road for Rs 430. Actually Monisha and I had gone to her bank and then Tata Capital to make some prepayments towards our home loan. That's when I bought the mirrors.

Today, that is Monday 11th June 2012, I gave the bike to Dilip for him to do the needful that he had promised he would do on completion of 1000 km. I also gave him the mirrors for fixing. I want him to mainly fix the clanking sound that is coming from the engine. Today I had to come by car in any case. So took this opportunity. 

A Comedy of Errors

This morning I started the bike for going to the Lake. By the time I came to the left hand side of the bike, it stalled. I had to start again. Later in the day at around lunch time I went to Khalil-da to take him to Minku's for my tyre change. Khalilda couldn't go as he had a couple of customers. I went alone to Minku. But the bike gave problem while starting. It started all right but stalled again. I had to restart the bike.

Next stop was Minku's where I couldn't find the MRF. I went to Ghai Motors to buy my spare clutch and accelerator wires. Starting there became a problem once again. But it finally started. However, ultimately it stalled near India Trading on Lee  Road. And now it would just not start. I had to walk the bike upto the office. Sweating profusely.

In the evening the bike started once again inside the garage. By the time I reached the road it stalled again and wouldn't start. I quietly walked it back to the office and went home by Metro. Met Monisha near the auto stand. Gave her my bag and went straight to Dilip who, luckily enough, was there.

Dilip sounded a bit puzzled as to why such a thing happened. He took a new spark plug and came out with his bike. The two of us went to office. The first thing Dilip did was to check the fuel. He pulled the pipe out and turned the knob to ON position. There was no oil !!!

I felt like a complete idiot. He turned the knob to RESERVE and the bike started. Half kick in fact. I have never felt like such a big idiot in life. I have ridden a total of close to a lakh kilometer on two wheelers at least. I have never been fooled thus. Filled in 12 litres of petrol right away and went home dig dig dig dig.