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.
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| 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.
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.
