Day 5: Dhanbad to kolkatta

Today, we started from the hotel called Abhinandan Hotel at around 9am in the morning  after Rtn Viresh Doshi ji and his fellow Rotarians saw us off. Important to mention, petrol in my tank got empty the previous night, so I had to walk my bike to the nearest fuel pump. So, we were flagged off from the fuel pump only. Then, we started off for the ride to Kolkatta. Then, as we rode on the NH2 for around 120kms, we took a halt for rest. We found a guy from a nearby locality, looking at us with anxiety. So, I approached him and started to talk to him. But, it was of no use, as he did not understand my language and neither could I. In the meanwhile, Deepak was doing his favourite thing, i.e. lying on the road. We were really tired at that time. Some of the pics.

 

So, after having our rest, we left for another stop at a Dhaba called Raaj Hotel. Yes, it gave us a feeling of us being entered into West bengal. I ordered fish fry with tea, while Deepak ordered Chana Masala with Masalaa Kulcha. While the food was being cooked, Deepak clicked some good pics. We found an old lady, yes she  was really old, 105kms old. She was having her food at that time and we clicked some pics with her. Also, we gave an end polio now cap to a boy working at the dhaba. Then, came the owner of the dhaba, who was bit afraid as I clicked pic of the child working at the Dhaba. Some pics are

Then, we started off for our destination, Kolkatta, where DRR rotaractor, Anton and Rtr Vishal were waiting for us. We reached the second Hoogli Bridge at 3pm and Vishal and Aanton came to pick us up from there. In the meanwhile I asked Aanton to show me Victoria memorial.  Then, he parked the car near the Victoria memorial. We left for the Victoria memorial on our feet only. He took us to the memorial through the busy streets, where we saw Nandan(a theatre), Street play stage etc. Then, we reached the Victoria memorial. Believe me, it seemed as if people were punished to see the memorial. If I am not wrong, there were thousands of people roaming around the memorial. We were tired, so we just saw the memorial from outside and clicked some pics. After that, we came back to the parking where our bikes and Aanton’s car were parked. We, then moved towards Vishal’s place, as we were ro stay his home. When we reached Vishal’s place, we found his mother waiting for us. Also, I experienced a new thing. We removed our shoes out of the house, which I learnt is the tradition of Bengali families. Vishal’s mother was really very nice, and she never let us think that we were away from home. A home away from home, was the feeling I was getting at that time. Some pics.

Then, after we got fresh, we clicked some pics with aunty, Aanton and Vishal.  We left for Rotary Sadan afterwards and picked Rtr. Shubhashish(Tublu), as we had to meet DG Distt. 3291 Rtn R Khandelwal ji there. We clicked photographs with him and other Rotarians. It was nice talking to his wife. She really motivated us for our trip. Then, we saw Somnath Chatterjee ji coming out of the conference hall. Also, we went through a painting exhibition put up a Rotarian.  There I found a foundation stone laid by PRIP Rtn Raja K. Saboo ji. Believe me, it gave me a feeling as if my trip was consecrated now. After the rotary sadan, Aanton took us to show the most famous  areas of Kolkata. Some of these were, Park Street, Eden Gardens stadium, Princep Ghat, etc. Also, we went to have Sandesh(a Bengali sweet) at Nakur’s shop. Sweets from this shop were delivered for Abhishek Bachchan’s marriage. 

Some pics

Then,  we came back to Vishal’s place, picking food from a restaurant on the way.I had

Bhaat(Rice)

Daal(pulse)

Malai chingri(jumbo prawns)

Dhokar Daalna

Mishti Chutney

Sandesh

Aloo Bhaja

After the dinner, we came back to our room and slept, as we had to leave at 3:30am for Bhubaneshwar.