A Holi-stic trip to Arshinagar
(penned by Pratyush Parashar Das)
It was a bright
sunny day on the 8th of March, when our complex near Ultadanga saw a miniature exodus
of 16 people, who left in a Shuttle at around 10.00 am with a bare minimum of
noise and fuss.
The destination
was Arshinagar, or to be precise, Bawali Farmhouse, located about 15 minutes
from Budge Budge Institute of Technology, and the 16-member group who left for
the same comprised a total of 6 families.
As is to be
expected on such a journey when one is surrounded by friends and family, it was
quite a loud, cheerful and boisterous gathering, filled with laughter-filled
anecdotes about everything under the sun, sudden impromptu karaoke sessions without
the aid of mike and so on.
The 8th
of March being a Sunday, all of us were lucky to make good time due to nearly
empty roads with minimal traffic, which resulted in all of us reaching by 11.30
am, that is, barely an hour and a half after we had started.
As the Shuttle
entered the gates pf the property, all of us gave silent thanks to the Almighty
for an uneventful journey and quick transport.
We were then made
to wait for an hour before we were allowed to check-in to our rooms. The rooms
at the property were designed to look like tree-houses and cave-like settings,
though some rooms were equivalent to tent-houses as well
After dumping our
luggage in our rooms, all of us trooped into the dining area for lunch, which
all of us partook to our hearts’ content, for the lunch comprised of the
Maharaja’s Thali or the King’s plate, which had items like rice, pulses, fish,
chicken, spinach, chutney and a sweet to top it off.
Post-lunch, all
of us trooped back to our rooms for a much-needed siesta. The evening brought
us a culturally engaging experience in the form of a Baul performance by an
artist named Subhrata Paul, who enthralled all of us with his melodious voice
and his rendition of Baul songs, such as ‘Tomake Reet Majhare Rakhibo’, and other
such songs.
It was quite a
pleasant experience, for the program also included songs sung by some of the
guests who had arrived, including one of our own.
It was only when
the program ended that we realized how hungry we were and thus, proceeded to the
dining area for dinner, after which we called it a night.
The next day,
that is the 9th was a whirlwind of activity, for it was the day of
Holi, a festival which is so beloved by us Indians, for its use of color and a general atmosphere of mirth.
The whole day
went by in celebrating the festival, with the gay atmosphere augmented by performances
from a group specially brought in from outside. The celebration included song
and dance programs, where all the guests danced to the songs sung by the
artistes.
In the evening,
all of decided to visit the local attractions of the place (Arshinagar-Bawali),
such as the Rajbari (house belonging to the princely ruling class), which was
ultimately disappointing as none of us were allowed entry owing to a lack of prior
arrangements.
Our next location
was quite pleasant, that is, namely, the Ganga Ghat (riverbank), where we ate freshly roasted peanuts and enjoyed the general ambiance supplemented by
the spectrum of colors in the sky following sunset.
We returned at
around 8.30 pm, following which we had dinner, which was in turn followed by a lot of lively conversation.
We called it a
day at around 12.30 am and fell asleep, only wishing that the trip had lasted
longer, for all of us, had quite a lot of fun.
On the 10th
of March (that is today), all of us bid adieu to Arshinagar with a heavy heart and left by 12.30 pm. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant named Kasturi, in Dover
Lane and were back home by 3.30 pm.
Thus, such was our
trip to a corner of West Bengal, which recharged us and refreshed us for the oncoming
days and the shift back to normal life.
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