Having returned from Agra to Delhi, we had reached our last leg of our holiday trip: a visit to the spiritual destinations of Haridwar and Rishikesh. This was to be our first visit to both the places. Unfortunately, all train berths from Delhi to Haridwar were already booked and we were left with no other option but to make a bus journey again. Accordingly we booked our tickets on a Volvo bus which was to depart at night and reach Haridwar very early next morning. That would be very helpful, so we thought, as we would not have to go about looking for a hotel room at night. We were loitering around the Inter State Bus Terminus at Anand Vihar when I received a call from the bus conductor ........ Read more

Once our short trip to Delhi was over, we embarked on our journey to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. The journey was rather forgettable. Having failed to get reserved tickets on any of the daily running trains, we ended up boarding a rickety bus at the filthy ISBT bus terminus at Kashmiri Gate, on the outskirts of Delhi. We were told that it would take around four hours to reach Agra but a good three hours into the journey we realized it would take us much longer. All this while my wife had not spoken a word and the scowl on her face seemed to be getting bigger ........ Read more

Delhi, more specifically New Delhi is the capital city of our country. It had been my home when I was a child and now my son was eager to visit and see the city. Interestingly, once having reached Delhi, one could plan a trip to one of many destinations in north India, like Agra, Jaipur, Simla, Haridwar, to name a few. The Puja vacation (we have a big holiday stretching for many days during the Durga Puja festival!) provided us the right opportunity to make such a trip and before long we were on the Poorva Express, hurtling through the plains of North India towards Delhi ........ Read more

Vizag, more popularly known as Vishakhapatnam, is a big, bustling city on the Andhra coast overlooking the Bay of Bengal. It is famous for the Vishakhapatnam Steel Plant as also for being one of the foremost naval bases in the country. In the last ten years, it has also started to be recognized as an important tourist destination. Those having visited the city have had plenty of nice things to say about it. I was craving to plan a visit myself and the Christmas holidays provided me the opportunity to do just that. After spending some time on 'tripadvisor' reading the reviews of travellers to the city, I booked a room in a ........ Read more

Durga Puja, the most important festival of Bengal, had arrived again. The festival marked the victory of good over evil with Goddess Durga epitomising the good and emerging victorious after putting to death the evil demon 'Mahisasur'. Mythology also has it that during the five days constituting the festival, Goddess Durga, her four children in tow, takes leave from her husband, the great God Lord Shiva, and comes home to be with her parents. Idols of Goddess Durga, her sons Kartik and Ganesha, and her daughters Lakshmi and Saraswati adorn the beautifully constructed pandals in parks and on the roadside and are worshipped by all and sundry ........ Read more

The summer recess had commenced. However, I had only a week to myself before getting busy with examination related duties. It would be nice, I thought, to make a short trip to somewhere outside Kolkata and get re-energized for the coming academic session. Puri, Digha, Mandarmani were a few places that I had in mind to choose from. But they were vetoed down by my better half, with active support from my child, on the pretext that they would be just as hot and unpleasant as Kolkata during this time of the year. It was then that the name of Darjeeling cropped up ........ Read more