Blogs from West Bengal, India, Asia

Kolkata Durga pooja -Piprey on wheels With school holidays over, I imagined it was the perfect time to travel from London to Kolkata on empty flights and catch up on movies in the flights. Very confidently, I arrived at London Heathrow to be denied boarding because I did not have a negative RT PCR test. My option for one free change of date was also denied ( I re-confirmed later in Kolkata that I did have a free change). I paid 179 GBP penalty to fly the following weekend. London Heathrow should be renamed chaos. We were still doing security checks past the flight departure time and asked to RUN to the aircraft. We arrived late at Doha airport and 8 of us missed our connecting flights. 6 eager Bengalis stuck together, took alternative full flight ... read more

Since my paternal uncle passed away, I was concerned about my father as the only surviving brother. Thankfully, he was fine but my brave trip during the pandemic was a lesson in itself to take care of oneself first and foremost. Being not sure of travel, I requested some flexibility in my leave which my 'kind' manager complied with. I took the RT-PCR test and it was negative. Immediately, I confirmed my travels. I cycled and bought a whole lot of thoughtful presents for friends and family at one go as did not have much time for multiple trips. I had to fill a Air Suvidha form to confirm all my location details in India. At the airport, there were so many administrative checks of an assortment of papers, making travelling with the Maharaja less than ... read more

Watching the sunset through a bus window at 5 AM on my way to Siliguri, India was a breathtakingly beautiful experience, but I am also perfectly fine with it being a once-in-a-lifetime sort of thing! As soon as that bus shifted into park, we were escaping from its doors like a pack of feral chickens. Now, don't get me wrong, the snacks we packed were perfectly capable of sustaining us on our journey, but after days of treating ourselves to the amazing local cuisine, our stomachs screamed for some real food! Our solution: A cute little street shop called Munna Fast Food right within walking distance of our stop! After stretching our legs and getting some good food back into our stomachs, we began to mentally prepare ourselves for the second part of our journey along ... read more

26th March Koley Wholesale Market #heygo http://www.heygo.com Koley Market is situated just beside the Sealdah Station, which is one of the busiest railway stations in India. Kolkata city officially got two major railway stations, Sealdah and Kolkata railway station. The famous Howrah railway station is officially not in Kolkata city but it is in Howrah city which is just the opposite side of Hooghly River – a tributary of the Ganges. Koley market is a place where the farmers bring their fresh vegetables to sale at a wholesale price; retailers come here to buy from them. On average, the minimum purchase should be 5 kilograms which is known as one “Palla”. In Koley market, almost all farmers use the beam balance for the weighing and very few sellers use electronic weighing machines. This market is open ... read more

Bonjouratous, 14 janvier, 7h50. Le rendez-vous est à l’entrée principale de l’Indian Museum. Nous sommes lundi, à cette heure-ci, même les gardiens dorment encore, la place est nettoyée de ses gens, si ce n’est de ses détritus. Hier après-midi, dimanche, j’avais renoncé à pénétrer dans le musée, les familles entières, marmots compris, s’étaient données des airs d’envahisseurs en quête d’un bon bouillon de culture. Arrivé un peu en avance, je vais me prendre un chai au coin de la rue, histoire de ne pas prendre la route le ventre complètement vide. J’adore le chai, breuvage composé de thé, de lait et d’épices, passé et repassé dans une chaussette en guise de filtre et de récipient en récipient. De retour au point de rassemblement, un jeune blanc bec attend, les yeux illumi... read more