THE PURULIA ROADTRIP- exploring my neighbour...
"I travelled miles, many a year,
Spent a lot in lands afar,
I have gone to see the mountains,
the oceans I have been to view.
But I haven't seen with these eyes,
What two steps from my home lies,
On a sheaf of paddy grain
A glistening drop of dew"
-----translated Tagore classic.
These were the exact lines that often crossed my mind when zooming through the greenest part of South Bengal. So near yet unexplored so far, I kind of admonished myself for ignoring such a beautiful neighbourhood for so long.
PURULIA, yes our very own Purulia had so much to offer, I did not expect. Purulia is not a barren land, not at all especially in this time of the year. Monsoon it is and its eye-soothing greenery, its various small streams and waterfalls, its rich cultural heritage, its people and those small hills covered with lush green rain forest will mesmerise you like never before and if it is a road trip one cannot demand for more.
The plan not hatched long before would pan out like this; The male members would ride their bikes and the female members would be comfortable inside the four wheeler. And yes, we have three cutest and smallest members with us this time. My daughter 'Kiki', Shubhankar and Manali's daughter 'Jinia' and Paramita and Rana da's naughty lill 'Raka'.
Early on a gloomy and rainy morning on 12th September 2019 we started from Kolaghat. The plan today is to have a day's halt at Ghatsila, Jharkhand. The Palpitation out of excitement was visibly palpable when we started our ride. We had to be extra cautious as it was raining continuously and the road condition after Kharagpur was not exactly a bikers delight. Soaked in rain and disillusioned with the road condition we decided to stop at a place before Lodhasuli for our breakfast. Even a plate of 'Ghugni Muri' and a cup of tea relieved us like anything. The opportunity was grabbed by the ever diligent and responsible mothers in my wife Smritikana and Manali to feed the little souls. My daughter has just celebrated her first birthday few days back and Jinia is only 8months old. Raka the older lot is of 3years.
Once we entered Jharkhand the road condition improved dramatically and the rest of our journey to Ghatsila was like.... 'twist the throttle and enjoy your ride'. The rain though didn't stop following us so when we finally reached the hotel our condition were nothing short of a 'storm stricken Crow' or should I say 'Jhoro Kak'.
The rain definitely conspired to dismiss all our plan for the rest of the day. Having our lunch late in the afternoon we had a narrow window when the rain stopped. Somehow all of us gathered the energy and decided to visit nearby(11km away) 'Burudi dam and Lake'. The narrow road meandering through shallow forests and few scattered village lead us to this beautiful little dam which immediately brought a smile to our drooping face. The lake surrounded by small hills was very isolated with only few of us enjoying its beauty in its loneliness, small clouds hovering across the rounded tip of hills, few kingfishers searching for their preys amidst chirping of some unidentified birds. Our sense of time was frozen and by the time we decided to return its already dark. The few tea stalls that were still there also started to call it a day. We somehow managed few cups of tea and left the place. The other places in Ghatsila remained unexplored as it was already dark and it started drizzling again. The rest of our night we made good use of our hair-dryer!
Next morning everything got better. The sun came out although with less vigour, Our Shoes/Shocks/garments were much drier by now so also our minds. Today we had to reach Ayodhya Pahar in Purulia. We will not stay at Ayodhya Pahar but at a place less known called 'Murguma', a village actually at the base of the hill. Putting aside any idea to explore the rest of Ghatsila we readily started our vehicles for our next destination. On the way we passed through beautiful forest roads, several villages, small urban dwellings, small stretches of Ghat sections. We stopped again and again to take pictures, selfies, refuelling and also once we were stopped by the patrolling policemen. The encounter with them proved to be a cordial one. It gave us confidence as a traveller amidst this part of the world which not so long ago was feared to be a naxalite area.
The Sight of the 'Ayodhya Pahar' in the distant horizon once we crossed Balarampur was surreal. It was a dream to ride on buttery smooth roads with the beautiful hills to accompany. Just when every good feelings were about to fill our minds to the fullest the 'Google Aunty' betrayed us. We were led to a road, a 'short cut' according to google aunty, which would be actually unaccessible by our car as per the locals. We didn't take a risk. It was already 2pm and we were due for lunch. We took one hour stop to feed our small members and decided to take a detour route of extra 50kms via 'Jhalda' to reach Murguma which was just 10kms away otherwise. By 5 pm we reached Murguma.
Once we reached the place, all our frustrations, tiredness smoked off all at once. The serenity and the wilderness of the place was exactly what we were looking for. Thank God the place and especially our stay was still untouched by the artificial grandeur of urban life. Thank god the place was still managed and maintained by the local villagers who would welcome you with all their heart, who would cook for you with all their simplicities, who would take care of your little ones with all their smile and humbleness. We will never forget the interaction with them about their daily village life on the dinner table, nor would we forget the magnificent servings of 'Bamboo Chicken' and 'Tandoored Chicken'.Our Stay that night was at a small eco hut with only 4 rooms, its called 'Bon Palashi Eco hut' perfectly justifying its name.
The Barbque is on.
Next morning we got up early and geared up to visit the places on Ayodhya hill. Walking distance from our eco hut was the Murguma lake and Dam. Then we rode up the hill on some really stiff twisties to have a good view of the surroundings. The view point was splendid and we spent some quality time there. 'Hesadi', ' Badhodi', 'Teliabhasa', 'Kusumtikbi'- These were some 'Adivasi Villages ' that we passed through on our way to the Ayodhya hill top and Upper Dam. The villages were so remote yet the people there were so happy. We hope they remain blessed with such simplicity for ever. On the way we touched 'The Marble lake' but missed 'The Turga lake' and 'Bamni falls' due to bad roads and a small insignificant accident. The beauty of Marble lake is worth mentioning. We had our breakfast at the hilltop bazar and returned to our hut by 11am.The morning was well spent.Today we would be going to our next stop 'Garpanchkot'.
The roadtrip was excellent today as we never complained about the road condition or the weather whatsoever. The true feeling of a biker is when you hit those free roads and the inner energy of yours and the horsepowers of your machine is in perfect synchrony, When the gush of strong air keep on buzzing your ears after flushing your face, leaving all the frustrations of mundane life behind. The last 15kms ride to our resort at Garpanchkot under the dying daylight was one of my best bikeride memory. As if my expectation from this bike trip has already been achieved in this last few Kms of ride. We checked in a posh resort named ' The Panchet Residency'. However we later found that the service quality is not that 'Posh' and we wondered how good and content were we few miles away in the village life of Murguma.
Next day its time to say goodbye and return to our home.
The sightseeing around Garpanchkot was not possible because we had to leave early.
Its better to keep something unexplored and untouched so that the urge to come back again on some another weekend remains green in our mind like the eternal greenery of the place. Some day, may be on an unplanned voyage we will come again to our neglected neighbourhood and laugh on our silliness to ignore the beauty that has been always with us.
We reached home at 4pm and the Odometer clocked exact 900kms.
Great post.
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