Ever since our first visit to Shantiniketan, we had been waiting to go back. The villages still had vibes of rural Bengal: paddy fields, thatched huts, vast empty spaces and with the chill in the air in the morning, the first visit, in late autumn was an experience.  |
| A panorama of Hansulibnak |
To relive that experience we visited Shantiniketan once again during the Durga Puja, 2017. But this time, we had an another motive though: Hansulibnak, which is a bend in the river in a village called Labhpur. This bend became famous due to a novel named "Hansulibnak er Upakotha" by writer Tarashankar Bandopadhyay. The Pujos, that year. was in late September and as it happens often, the monsoonal clouds don't recede completely. We had made our reservations at the Garden Bungalow - the same place where we had stayed in 2016. Due to the Pujos the tariff had doubled to Rs 5000 per night including breakfast.
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| Around Hansulibnak |
We started from Calcutta in the morning and after breakfast of Aloo Parantha, Chana Masala at Azad Hind Dhaba, we reached Shantiniketan in the afternoon. The skies, throughout the entire journey remained cloudy, almost ominous - but it didn't rain. We had a 'Thali' for lunch and in the evening went to the Shonibarer Haat. During our return we saw the edges of the horizon filled with dark clouds and then we could feel moist,cold winds breezing through the Toto that was taking us back to our accommodation. By the time we were in our rooms, we could feel that the breeze had turned into strong gusts and it lashed upon the wide verandah with a powerful force. For the next couple of hours, the trees swayed violently, the wind howled as the lights went out - making an experience to remember.
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| Kash flowers: The essence of autumn |
The next morning after a breakfast of Toasts and omelettes, we went to explore Hansulibnak. We crossed the Prantik railway station, Kankalitola and headed straight. We took a detour at Phullora Temple before asking the locals for the directions to Hansulibnak. The last few miles to Labhpur were under construction and quite rough. At Labhpur we took a moram road, that turned narrower with each turn and like it often happens with rural roads of India, passed through a school ground, a few courtyards and we finally reached Hansulibnak.  |
Ponds with a 'Shapla' flowers
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We had to walk the last hundred meters or so till we reached a vantage point, from where we saw the ambling river take a giant turn. We spent a few moments at this bank and then resumed our journey back to Shantiniketan. At Kankalitala we stopped over for a visit and then headed straight to the restaurant of Kharimati resort for our lunch.
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| The food scene |
The sun came out thereafter and we sat at the restaurant enjoying the Rice served with dollops of ghee, dal, fried brinjal, Gondhoraj lebu and finally polished off with Chicken. It was hot. But in the leafy space surrounded by Bougainvillea trees, the lunch was a wonderful experience.
Later, during the day, we went to the Haat once again and whiled away purchasing the local handicrafts, enjoying a bite of ice cream and then retired to our abode for the night, The Garden Bungalow. The day was long and after an early dinner we went off to sleep.
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| Scenes from Shonibar-er(Saturday) Haat |
The next day, after having breakfast we went on to visit Viswa Bharati, the Deer Park and then took a long detour through the Choupahari Forests and returned home.
