Shantiniketan: Every winter's must visit
In the shadows of the lockdown...
After our visit to Mandarmani, we felt confident that maintaining proper sanitization and social distancing might ensure that we have trouble free journeys. And with that intent, we visited Shantiniketan during the 23rd January weekend. Like the above two trips, this trip too was planned 4 days in advance. And with the 23rd to 26th January period being an extended weekend of sorts most hotels were sold out. Not finding any other option, we booked a room at Kharimati Resort. The room was true to the tariff – basic and simple. Knowing the rush, all we wanted at such a short notice was a room with running hot and cold water and a shelter for the night.
On the 23rd of January we commenced our journey. Whereas the weather in Calcutta was quite sunny, the moment we reached near the Dankuni toll plaza, the sun disappeared behind layers of thick fog. Instead of stopping at one our usual stops: Azad Hind Dhaba or Hindustan Hotel, we broke breads at Hotel Nabanna –a bad decision that we realized later.
Resuming our journey, it was around 12ish when the sun finally started to win over the fog. Slightly before taking the right towards Guskara/Shantiniketan NH 2B, there was a huge traffic jam where we lost some time. But the moment we entered the NH 2B, the mustard fields took over. One thing to note is, whereas we saw mustard fields in Taki and Shantiniketan, there were none in the Mandarmani route. Anyway, it was smooth and fast drive to our hotel.
After checking in, we freshened up and had ordered the lunch at their outdoor restaurant – Roti, Chicken Curry and One chicken thali. I had food at Kharimati before, and found that they have maintained the excellence in quality still. It was awesome. After lunch we headed to the Weekly Haat and found that many things have changed. A separate car parking area has come up which is around half a kilometer from the haat itself. So, we parked our car and walked to the haat – purchased some stuff, had the guava mix, some lemon tea, saw the tribal dances and returned to our hotel around 6 PM. We spent the greater part of the evening in the restaurant and after a satisfying dinner went off to sleep.
We wanted to have our lunch at Bonolakshmi but even after calling the number a couple of times no one picked up. So, I called up Barishaler Rannaghar, which is actually an extension of Bonolakshmi, and ordered desi chicken thali for lunch. The next morning we packed our bags, bathe and left the hotel after breakfast.
We first visited the Kankalitala Temple and then went onto see Hansulibank. The scenery after crossing Kankalitala was beautiful – vast stretches of mustard fields, palm trees with hanging pitchers, farmers sowing new seeds in some places, haystacks and cow dung cakes stuck on the muddy walls. The road condition remains great till one reaches the final stretches of Hansulibank. Now, I had been to hansulibank some years before post monsoon when everything was green and the river was full of water. But now during the winter, the water had reduced to a trickle and the grasses had burnt brown. Nevertheless, after spending sometime there we resumed our return journey.
We were on our way to Barishaler Rannaghar. We had to wait for sometime for lunch. The quality of food was good – the basic dish consisted of Rice, Dal, Ghee, Alu bhaja, dhokar dalna, shukto, chutney and we had chicken along with that. The service left a lot to be desired. After lunch, we purchased some ghee.
Around 3 PM we started for Calcutta and after an uneventful journey reached home at 7 PM sharp.