Howrah-Aruns Marriage

On 25th Feb, I, yunus parul and daksh started our journey to kolkotta to attend the marriage ceremony of arunabha with debarathi. We caught the Howrah mail, which left dadar station at 8.45 p.m. the train journey is nothing to write upon, except that the entire route does not provide good tea to drink. However at raigarh we managed to find good tea. On 27th Feb we reached Howrah station at 6.20 a.m. shridatitya ( debarathis brother) was to receive us, however could not make it. He guided me of the place and the hotel name where the arrangement was done. Outside Howrah station we were followed up by taxi drivers, who were quoting higher fares then the normal. We took the taxi from the prepaid service stand and the total damage was INR 110.00. The first glimpse of Kolkata made us immediately realize that it was a city full of chaos, dirty and an atmosphere difficult to breathe. The roads and the city were too congested and finally after a drive of almost 35 minutes we reached Ghariyat police station, opposite to which was our guest house Dover Inn. There were 2 rooms booked to our name opposite to each other. The rooms were decent with TV and AC facility. We decided to refresh and probably leave to travel and visit the places in the city. I enquired with the hotel manager and arranged one travel person who decided to take us for INR 1600.00. Just near the hotel was a sweet shop as told by the security person of the hotel and I visited the shop and took some sweets and samosa. Finally we left the hotel at 10.45 a.m. and we decided to first visit Arun, and he was putting up at a place which was roughly 30.00 minutes from our hotel. Arun was there along with his father and was all prepared for the D day. Finally we left the place at around 12.10 p.m and our first visit was Science city. The place was on the outskirts of the city and we asked our driver to wait at the parking lot. The place was huge and had various 3-4 domes shaped buildings within the compound. One can visit the places either walking or there was a skyway trolley. We opted for the trolley since it would provide us with the aerial view. The trolley could accommodate maximum 4 persons and the total damage was INR 60.00. The scene from the trolley was really good and after a ride of almost 5-10 minutes we reach the other side of the compound. We walked towards the first dome shaped structure and it was a place where there were shows going on. We decided to see time machine (10/person), evolution (10/person) and 3-D show (20/person). Total damage INR 120.00. The first show was Time machine and it was good fun, since we all were seated on a long bench in front of the screen and it was a simulation kind of an experience, where we were feeling as if we were moving and riding as per the screen movements. Daksh was enjoying a lot and was afraid also, but it was a great fun. The second show was the 3D however since it had a specific time; we managed to get 30.00 minutes, in which we visited the place where we enjoyed the magic with mirrors. There were various types of mirrors and the various image formations with ones body. It was great fun, since we enjoyed all experiences like i.e., inverted, backed, infinity image formations. Finally we reached a place which was like illusions, where there were multiple mirrors with our multiple images and we were supposed to find a safe exit. I managed to find the way to get out and was really thrilling. Yunus enjoyed the experience the most and was so excited that we repeated the same again. We then attended the 3-D show in which we were provided with black goggles to watch the show. The experience was amazing since it was like experiencing all the things close to our face. I had put the goggle on daksh face and he was enjoying to the fullest. Then we saw the science experimentation place where the various laws of science were applied in the form of application. We then reached the evolution game, it was mind blowing since it showed various types of dinosaurs’ which were looking like real size and with programmed moves. Daksh was thrilled to see the dinosaurs’, giant animals etc. we finally left the place and moved to other spot. By this we were hungry, our driver took us to a mall where there was a restaurant, however was expensive. We reached Nicco Park and in front of the park there were stalls selling eatables. I had papdi chaat -2 plates which was really good stuff and fried rice (pathetic compared to Bombay). Yunus had fried rice and parool had pani puri. We then took coconut water (10/ each). After filling the tummy we entered the park, which was having a lake and various games and water rides. We didn’t like the place and came out without even spending more than 10 minutes. We then left for Victoria Memorial, which were really a great artithucture and a grand white structure. There was an entry fee of INR 20/person .the place inside the structure was really good and contained books, historical articles, swords, guns. The place was surrounded by a big garden and is worth a visit. When then left for Birla planetarium which was close by and we attended the show which was in Bengali and was about the planets and the stars. That was our last place since we had to move to Arun place to attend the marriage. After reaching the hotel and getting refreshed we finally left at 8.00 p.m. and managed to reach the place only at around 9.45 p.m. since it was quite far off and was close to the dum-dum airport. We saw the ceremony which was the normal Bengali ceremony and arun was dressed in the typical Bengali attire. The marriage went fine and after having the dinner we left at around 12.00 p.m. next day we woke up late and after bidding good bye to Yunus we left to attend the lunch arranged by Debarathi parents. We took the metro route and parul and daksh was the first visit. The metro was ok, and surprisingly the a/c has been turned off by the authorities for the last 2 months. We reached debarathis residence and the lunch started at 2.00 p.m. the lunch was of importance since it was attended by bride, groom, bride’s father and the other close relatives. The lunch was having traditional Bengali fish, and was followed by rounds of sweets. I had eaten the rice quantity which I normally eat in a week. Since we were veg, we were being arranged vegetables and rice. The food was really tasty and good and few words left to describe the sweets. We left the place and reached badabazaar where we met Priyeshji and he took us to his place. Badabazaar is the main market in Kolkata and his residence was almost in the centre of the market. After refreshing ourselves we left to visit Kali ghaat. The place was as typical Indian temples full of devotees and after paying visit, we left for our hotel. Next day morning after our checkout, we again reached priyesh residence to set for our journey to belur math and dakshineswar. After visiting dakshineswar we took the ferry to reach belur math and the ride is for almost 25 minutes. The bellur was much more calm and pleasant. It’s worth a visit if one is visiting Howrah. Finally we left for new jalpaiguri in the evening since our train was at 10.15 p.m.

Key takeaways: Avoid visting in summer, dont overeat, do try all sweets
More Photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30002962@N05/