1-01-2023
We left the airport at 12.15 for Shantiniketan. My father’s cousin and family have known Gopal for decades. He is nice person. He has problems with his speech because he had suffered from cancer. But we could understand him.
Leaving Calcutta behind we sped along the highway. This was earlier Highway number 2 but now it is numbered 19. Gopal said this highway was made during the time of prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. It connects Calcutta and Delhi. All along the road we saw trucks and lorries parked to one side. There are fixed timings for them to go through the city.
Our home region is hilly. Very rarely do we get to see land without hills in the background. But here we saw miles and miles of level land with paddy, potato and mustard fields. The mustard plants were in full bloom with lovely yellow flowers. Most people in West Bengal use mustard oil in their daily cooking. Gopal stopped near a hotel, and we sat in the car and ate the delicious Bengali food given by Radhakka. (Akka means elder sister) Whenever we go on a vacation, we love to eat the local cuisine.
We were making good time and then we came to small town where there was a traffic jam! It took almost half an hour get through. There were lorries parked to one side and that was half the problem. Gopal does not use GPS (we too do not 😊). We had to ask some people for directions to the homestay when we reached Shantiniketan.
At one place, in a wooded area a local fair or mela was in progress and there was a lot of rush. We reached the homestay, Desher Bari at 4.15. Desher Bari means country home.
We had forgotten to inform the manager, Dipak Sanrag the time of our arrival. So, we had to wait till the room was prepared. Dipak prepared hot milk less tea for us which was welcome in the cold weather. In our place there is no winter, but we had come fully prepared with woolen clothes. By 5.30 it was dark. At 8 o’clock Aravind’s friend, Prof. Sajal Dey came to meet us. While talking to him we learnt that homestay belonged to him and his wife. He and his wife are working to preserve tribal art and culture. The two buildings in the plot are made from mud. But the bathrooms are modern with all amenities. We noticed beautiful paintings and wood craft.
We were served very tasty food. They knew we were vegetarians and had prepared rice rotis, dal and cauliflower sabji. West Bengal is famous for its sweets made from milk and people can count on it that every meal would be accompanied by toothsome khoya sweets. We ate our first rasgulla in jaggery syrup that night. It was heavenly. We had earlier decided that we would enjoy the food and the sweets and go on a diet after returning home😊.
(to be continued…)
National Highway 2 (India, old numbering) – Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Highway_2_(India,_old_numbering)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasgulla
Mukhamani 
I like the carvings on the door, the relief on the wall, and the mosaics on the floor; also the colourful scene of the goods laid out for sale
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I like your resolution to diet AFTER the holidays.
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Is home stay like your term for a hotel here in the US? Yes, I too liked the fair and the artwork at the home stay.
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Homestay is different from hotels. It is a cottage on a plot with three or four rooms that are let out to tourists. Some have a small kitchen with the rooms . But in this place the food was cooked by the staff and we ate in the dining room, separate from our room.
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That sounds like what we might call a “B & B”, or “bed and breakfast” place here.
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That’s so neat! Here we also have Airbnbs, but no food is in them, you must buy and cook your own or eat out.
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Enjoy your vacation to the fullest!!
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We enjoyed our vacation, we returned on the 13th. Thank you.
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It is so interesting to learn more of your recent journey and I’m glad you chose to indulge in sampling the delights of the Bengali food then diet later. That door is so ornate and a delight for the eyes. Thank you once more for sharing your adventure.
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That is a wonderful account of a very interesting visit. I didn’t even know that different regions have their own cuisine, although it’s logical, whe you think about it! The local market was very nice, but best of all is the beautiful carved door. That is just superb.
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The cuisine in India is fascinating. People living in one region and belonging to different communities cook differently. And usually there will be atleast one special dish or sweet which makes a community popular all over the country. When we say Calcutta people immediately think of Rasgulla 😊
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We only have that in the UK with regional dishes that are not very popular elsewhere! Jellied eels in London and Haggis in Scotland, for example.
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You are in Calcutta so no dieting 😀!
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Beautiful photos, dear Lakshmi. I enjoy following your trip.
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The place you stayed in looks very cosy.. waiting for the next episode 😊
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This is so beautiful… loved the home stay architect and style.. feeling nostalgic to see the trade fair picture under woods . Amazing to see colorful local ethnic articles there!!
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I loved the carved door and the beautiful chairs. Thanks for sharing.
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Thank you Lakshmi for thiss report especially for the photos of the market with very colorful tapistries.
I commented at different place because I was never sure to be at the Lakshmi ‘blog! 🙂
Michel ❤
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