Our West Bengal trip-(7)

3-01-2023

Amar kutir

Gupin came at 3.15. We went to Amar Kutir about 4 kms away. It is a co-operative society for the promotion of arts and craft. Once again, we wondered about the speed of the toto 😊. I don’t think it would be a good vehicle if one is in a hurry. But I suppose those who go in it, leave sufficiently early. We enjoyed the slow pace. There was a nice statue of Rabindranath Tagore to one side of the shop.  There were dress materials, bedsheets and handicraft for sale. We bought some things. A Baul singer was singing under a tree. We were back by 5. We did not go anywhere else, just rested and went for dinner at 8.30. The food cooked by Dipak was very tasty.

4-01-2023

After breakfast we met Sajal Dey’s wife, Ahana Biswas. She is a professor of Bengali. Her college is in Burdwan, and she has to travel two hours by train each way. She is a writer and painter and works to preserve tribal art and culture. We saw her beautiful paintings in the dining room.

Dipak Sanrag, the manager of the homestay is her student. He is a textile designer. All those who work there help him in his work. A lot of vegetables are grown in the garden. There is a deep pond at one end with lotus flowers. The water level has gone down now. While coming to Shantiniketan we were happy to see water bodies at regular intervals. They help to maintain the groundwater level.

We set out to see Vishwa Bharati campus in Shantiniketan and Sriniketan with Sajal. We went in a toto. Tourists are not allowed inside the campus. Sajal Dey did his PhD here so we could go with him. The campus is huge covering thousands of acres and has lots of trees. The world-famous winter festival, Poush Mela used to be held on the campus grounds. This festival was started by Rabindranath Tagore’s father. But this year it was not held there. Sajal was not happy with the vice chancellor’s decision. We walked around the campus for a few hours and had tea in a canteen. Students cycle from one place to the other in the campus. Even in the town we saw men and women cycling.

We returned to Desher Bari by 2.30 and stayed there enjoying the quiet. Later Dipak came and we went with him to buy Nolen Gur (new jaggery) from the adjacent plot where jaggery from the sap of the date trees is prepared every morning. We bought 2 kgs. We went to Dipak’s shop. He said most of the saris and other materials had been sent to Hyderabad where a textile exhibition was taking place. Aravind and I bought a sari coloured with the dye from eucalyptus leaves for my mother. She liked it very much. It is very light and the colour is beautiful.

After retiring to or room we packed for the next day’s journey. Dipak had talked to his friend, a taxi driver to take us Calcutta the next morning.

Visva-Bharati University – Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visva-Bharati_UniversityBolpur to host alternative Poush Mela in 2022 breaking with a 125 year old tradition | CJP

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