I am generally very inconsistent and in order to relax my impatient nerves I like to travel. New places, people and the feeling on being lost, gives me a high. I like food too in the most unnatural and voyeuristic manner and I often identify places with the food it offers. Being a bong there is no avoiding the traveling gene. I had started traveling with my super adventurous grandmother and though I haven’t traveled a lot, it’s fairly a good number. I don’t get to travel a lot these days. I don’t have my enthusiastic grandmother and the money to afford long trips. I miss them both. I have never actually penned any of the travel experiences, so this time I decided to put down all my travels details with my grandmother. Most of them are highly insignificant details and i dont remember the significant ones.

Manila and Hong Kong

I don’t remember anything about it. According to what I have been told, I insisted I get carried around everywhere and threw a tantrum every time I was forced to walk. My second birthday was celebrated there and the creamiest cake was ordered and the balloons had my name on it.

Mayawati (not the politician - its a place in UP)

We were put up in the middle of the jungle and our forest lodge had wooden flooring. After dark we were not allowed to come out because of the tigers in the forest. We had stayed at the Ramakrishna Mission guest house and it was looked after by my dad’s old school principal. He was the coolest sadhu/godman or whatever we are supposed to call them ever. I used to follow him like the pug in the Hutch ad and only used to leave his side when my grandmother used to force me to bed. I used to call him Shyamal da copying my father, though I was supposed to call him swamiji or something like that.

Puri

I have been to Puri 13 times in a span of 12 years. It is the mecca of middle class bongs. Though I love the place I have vowed never to go there again. Playing in the beach in semi naked state, making lame sand castles, taking pictures with strange beer guzzling way past middle age uncles, eating hot malpuas on the beach are a part of the Puri memories. But no trip of ours was complete without visiting the Jagannath Temple with the help of Chokachok. He was a panda (not the animal). Without the help of a panda it is usually impossible to get a darshan. We met Chokachok the first time we went to Puri and he was our panda for the rest of the trips as well. His duck like way of walking and the bhog and khajas made Puri visits complete. There were two famous hotels in Puri back then, one was the Victoria Lodge and the other Puri Hotel. Victoria can be compared with the newspaper Hindu and Puri Hotel with Times of India. Once we had stayed in Victoria Hotel. It was the most boring place ever. I started missing my grandmother and created a scene. Next day we changed our hotel and went to Puri hotel. I also traveled first class for the first in one of our Puri trips. Chilka and Bhuvaneshwar was also a part of our trip. Nothing spectacular, except when we sat on a boat for 2 hours on the Chilka lake to see dolphins. We could just see the tail. additionally Bhuvaneshwar is the place where I learnt Oriya. I also made a friend there and we used dance to humma humma from the movie Bombay. We had long practice sessions. On my last day, she cried because I was leaving. I didn’t really care.

Bangladesh

It was the first time I came across coca cola. I had finished an entire crate of coca cola during my stay in our family friend's house in Dhaka. Even the 5-minute flight which included filling out forms and hiding the croissants in my grandmother’s bag. I also met Utpal Dutt (veteran Bengali actor and also was in the movie Golmaal) during one of my trips in the Dhaka airport. He was like an endearing grandfather. Our family friend’s house was in the poshest area of Dhaka. Poverty in Bangladesh was never a reality to me. The house had five servants and they were all my best friends. Mornings used to go with the gardener. He even sent his daughter to play with me. We used to play house-house in the bathroom. The bathroom had a bathtub. Afternoon used to be with the housekeeper Kareem Bhai. I used do namaz with him and he got me the skullcap also. He also taught me the words. I don’t remember them now. The evening, I used to spend time with Abdul Bhai the cook and the driver. The driver taught me how to knit fishnets. Abdul Bhai’s white (curd) chicken and bhuni kichdi was the best dish I ever had. He is till the best cook that I have came across. I never found the same kind of chicken preparation ever again. Since my grandmother was from Bangladesh, she wanted explore the rural areas. We had gone to a lady’s house during the durga puja. Her son and husband were killed during the 1971 war. But she didn’t know the truth. She till had sindoor on her head and told people that they were working abroad. Also in Bangladesh I met my first crush. He was a lot older to me and he was related to our family friend. We were obsessed with the movie Satte pe Satta and used watch it over and over again. Years later I heard he is turned into a quite a loser, trying to find a job in the US by flattering his rich cousin. Also there was Benji. He was the only dog I ever liked. He was a pup when I met him for the first time in Manila. He used to follow me around everyday and used to sleep by my side. I used to take him for walks as well. When I went to Dhaka for the third time, Benji was no more.

Bangalore Mysore Trivandrum Kanyakumari

It was our south India trip. We made a brief stop at Chennai; all I remember was the musty hotel room. Mysore was brilliant and the splendour of the palace left me dumbstruck. In Vrindavan Gardens, it was hard to control my grandmother. She wanted to see everything and 9 year old me dragged her to the bus when it was just about to leave. In Bangalore, I came across a computer for the first time and had wonderful paper dosa. I also watched African Safari there. Also I bonded with a cousin who had the prettiest mother with blue eyes. She died the next year. Next year when we went again the adults explained to me how I should talk to my cousin and try to cheer her up. I have no idea how she is doing now. Also while entering the station our train collided with another train and our coach was suspended over an over bridge. We took our luggage, walked gingerly on the bridge and finally reached the station. Kanyakumari and Trivandrum I don’t remember anything except for the beach hammocks on Kovalam beach and gawking at the bikini clad firangs.

Ranchi

My grandmother’s sister and practically her entire khandaan used to stay there. Somehow it all makes sense. My grandmother’s sister’s husband was the coolest grandfather. He was the principal of a school. We used to lock ourselves in a room and he used to recite poems and famous dialogues from various films, plays and books. He used to play some really cool records as well and used to dope a lot even when he was in 50s. That’s why I loved going back to Ranchi. Now he is old and I have heard he has lost his spunk. I don’t think I want to see him again. Also I bonded a lot with my cousins there. One of them got married while I was there and during her bidaai everyone started crying. I was feeling a little stupid and excluded so I tried squeezing my eyes hard so that i could cry. Obviously it did not work.

I have visited many other places as well but because of my short attention span I don’t think I can write them at one go. Someday I will write the rest. As it is this post is far too long.