Long time back I had read a subway poster. It was about a car with the tagline 'Life is a jouney- get going with Ford'
Those days I had a busy schedule, used to wake up every morning, go to my MBA classes, study less..play more... Rush back and then settle down for an adda with my friends. Not a worry in the world, apart from the scraps and testimonials on Orkut. All my life I have been in Kolkata. The city and I had imbibed each other in such a way that somewhere down the line we started to take each other for granted. That realisation loomed upon me the day I got my first job. My first posting was in Dhanbad. Oh! The pangs of seperation. My heart ached for my beloved city and I used to rush back whenever I could. The desire to come back was so overbearing that I started looking for other jobs in Kolkata. Got one and came back. Never happier had I been. The Adda, the cha er dokaan, the friends, everything was there. The city and me were one again. The only small thing missed about Dhanbad was this little colony called Anand Housing where I used to rent a room. On nights when there was a power cut, and the temperature would hover around 45 degrees, I would stand on a little balcony outside my room and watch the stars. The name of that place was Dhansaar. I used to imagine that the stars are looking over my house in Kolkata at the time. Life was fast and ever changing. First job, first stay away from home. My friends started moving away from Kolkata. Everyone had their own careers and aspirations. Somewhere the intensity of singing cactus songs and discussing Martin Scorsese movies was going down and was getting replaced by more mundane topics... Even our beloved Orkut ( yes the same site with scraps and testimonials) was fading away while giving way to a new social media site and people starred asking each other- Are u on Facebook?
Back in Kolkata, there were elaborate plans about the grand pujo reunion that was being arranged. Passing of time is just a folly, everything is as it always was- said Santosh, my co-conspirator in reminiscing the past. Pujo came, friends met and suddenly it was about the newer roads that we were treading now. "My boss says that I am up for a promotion in the next 6 months" said a guy who used to tell us "I don't care about jobs, just something that pays my bills would suffice". He wanted to be a singer in a band. But, in all honesty, it was great being back in the fold. Once pujo was over, promises were made to meet up once again during Kali pujo, then Christmas ( we would go for the old park St shtick) and then again on poila boishak. Life is good.
The next time we met was next year pujo. Yes I know, the intent was there, but targets were stretched and leaves were hardly getting approved. On the day of sashti, we met again- tight hugs, khisti diye katha, cha and cigarette... One thing had changed though. We were facing something that we had never faced in life- akward silences between each other. To be honest, that was quite nerve wrecking. Big plans were made for oshtomi, full night adda. Maybe to escape the silences once again or maybe I wanted to keep an image intact, I decided to skip that. Came back home and went to the balcony. Maybe the stars were looking at my lil room in Dhansaar.
Don Corleone had once said " I will make him an offer which he can't refuse". That offer came from a company where I had wanted to work since I was a kid. The only glitch- it would not be in Kolkata but North Bengal. Took the plunge, went there, saw life the way I never had. Raw, beautiful, primitive. The districts of coochbehar, alipurduar and Siliguri were my new pasture grounds. Maynaguri, coochbehar, dinhata, falakata, hashimara, mathabhanga etc bacame a part of me. Peaceful quite little hamlets all of them. Each has a story to tell. Something small and in some cases intriguing but stories nonetheless. The place that appealed to me the most was a little town near Bhutan border called Kamakhyaguri. Back in 2008 we friends used to tell each other that we must go for a trip to the mountains. Plans were made but were never materialized due to financial or intent constraints. Kamakhyaguri had the best view of mountains I had ever seen and I have spent so much time sitting by the sprawling fields during dusk and contemplating the mountains. It was beautiful. North Bengal had a distinct pattern of rain. There are hardly any drizzles. When it rained it poured. When it didn't and the sky was clear I'd see the stars and imagine that the stars are watching over the little bench where I had spent hours chatting with my friends.
One major problem that I faced was the daily travel. For a good part of the day I was a journeyman. Either going to work or coming back. As they say, the greatest journeys are the ones which bring you home, after spending almost 3 years in North Bengal, I was ready to come back to Kolkata again. (Cont)
