Journey to Chakradharpur (Jharkhand, West Singhbum district)

December 25th, 2009.

I got up at 3:30AM. It was too cold. With the help of geyser, I prepared some hot water and put my legs into it. After 15 minutes, I was feeling better. I was ready in 30 minutes. My adopted pups were awake and were happy to see me awake early in the morning. They started licking my legs and were jumping crazily. I was a bit afraid. Even though, I like dogs I always make it a point not to touch them much or even allow them to lick. I managed to push them back to my apartment and hurriedly moved out with my backpack.

I came out of my house and walked to my neighbour Anoop Bhuyan’s house. He and his nephew Saurabh were getting the car ready for the journey. There were lots of luggages. I am not a person who has great knowledge of car, but I could identify the model as Santro. The time was 4:15AM. The plan was to start by 5AM, but looks like we were ahead of time in our schedule. The plan was to visit Chakradharpur in the neighbouring state of Jharkhand. My neighbours and I became thick close friends within months of our first meet. I was very much interested in roaming around the countryside. They knew it and they asked me to simply join along in their personal trip. I thought it wouldn’t be nice, but they didn’t allow me to decline the offer. Even I was interested in seeing Chakradharpur. Even the very name thrilled me! The name sounded very majestic and imperialistic. I thought ‘Chakradhar’ was a King’s name. That was my guess.

Chakradharpur was situated roughly 340km from Howrah. The plan was to reach the place by 11AM. I would be staying in a separate room at a friend’s place and later join them in the car for the return journey the next day. My friend Anoop is a 40 year old conservative Bengali while Saurabh was a college goer younger to me by a few years. He always had the habit of calling me”Dada”, later I requested him to call me by my name Krishna, but he would just not listen to me.

We started at 4:30AM. Anoop was a good driver! He was driving very well. I almost felt like I was in a train. Excellent speed! Kolkata looked deceptively calm during the early morning hours. Some parts were deserted, but I still found some parts crowded and people were busy. I wondered what they were doing in wee hours of morning. Salt Lake City (Kolkata) looked beautiful even during the morning hours.

The journey was long. It could have been tedious for Anoop and Saurabh, but I was simply enjoying as I like travelling. I took my mobile and started taking notes regarding details needed for my travelogue. Since there were lot of luggages we couldn’t opt to travel by train and moreover, there were other plans for Anoop. My plan was to simply roam around, so it wasn’t a big deal for me. Whether it’s train or car or even a horse cart.

After roughly 1.5 hours we stopped for tea. It was great to have tea in the morning. It was really warm. After 15 minutes, we resumed our journey again. This time Anoop was driving the car a bit slow. I wondered why. Was something mixed in tea??? I had my own worries.

West Bengal looked beautiful, but it lacked in infrastructure. The roads were a bit poor here and there with a lot of dumps and bumps. I observed the countryside and it was beautiful. I was thankful to God for giving me an opportunity to travel to these places. I remember marking these places in map, but never knew that I would be travelling there in any part of my life time. It’s a special feeling. It gives a lot of peace and happiness. I wasn’t going to miss this moment. I connected my mobile and I was listening to some of my favourite songs. No prize for the guesses. I was listening to my favourite Backstreet Boys, Michael Jackson collections.

Around 11:15AM, we reached our destination. Chakradharpur had a lot of railway quarters and colonies for staff. The town (city?) was a bit quiet on that day with not much of activity around even though it was Christmas. I was feeling a bit tired. Saurabh helped me with my new room for the next one day and I refreshed myself by taking a shower. I told him that I would be roaming around the town only in the afternoon and I would like to take some rest. He left me alone and I went for a nap. I didn’t feel like eating anything. I didn’t know why. After one hour nap, I got up and went along with Anoop for lunch at the hotel nearby. I had rotis with rice, while Anoop went for a heavy Non-Veg stuff. He couldn’t understand why I was still a vegetarian. I told him that I was a Brahmin.

After lunch, I went around the town by walk. It was a wonderful experience. I stopped by the countryside and had “gol-guppa” or Pani Puri with onions. The taste was good. Brought back fond memories having Pani-poori in the streets of Kolkata. The local bus stand was not in proper condition but there were other things to boast about. The place still represented British era and it was beautiful. The place was a railway establishment and I could see a lot of quarters and other Government buildings. There were statues dedicated to freedom fighters and people looked amazingly simple with great character.

As I walked towards the bus stand, I came across a board which read as Cuttack-370km, Patna-568km, Nagpur-819km, Vijayawada-1107km, Nasik-1468km. My goodness there were lots of places mentioned. What about Chennai? Well, what about Kolkata? It is the nearest major metro and it was mentioned. Cuttack is mentioned, but what about Bhubaneshwar-the capital? Most of all, why isn’t the capital city of Ranchi not mentioned here? I felt a bit amused.

My first task was to board a share auto or bus to a place called “Kera” to visit Bhagwati temple. It was 10km away as per information collected from my friends in Kolkata. The main hurdle was language. But I was confident of managing with my Hindi. I boarded a bus and purchased ticket to Kera. It was a long journey! The driver took nearly 40 minutes. The bus wasn’t crowded. The roads were dusty. The road conditions in the outskirts were very bad! I found myself travelling between midly dense forests and lonely state highways. The villages gave a sleepy appearance. I was enjoying this journey very much. I was listening to my beloved Backstreet Boys-I want it that way. After 40 minutes, I got down. The temple was nearby and it wasn’t as big as I assumed. I thought it was “Bhagwati Amman” but it was simply Bhagwati Temple. Later only I realized that Amman is a name used only in South India and in the North India it’s “Ma”. The temple was simple and peaceful. My next destination was Ponga to visit a Shiva Temple.

Villages in India manifest a deep loyalty to their hometown. They identify themselves proudly representing their hometown. Even I don’t represent Chennai that proudly. I need to learn a lot from these villagers. I have also observed that a family rooted in a particular village does not easily move to another and even people who have lived in a city for a generation or two refer to their ancestral village as "our village”. I have always felt a sense of pride and loyalty when I speak with Indians who live in villages. They carry themselves with pride not giving to underhanded ways. Maybe some of our guys in corporate offices should learn a lesson or two from these people.

These people also have the habit of sharing things. They share common village facilities-the village pond, grazing grounds, temples and shrines, cremation grounds, schools, sitting spaces under large shade trees, wells. Perhaps equally important, fellow villagers share knowledge of their common origin in a locale and of each other's secrets, often going back generations. Interdependence in rural life provides a sense of unity among residents of a village. I haven’t observed anything as such in cities. Why such contrasts exist?

Viewed from a distance, an Indian village may appear deceptively simple. It may even look silly for a few. A cluster of mud-plastered walls shaded by a few trees, set among a stretch of green or dun-colored fields, with a few people slowly coming or going, oxcarts creaking, cattles roaming around, and birds singing. In reality, any Indian village life is far from simple. The work ethic is strong, with little time out for relaxation, except for numerous divinely sanctioned festivals.

I returned back to my friend’s place at 6 PM. Citing language problems, I wasn’t much interested in roaming at nights. I didn’t want to outdo myself or try anything eccentric and get into trouble. I was very hungry too. I returned back to my friend’s place and had an early dinner at the same hotel where I had lunch but this time alone. Jharkhand’s cuisine was nice and interesting. I love rotis! Rotis, Dal, Khukri, with lots of vegetables. It cost me a good Rs.50. After dinner, I silently slipped to bed.

The next day morning I started my return journey towards Kolkata with Anoop and Saurabh, with lots of luggages. After long hours of continuous driving, we took our breakfast at a place called Galudih. Our next halt was at Ghatsila near Jharkhand-West Bengal where we took rest for about 30 minutes. As we crossed the border, a board sign read,” Welcome to West Bengal”.

-Krishna Kumar.S
a.k.a Junior KK