Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Purulia – The red soiled wilderness



It’s definitely not on the list of ‘must visits’ for most of us. Neither is it likely to ever advertise itself as one. But for those who like to be surprised, and not go on roads already trodden, a little getaway on the Ayodha Hills should leave one with unnamed experiences.

Early bird... catches the train


This is one good thing that must be admitted – Indian Railways seriously joins this country from all possible corners. Well, at least, mostly. Though with air-traffic getting more congested every day, and the long-drive culture seeping in steadily, travelling by train is fast taking a backseat -- at least, for those weekend-holiday seeking city dwellers with a car. But still, nothing takes you to the remote places, that too pretty quickly, like the trains.

But, then, it’s not easy to get a reservation in this country. I didn’t get it either. But, in the hindsight, I now realise that not getting a reservation was the first step to the entire three-day experience that was to bring me very close to the people, the land... the reality.

The Rupashi Bangla Express leaves Howrah station at 6 in the morning. And, for those who don’t know, 6 mean exactly 6. You may always hear the more-famed long distance trains running late by hours, but the every-day short distance once – or local trains, as they are called – can pride themselves for being supremely efficient. And so I timed myself accordingly – reach the station at around 5:20 am, get my ticket (I guess for a hundred and five rupees) after standing in the queue for about 10-12 minutes (which is fabulous!!) and proceed to platform number 21, making a mental note of which side-window seat should I opt for.

But, well, morning’s not a good time to dream! I had forgotten that after all, I was a tourist – even if that was in my own backyard – and was up against much superior race of people called the ‘daily passengers’. An irresistible force that up turns in thousands at various railway stations of this country every single working day even before the sun wishes good morning. Yes, I didn’t get a seat. Well, I did manage one after about two hours at Kharagpur, but not before learning my lesson that showing up 10 minutes before the train departs may be enough to board it, but not good enough to get a seat!

Poor man’s sumptuousness


A newspaper and a pack of biscuits had kept me going all this while, but the smell of hot luchi-tarkari was trying my patience ever since the train had stopped at Kharagpur. I fought my dilemmas for a couple of minutes, and finally gave up. ‘Didi ektu seat ta rakhben (Sis, will you please keep my seat)?’ I urged the lady next to me. A nod of her head and the next moment I was on the platform ordering my breakfast. Seven little luchis with alu-chholar tarkari -- all for Rs 10. Oh god, or the government – or whosoever responsible – please keep Bengal as supposedly poor as it is, where else do I get ‘this’ otherwise!

In retrospect, I wonder what development really means. Is it a swanky place dotted with malls, high-rises and a handful of richie-rich people making things around them so costly that everyone else around feels poor? Or is it a place where even Rs 20 in the pocket at the end of the day can assure food for a family? Is it the relentless pursuit of wealth or this baffling smugness, or even happiness, in staying away from the riches? Well, that’s for another day, maybe.

The changing scenery


SRK may utter the scripted words such as ‘there’s something about Bengal’, but I guess, in reality leave apart the newly-appointed brand ambassador even his employers don’t really have any idea what that ‘thing’ is. It’s a pity that the state has never been promoted the way Madhya Pradesh, Kerala or Gujarat have been – after all, how many 'products' in this world have the Himalayas, Bay of Bengal, Sundarbans, Ganges – and much more – packed into one!

The lushness of the countryside, dotted with numerous ponds, accompanies you throughout this nearly 5 hours journey as the train goes through three districts. And on this journey do you realise the geographical diversity that exists here. Slowly the rice field gives way to dry red rocky land, and the palm tree oasis takes over from the mango orchards as I enter Purulia district.



The Purulia town is just like any other in Bengal, dotted with every day thaali-bhojanalay (food joints), cycle-rickshaws taking you to almost everywhere from the station and a cramped up bus stand that helps bringing the remote corners of the district to the town. I gulp down an egg-thaali at one of the joint in front of the station and catch hold of a rickshaw for bus stand from where I shall further embark on my journey to the Ayodhya Hills.

As the rickshaw pulls through the by-lanes of Purulia town a board attracts my attention. Some government office of the Ayodhya Hills development project. I ask the rickshaw-guy to pull over. I don’t have a place to stay and these government offices always have something at the place of their project. It turns out they have much more than just something and I’m given a room for Rs 300 a night at their guest house up there. Sorted! J

My luck is to take me further on that day. I grab the last seat available. So what if it’s at the back of the bus, it’s a window side nonetheless!


I had heard and read how the scenery may look like in this part the world but wasn’t really aware. Frankly speaking, Purulia hasn’t been filmed or photographed as much as many other parts of the state. And it took just around 20 minutes to give me the real picture. As the bus moved out of the Sirkabad town, the tillas -- or little hills – started to appear in the distance. The brick-and-cement houses started giving way to more modest mud houses. And there were sugarcanes – everywhere. All along the winding road, till the time we started ascending, the green-and-yellow sugarcane fields kept us company.

It took me around two hours to reach Ayodhya Hills as the bus dropped me right at the gate of my guest house. Well, it was the biggest structure in the hamlet. It should be said here that the famed ‘Ayodhya’ where Ram’s throne was, is actually in Uttar Pradesh. But apparently Ram, Sita and Laxman had visited the hills during their exile. And thus, the name.

Mine was a modest room, but with everything you need. And that included a water heater in the bathroom and a mosquito net. Yes, some of the finest, and strongest, races of mosquitoes breed here, and you better stay protected!

The market place, or whatever a gathering of three tint grocery shops and two eateries can be called, was a minute’s walk. I was craving for some tea and the fading winter afternoon was encouraging the thought even more.

I was the only tourist in the hamlet, and the young lad at the khaabar-dokan (food joint) identified it quickly. I was told that if I wanted dinner, it’s best to pre-order and come within 8-8:30pm. After 9, there’s no one to sell to, and hence the place shuts down. The guest house has a kitchen, but no arrangement for cooking as they hardly get any boarder. Chicken and roti -- I ordered and went off to explore the place.

Making a difference




There wasn’t much time left in the day and not much energy in me either. Besides, I had to preserve it for a long day tomorrow. While largely under-developed over the decades and torn between Maoist rebel influence and the government in the recent times, Purulia is one of the poorer parts of the country. But that hasn’t stopped social service institutions like the Ramakrishna Mission and Bharat Sevashram Sangh to come here and work for the betterment of people. I headed for one such place called the Ram Mandir run by Kalyan Ashram.

The evening puja was on so I decided to wait outside the little Ram temple. A motley gathering of kids waited patiently for the puja to end – all for some prasad of puffed-rice and jaggery. I was offered too. These kids from the village get free education here, and some from distant places even put up in the hostel.

Though religiousness to me means sweating it out on the playground and worshipping RD Burman, I was quite enamoured with what I saw here. I don’t quite remember any city temple, those which bag quite few fast bucks around the year banking on people’s insecurities, wrapping it’s deity with a quilt! It’s winter, it’s cold, we need quilts, and so would Ram & family... simple.



Heading out...


I wanted to trek to the Barmi Falls, but decided to hire a car for the morning. So after a quick breakfast of luchi-daal, I set out for my first destination.

And I had good company for the rest of my day. Anirban, my driver, as it turned out to be was a Geography graduate and the son of the post master at Ayodhya Hills.  Oh yes, I have also picked local man Fuchu Das as my guide.

There’s no glacier, of course, neither any river as such in this arid landscape to feed the falls here. So it’s all about mineral-rich water from within the earth. And it took me a cool 15 minutes of descend through the trees and bushes of tendu leaves to reach the first fall.

With a height of just about 25 to 30 feet, it wasn’t something that would take you aback or even make you wonder at its splendour. But, then, who was even looking for something like that. This was a place where you may want to bring your loved one to spend some romantic time, or even better, if this was somewhere near your house, just get your book to sit and read by the water.

I trekked down further to catch the fall from a different angle. It was a smaller fall, but nonetheless beautiful enough. The Barmi meanders in a water body about thousand feet below that is now a part of a hydro power project’s reservoir. And that’s a wonderful sight from the height I was standing at.



On my return trek, Fuchu da identified the tendu leaves required to make biris and explained how it is an every-day affair for people to make their own stuff. But just that one can’t pick any leaf and roll their biri – only the fresh leaves at the start of the season is suited for the best smoke.

My next destination was the Turga Falls. Though not as lengthy as the Barmi, this one was certainly more beautiful and an ideal place for a day’s picnic. I decided to spend some quiet time here after having my fill of the sweet water. Fuchu da, sitting on a rock in the distance, enjoyed a biri.

In the land of Chhau


India is a land of such diversity, and you can only soak it all by travelling to its villages. In my next destination, I was headed for Charida, the place where the masks for the famous Chhau dance come from.

Synonymous with tribal Bengal, the Chhau dance usually depicts various wars between the hindu gods and demons with dancers wearing huge-expressive masks – an art form that’s so typical, and exclusive, of Purulia.

Though enjoying a shade of what its popularity used to be a few decades ago, nonetheless, it still is the means of livelihood for quite a few artisans in Charida. And it was good to see some young boys picking up the art of doing wonders with clay, paper mash and colours from there seniors at the workshops.



As for me, I went around ‘shopping’ tribal faces. And though I couldn’t find my desired miniature Durga faces – it was just before Saraswati puja, and the artisans were over loaded with work of making idols – I was more than compensated with an exclusive clay-paper mash work of Ganesh that artist Uddhab Sutradhar pulled out from his ‘favourites’. A rare piece with Ganesh in war-mode, Uddhab had made this one two years ago to showcase at an international handicraft fair. Henceforth, it was mine!  

On my way back, we stopped by the hydel project reservoir. It was a splendid view as I sat on the hundred feet wall overlooking the Baghmundi forest with the lake behind me. I wanted to sit there for some more time, but it was well past noon and I was monstrously hungry.

Stories to be revealed


Fuchu da had no qualms in asking me for Rs 50 in advance – his daughter was visiting and that money would let his wife buy some fish. I dropped him at his mud hut with a promise to return by 2pm. I better get on with my lunch too, for the next half would require me to burn a hell lot of calories for sure.

Ayodhya pahar doesn’t have a sunset point or even a famed temple. But it is the untamed wilderness, the play of light and shadow on the rice field hidden inside valleys and the pure innocence of tribal life that makes it attractive. As I left the village road and entered the denser part of the tendu forest, I was slowly realising what life here was. We had already trekked up and down for nearly an hour now and I was yet to see another human being other than Fuchu da in front of me.

The hills of Purulia are said to be even older than the Himalayas. And for centuries wanderers and animals have made it their home. I had heard about the number of interesting caves and rocks formations in the region, and thus we were headed for one such cave.


The last leg of trek to the top of the hill was tough one. With no pathways – as hardly any animal or man walks there – the steep climb was that much more difficult. But the 50-something Fuchu da was showing me that you don’t need fashionable gears, GPS navigators or expensive sturdy shoes – just the zeal and a stick in hand was enough to navigate through spider cobwebs and rocky terrain.

Yes, I was drenched in sweat even in that winter afternoon after the climb. But I had little time to think. I was too engrossed in listening to the tales of how a lady had made the cave her home for nearly a decade. Bamuni, as she was called, lived alone there and meditated. She also helped villagers with herbal medicines, who in return gave her whatever little vegetable or rice they could spare. It was on one fateful evening, when she had gone to fetch water, that a bear attacked the sadhvi and broke her arm. Though she survived after prolonged treatment at the district hospital, the lady left the place one day – quietly, just as she had come one day many years ago. “Tarpor aar keu Baghmundi pahare dekheni tahare (After that no one saw her in the Baghmundi ranges),” Fuchu da lamented, who fears that the doctor-hermit was no more. “Jadi beche thaakto na, tahole ekbaar nirghat firto. E jaiga boro bhalobasto o (If she was alive, she would have surely returned here for once. She loved the place).”



From the top I looked around over the forest. Once home to wild animals, and the famed wild elephants of Bengal-Jharkhand-Bihar, it was now a much quieter place. Clearing of forests for agriculture has driven the animals away. But it’s not easy to go farming in these ranges, and hence still some of the wilderness remains. I know little about meditation and spiritualism. But what I could certainly feel is that at least I don’t need to chant anything – just sitting on a rock and soaking in the scenery is enough to lift me spiritually.

Letting the water be...


After showing me 30-feet long porcupine caves and explaining how they are hunted during the one-day hunting gala every year, we trekked back again to the little hamlet. On the way back, we also saw the place where Ram and Sita rested when they had first arrived here. Sita was tired and thirsty, and so Ram had shot an arrow through the ground to bring out water. Fuchu da told me that even if there’s no water in the valley, this little hole always keeps gurgling out mineral rich water. The place is called Sita kunda burburi dara – the gurgling water makes a bur-bur-bur sound.




I was thinking a different thing then. If this place was anywhere near the city, the place would have been cordoned off, there would have been a Sita kunda Committee and the water would have been bottled and sold!

Side effects!


The sun was going down, and we sat down by a pond surrounded by palm tree. Though winter was vanishing quickly, and Purulia was never known to have migratory birds, I had still expected to click a few in the wilderness. But I didn’t. On asking Fuchu da what’s the reason he threw up an interesting fact. Apparently, the Naga armed forces based there for the past nearly four years to counter red terrorism, have hunted birds and dogs at will. And that’s when for the first time I realised that I haven’t seen a single dog on the streets in the last two days!


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Alone, in the universe...


I was the only boarder in the guest house and decide to go and sit on the terrace after a power cut.

Was I closer to heaven? I don’t remember when I had last seen so many stars. The sky seemed too close for comfort. It was pitch dark everywhere with only some occasional hymns from buzzing insects. I could even hear my heart beats. I’ll be off from here tomorrow morning, and I knew I had come to terms with quite a few new – or may be dormant – emotions.

While returning from my trek, I had encountered something deeply touching. A goat had just given birth to three kids. Two already lay dead and the poor village couple were desperately trying to save the last one. As Fuchu da went up to talk to them, I just stood and watched. The Santali woman was weeping, even as she kept cajoling the mother goat. The man was trying feed it leaves. Two kids are normal, but apparently three becomes heavy for the goat.

A goat is of immense value to these poor people, for milk and for money when in need. Just when the family was waiting for the newborns, all seems to have been shattered now. It’ll not be before the autumn now that the goat may again be ready to conceive. 

I couldn’t see if the goat too had tears in its eyes. Do goats cry?