Chalsa and Kolkata

I have realised that my emotions are all a function of a door key - that off my office. When I lock it knowing that I am going on leave, somehow the happiness meter immediately goes soaring. Packing bags, which seem so tiring when I go on official tours, seem like a great past-time ! And airline lounges at the Suvarnabhoom airport suddenly feels like home !

Kolkata continues to be as charming as it ever was. Even as we were driving down the completely broken roads of Rajarhat, to me it was just the short term fallout of rapid development of the land - heavy trucks plying to bring cement and sand to the architects designing the new Kolkata skyline. There's something quite exciting about our flat at Unitech Horizons - though I know for certain that I could never stay anywhere else in Kolkata but in 36/2. There's something romantic about talking with Tanu about the stylish furniture we will design, or the jacuzzi that we could set up in the bathroom. I know that when Unitech finally hands the flat over to us next year, we could be in for a shock - because we are still basking in the memories of the model flat they created.

This whole concept of a model flat is quite interesting. Create a marketing dream within 4 walls which turns everyone on - like a heaven each person would like staying in. Little do people notice the small notes which says "Special fittings - not part of the actual flat". Its quite interesting that they dont even allow people to take photographs inside this "model" home.

Anyway, to go on. Home with family is the best place to be in. I dont know whether its the walls, the people, the food, the air / sound whatever - but somehow staying in 36/2 is like a sponge for me. It just soaks out all the tensions, worries, problems out of me. There's something about being with the entire family that nothing can replace.

Chalsa - The ride from Bagdogra to Chalsa was really interesting. Ravi (the driver of the Tavera we had hired) decided that he was the new Schumacher in the making - perhaps spurned by baba's comments around how they had taken on these roads in the recently completed Indo-Bhutan rally. So it was quite interesting sitting in the front. I dont know whether many people feel the same way - but when you have your wallet in your back pocket, and you sit in a car that is moving more vertically than horizontally, one's backside feels really funny. In my case, my right backside soon becomes numb and and while I try to adjust my body weight to balance it, beyond a certain point, I start looking like the leaning tower of Pisa. So here's my suggestion to all - when in a car, keep your wallet in your hand.

The Sterling resort at Chalsa (check out http://www.east-himalaya.com/hotels/dooars/sinclairsretreat.htm) is a business case study of how not to run a business. It was quite stark for me having seen how the resorts in Thailand make even small areas look enticing. The Sterling resort is spread over a huge and beautiful area. But true to the state of Bengal entrepreneurs, the grass is not trimmed, the rooms have moisture patches, and hold on, there's no room service. Having said all of this, the resort is run by a handful of people - perhaps a total of 10. I must say that after the initial disappointment, and the usual anger over how much they charge for nothing, all of us were very happy over the 3 days that we stayed there. There's some sort of a charm about the place that makes it endearing. There's a big board as you enter the reception area that boasts of multiple facilities - tennis, horse riding, croquet to name a few. As we soon realised, they have a patch of green which they convert to a tennis cum badminton cum croquet cum barbeque place. In fact, the net that they use for tennis becomes the badminton net when lifted a few feet above the ground ! Ingenious !

Of course I have to talk about the Colon Irrigation centre. I have seen quite a few of them all over Bangkok. Swanky places with glass tubs in which you lie. And white coat doctors with sterile thin tubes which are put deftly up your backside etc etc. Now Sterling had a room for "Colonic Irrigation". Somewhat like Anilda's room when he used to stay in our mezannine floor. One wooden cot in the middle of a room without windows (thank god). What I couldnt figure out is what happens after you lie down - so they presumably "irrigate" (using what, God knows), but what happens with what comes out in a room without any visible apparatus to "download" was a mystery.

The 3 days stay in Chalsa was a dream. Santale Khola, Salisa, and Jaldapara (places we visited there) were beautiful (check some of the attached photographs). Thamma had a great time and for me, that was the highest point of this trip. Also, the flights to and from Bagdogra has probably given her a greater confidence in her around "flying in planes". So hopefully, she will be a little less tense about coming to Bangkok next time around.

Separate post on the Vaishnodevi trip later...