Dakshini Diaries - A 5200 kms journey by car.

Bangalore was the destination. Destiny was to visit places that fell on the way. The date of journey was decided to be 8th October 2021, during the Durga Puja. The routes were studied for months; the places to visit were covered up within weeks before the journey. The tentative itinerary was decided to be Kolkata-Bangalore-Hubli-Bangalore-Pondicherry-Mahabalipuram-Puri-Kolkata. We studied about the places wherein we could stay for the night specially during the leg of Kolkata- Bangalore route and decided to stay for the first night at Berhampore (Odisha) and second night at Vijaywada (Andhra Pradesh).

As decided, on 8th October we started off from Kolkata at 05:06 hours in the morning. Sudipta had packed cheese sandwich for our breakfast, since we had decided not to halt too much for food, especially on the first day.

Steadily, with a decent pace of 80 kmph, we travelled across Kharagpur, Datan, Jaleshwar, Balasore, Bhadrak and after crossing Cuttack, we decided to halt for lunch. After crossing the mighty Mahanadi, we stopped at a decent highway side restaurant, spending barely half-an-hour to gorge upon rice, dal, fries and chicken curry. We were again on road after lunch and crossed Bhubaneshwar and Khorda. Just after crossing Barkul, we decided to stop atop a bridge (which crosses the railway line), in between Rambha and Ganjam, from where we could see the majestic Chilka Lake. The sun was going down and the dusk was definitely very serene.

I had decided not to book any hotels enroute to Bangalore. Rather, I wanted to halt for the night, whenever I wanted. Driving at night, with 3 females, was something I wasn't looking for. As said before, I had identified Berhampore & Vijaywada to be the towns for night-halts. When I reached Berhampore, it was 18:00 hours. We called off the day at Kavin's Inn.

As decided we all were up by 05:00 hours and by 6:00 hours we hit the road again. Just after crossing the Odisha-Andhra border, we halted for a road side joint for hot idlis and tea for our breakfast. A long day was awaited and the journey began. Destination for the day was Vijaywada. Personally I was looking forward for the day, for I knew that I had to cross the mighty Godavari river just after Rajahmundry and also because, there was a time long back, when I had walked, meaninglessly, along many roads in Vijaywada. During my college days in Hubli, I had to change train at Vijaywada to reach Howrah; wherein often I used to miss the scheduled train and had to wait for 6 hours to avail for the next train. I would capitalize those hours by roaming around Vijaywada.

We crossed Palasa, Ichhapuram, Srikakulam, and got stuck on a massive traffic jam for around half-an-hour at Vizag. The main highway was closed due to the construction of a flyover and had to detour through the main city, cross a very narrow bridge with a punctured truck on it. All the other trucks, buses and cars have to move at snails pace and after around 1 hour of torture, we were back on the highway. After having our lunch at 14:00 hours, we raced towards Rajahmundry. Google map suggested us to take a detour towards Godavari 4th Bridge, so that we do not have to face the traffic congestion within the city of Rajahmundry. However, the detour road wasn't a good idea, with craters, some as big as 3' to 4' huge, filling up the entire stretch. We again started inching towards the bridge and once we were on top of it, I forgot all the miseries that I faced even some minutes back.

India is indeed a river- centric country.

After crossing the Godavari 4th Bridge, we had to pay a toll of Rs. 60/- (which won't be deducted by Fastag), and I wondered the reason to pay the money just to get such pathetic condition of road. When the road became better again, we gained pace and headed towards Vijaywada. We reached Vijaywada at 19:00 hours and checked in to our hotel to call the day off.

10th October 2021. I was finally happy. I'll be reaching Bangalore by the end of the day and meet Basha. Very few friends become family. Basha was such a friend. I can share anything under the sun with him. We know in and out about ourselves and words cannot describe the bond that we share. He is family.

We left Vijaywada at 08:00 hours. On the way we had same old hot idlis (Idli became a staple breakfast for us in the tour). We crossed the Krishna river and went past Guntur, Ongole and headed towards Nellore. I had decided to have our lunch after crossing the Nellore by-pass. At around 14:00 hours, we had our lunch at Hotel Kinnera 45. It was a nice pit-stop with plenty of parking space, very hygenic toilets, huge dining area and a Harley-Davidson Fatboy parked at the lobby. We had typical spicy Andhra meals with the tangy rasam to top it all. Near Naidupeta, we left the Kolkata-Chennai highway (NH-16) that we were on for the past 2 days and took Naidupeta-Puttalapattu Road on the right. We will be heading towards Tirupati, take the Chittoor by-pass and head towards the Mumbai-Chennai highway (NH-48) to reach Bangalore. Previously we thought of visiting Tirupati, but went along with Basha's advice to visit the temple some other time to avoid the maddening crowd during the Dussehra. On the Chittoor by-pass, I paced upto 179kmph. The tarmac was great, each wide lanes properly demarcated and visibility clear. My car revved up easily with any worry. When we left the Chittoor by-pass and drove right on NH-48 towards Mumbai (we were heading for Bangalore), our pace came down relatively.

Though I cannot read any of the south Indian languages, I can understand which one is Tamil script and which one is Malayalam script. I generally get confused between the Kannada and Telugu scripts. At Gadduru Toll Plaza, I somehow felt (the natural instinct of course) the hoardings were written in Kannada. I asked the toll plaza guy whether I am in Karnataka or Andhra Pradesh, to which he replied that I've just entered Karnataka. I smiled, I still remember traces of the language.

Basha had booked our rooms in Cosmopolitan Club at Jayanagar, Bangalore. An hour before I knew I was to enter the city, I called him to WhatsApp me the location of the club. I forgot about most of the places in the city. When I saw directional hoardings guiding which way is Whitefield and Indiranagar, I understood that I have reached the city, where, once I lived and worked.

We took our own sweet time to wake up. Last night Basha and I slept together in one room and the ladies were in the room next to ours. We went to have breakfast (idlis of course 7 filter coffee, which I had decades later) and after that, as decided, Sudipta and Samriddhi were to stay back in the club and take rest for how long they wanted. Two days travelling in a car is really a tough job and the entire credibility goes to the team. I thought to meet few of my friends in Bangalore. We went to Basha's office, as he was scheduled for a meeting. Then we went to meet Kavita. Kavita was my batch-mate in architecture school. Also, we worked together in V.B.T. Consortium, an architecture consultancy firm in Bangalore, before I shifted back to Kolkata. Kavita's well-decorated apartment gave a very sweet homely aura but what I liked more was her 5 years old daughter Siya. She was a bit shy when we met her and was engaged with her daily TV shows. I immediately understood that I made a mistake for not bringing Samriddhi along with me. The two little girls, of same age and height, could have a ball together, specially since their choice of TV shows matched. From Kavita's home we went to meet Nitika at her home, somewhere in the outskirts of Electronic City. Meeting Nitika is always a breathe of fresh air. Her unadulterated big smile on small face remained unaltered.

From Nitika's home, we came back to the club and started deciding what new food we can try for dinner, when all of a sudden I proposed to have neer-dosa. Neer-dosa is basically a south Indian food, popular in the coastal belts of Mangalore and Udupi, made by the Tulu people of Karnataka.

This day (and this write-up as well) is going to be too long. I will be going to Hubli. A major important town of northern Karnataka, Hubli is situated, bang in the centre of Pune and Bangalore in the north and south direction. Funnily, it also falls in the centre of Goa and Hampi along the west and east direction. I have studied architecture in Hubli. I've spent some very memorable years in Hubli.

Last day, we've decided that Basha and I would drive down to Hubli. Sudipta will take Basha's car and visit Mysore. As decided, at 07:00 hours, I got up, got ready and waited for Basha. He was supposed to get ready in his home, come and pick me up for our trip. At 09:30 hours, when Basha yet not arrived, I called him, only to hear that he's in the ground floor of the club. When he came to the room, I could make out that something is bothering him. We bid adieu to Sudipta and drove out of the club. Basha was driving. We stopped at Brahmins Coffee Bar, which makes the 'softest' idlis in town (you should try it once in your lifetime). While having our breakfast, Basha opened up. He said that he cannot join me for the trip to Hubli, as he needs to sort out some very important work in his office, which had suddenly cropped up and which cannot be done by anyone else. I decided to go to Hubli alone. After breakfast, we went to his office, dropped him there and I started my solo journey.

A visit to Hubli was in my bucket list (of course with a big tick), as I had anticipated that this visit would be like a recapitulation of my nostalgic past. I was in love with this city. I have learned architecture and many more thing from here. As soon as I drove past Nelamangala, Tumkur and headed along NH- 48, I was determined to have my lunch in our college canteen, the place where once I was frequent, during the college days. Meanwhile, Kalpesh called me and asked when will I be reaching. Kalpeshkumar Patel was my class-mate. An academic genius of our batch, after his bachelor's degree, he went ahead to study M.Arch. from the famous CEPT; a profound scholar, Kalpesh has planned to move ahead with his P.hD. in Architecture. He was also a voracious reader and has immense knowledge about most of the things on earth. He is now a faculty in the Architecture Department.

Thanks to each and everyone, who has made an effort to meet me in Hubli. However, the entire trip would have gone in vein, had I not met Chetan Sir. He stayed in the apartment, just a floor below Kalpesh's. We met in the morning, the next day. A calm and well-poised person, Mr. Chetan Savanurmath had always been the most preferred & favourite amongst the students. During my college days, Chetan Sir had helped me with his guidance (in academics as well as in life) and with money (often the empty pockets in those days have compelled me to borrow from him). He had helped me get an architect's job at Hegde and Hegde Associates. He had scolded me when required and had been the banyan tree even if not required. He had been my harshest critic, yet the strongest supporter of life, a flame of hope, a source of inspiration and a storm of revolution to be the perfect friend, philosopher and guide; Chetan Sir's blessing would always be the torch-bearer for my life.

Situated on the east coast of India, Pondicherry is around 315 kms away from Bangalore. Currently known as Puducherry, the city by the Bay of Bengal, had been a French settlement until 1954, and is now an Union Territory. Basha came along with us, for he haven't ever been to Pondicherry. By evening we entered the city and checked in to our hotel. We took a long rest and planned to visit the places (read buildings) that we'll visit the next day when we visit Auroville.

Described as an experimental township in Viluppuram district, Auroville is around half an hour drive from Pondicherry. As we entered the Tourist Information Centre, I was already awed seeing the architectural detailing and the sheer simplicity of the structures. Very basic, very functional yet aesthetically very sound. We walked for a kilometer to the point from where we could see the spherical golden globe known as the Matrimandir. We came back and had our breakfast at the cafeteria adjoining the La Boutique d' Auroville, after which we went back to our car, for we needed to roam more and which wasn't possible by walking. First we drove to see the Svaram, the musical intruments and research centre. A decent G+1 building with balcony railings depicting the motifs of santoor vector and columns depicting wind chimes. The peaceful environment with Goddess Saraswati beneath a banyan tree, surrounded by granite benches all around in the midst of nature is definitely very inspirational. From the Svaram, we went to see the more celebrated Savitri Bhavan, the centre for spiritual education. Designed by Architect Helmut Schmidt, the white building has a very welcoming approach. Usage of natural light and ventilation has been planned in a very interesting manner. The convention hall, with its spiral shaped gallery was definitely a very interesting shape, for Samriddhi was really very excited to run along the gallery. From the Savitri Bhavan, we drove to see the Kala Kendra, the Auditorium and the Center For Studies India And The World. The world of architecture weaved in exposed concrete & earth blocks created within 200 acres of land, mesmerised us all. It was already late afternoon and we were hungry. So we chose an open air restaurant (out of many) and ordered for rice and chicken curry. Though the awesome taste of the food was liked by all of us, we very well understood that ordering food and waiting for the food to come on the table, in any restaurant in Auroville, is basically a test for Nirvana (ideally food doesn't come at least before 30 mins from time of ordering). After our healthy and sumptuous lunch, we headed for Nandanam School. However, the school was closed, due to the covid pandemic and so we decided to return back to Pondicherry.

I anticipated this day to be a hectic one. And I was quite correct. The schedule of the day was to visit the temples of Mahabalipuram and drive northward to reach Vijaywada by night. We checked out from the hotel in Pondicherry and boarded Rajhansa at 06:00 hours. We cruised through the scenic and beautiful East Coast Road, or more popularly the ECR, parallel to the Bay of Bengal and within 2 hours we reached Mahabalipuram. Situated on a strip of land between the Bay of Bengal and the Great Salt Lake, the temple town is known for its temples and monuments built by the Pallava dynasty in the 7th and 8th centuries. We parked the car, at the parking bay, by the famous Shore temple, and went for breakfast. Idlis, vadas and puris was all to be offered there. After breakfast, we walked down to the Pilgrimage beach, adjacent to the Shore Temple. We bought some toys (a small plastic bucket, shovel and spade) for Samriddhi to make sand castles by the beach. After spending 2 hours at the beach, when the temple gates were opened (at 10:00 hours), we came to the entrance gate of the Shore Temple, bought tickets and entered the famous 8th century granite temple complex. We were awestruck by the amazing structure and the intricate detailings done centuries ago. After tonnes of photoshoots, we came out of the complex, drove again to see the famous Rathas of Mahabalipuram. We parked Rajhansa, and entered the complex. The monolithic rathas (small temples) of the 5 pandavas , is a must-see in Mahabalipuram. Samriddhi was excited seeing the Bhim Ratha and started posing in front of the camera. From the Rathas we drove to see the Krishna's Butterball, a gigantic granite boulder resting magically on a short inclined slope, luring mere mortals to take a failed attempt to move it.

We planned to start at 07:00 but we actually started at 08:00 hours. This was the first time we delayed from our actual planned time, for I needed a very good sleep (which I actually had). After a nice, early morning, cold and too much iron-laden water shower, I was fresh enough to drive again. At the outskirt of Vijaywada, we had breakfast at a nice restaurant (idlis, vadas and dosas). Samriddhi got a nice shady parking lot to run around. Meanwhile I booked our hotel at Rushikonda in Vishakhapatnam. At 12:00 hours we faced a huge traffic congestion, the same that we faced while going downwards. Rajahmundry 4th Bridge toll plaza (just before the mighty Godavari) is not equipped with fast-tags & the cash exchange has caused the damage. After wasting half an hour, I sped up. After a splendid lunch, I sped up more to reached Vishakhapatnam by 17:00 hours. However, we had to reduce pace because of city traffic. Crossing the city, we reached at the outskirt Rushikonda, less chaotic and less traffic compared to the city centre. However the aweful incident happened just as we reached the hotel. It was an under-construction building!! Astonished, I asked the care-taker (I guess he certainly was not the receptionist or manager) to confirm if this is actually a hotel, to which he confirmed it is certainly a hotel, newly opened the day before. I asked him if he at all could show me my designated room. He happily showed me the room, a very clean and large one in fact. I asked for opinions from Sudipta & Sharmila. Both of them negated it without wasting a moment, for staying a night without A.C. or hot water facility may not be a problem, but staying in a midst of barren out fringe of town, with no other occupied rooms and without a single soul to be seen, is definitely a problem. We drove out from the building, and halted to check hotels at the nearby vicinity. Very quickly, I found one, named Hotel V-Comfort. When we drove to the hotel, I checked a couple of cars with "WB" registration already parked. The manager (this guy was actually a manager, unlike the previous one) confirmed a room, where we checked in smoothly. Settling down in the room, I went for a shower, after which, Sudipta and I went for a walk, when we found (looking at the "WB" registration) that around six different families have driven to spend their puja vacations to Vizag. Also many groups where speaking in Bengali. This was the first time, since last 10 days, that I heard Bengali from people other than us. We packed our dinner from near-by and planned to have dinner in our room. The dinner was homely, with rice, dal and fish-curry making me drool.

For Bengalis, Puri is like another home. Priding the famous temple of Jagannath, this coastal city can easily boast for the fabulous waves that the Bay of Bengal displays on the loose sands of its shore.

As decided, we woke up early, checked out of the hotel and went to see the Rushikonda Beach. The clean whitish sand and the hills on the background were enough to decide to come back to Vizag again. Also, a detailed trip is required to visit the marine museum, R.K. Beach and the famous Araku Valley.

As we left Vizag and drove along NH-16, fog grasped us. The time was 07:00 hours. I anticipated that within and hour, as the sun will grow stronger, the fog would disappear. And rightly so, since I sped up after an hour. With every passing signboard, showing distance of Bhubaneswar and Kolkata, our eagerness to move forward accelerated. Breakfast, at a road-side shack, with piping hot vadas was enough to satisfy our need. Soon, we crossed Srikakulam, Palasa and Ichchapuram without any hassle. After some time, we crossed Berhampore (and the hotel Kavin's Inn, where we stayed on the 1st night of this trip). After crossing Ganjam, Rambha & Barkul, we decided to stop for lunch. Culturally similar, Bengalis and Odias have similar food habits too. As the decisions were easy to take, we ordered (in pure Bengali) for rice, daal and fish curry. Completely satisfied with our much awaited appetite, we started our drive once again. From Badapokharia, we left NH-16, and turned right to stay on a state highway for an hour and half, before we join to the Bhubaneswar-Puri Highway, more popularly known as the Jagannath Sadak. Sudipta had called our known panda (not the animal, but a temple priest) to fix our puja time. We have decided to check-in to the hotel, take a shower and go to the Jagannath temple for puja. And we did as planned. Within an hour, I parked Rajhansa, in front of Hotel Pushpa, and we were on a toto (battery operated rickshaws) heading towards the temple. Taking Rajhansa to the temple was too challenging for the congestion and crunch in parking and so it was very much out of question. Our panda was waiting for us outside the temple, to whom we handed our double -vaccination certificates (mandatory these days), deposited our belongings to the counter (shoes, mobiles, etc.) and entered the temple. The panda, thoughtfully, made arrangement for us to have a proper darshan of Lord Jagannath, Subhadra and Balaram. We came out of the temple and went to another building of the temple, were we had the famous bhog. After the sumptuous meal, we came out of the temple complex, booked two ricksaws; one for Sudipta and Sharmila to go to Swargadwar and one more for Samriddhi and me to go to the hotel. Meanwhile, Samriddhi got scolding from me, for leaving my hand and run away within the maddening crowd. She was saddened in the ricksaw and I understood that I need to console her. Instead of the hotel, I took her to the beach & asked her "tumi ice-cream khabe?" (Will you have an ice-cream), to which she nodded her head softly, with a gentle smile. I got her favorite strawberry ice-cream. She deserved her ice-cream. She had been an angel all these many days... and tomorrow we'll reach home.

Home will always be Kolkata for me. This day, 19th October 2021, we were scheduled to reach home. Like the last 11 days, we woke up early, took a shower, packed our stuff, checked out of the hotel, and put our luggage in Rajhansa. I didn't take the car out from the parking. Instead, we all went to the beach. The morning waves were welcoming. Samriddhi took out her toys (The ones she bought from the beach at Mahabalipuram) and started making sand-castles. The morning waves were welcoming. However, within half an hour, we were greeted by a sudden & tremendous rain. We fled from the beach like the others. By the time we came near the hotel, though we all were drenched, the rain has stopped. We got into the car and started. At 09:00 hours we halted on Bhubaneswar Puri Highway for breakfast, which includes Medu-Vada, Chole Bhature and Puris. Soon after breakfast, we started again and in some time reached NH-16 at Bhubaneswar. Then we turned right, towards Kolkata. Just as we crossed Mahanadi, we faced the torture of deviations due to road work on the NH. Infact the entire road from Cuttack to Balasore is full of deviations and onw way traffic. Hopefully, Rajhansa will get a fresh and new tarmac, where she can speed up again next time. At 02:00 hours, we halted again for lunch. At 05:30 hours, when we crossed Jaleshwar, we were happy... happy to enter West Bengal (with signages written in Bengali.) We crossed Datan, Kharagpore, Debra, Panskura and Kolaghat. The roads were known, the places was known and I sped up towards home. Within some time I was crossing the Nivedita Setu across the Ganges to reach home.

We reached home at 20:30 hours.