Memories from Dalma — A Reunion in the Wild [part-1]
Memories from Dalma — A Reunion in the Wild
The “destination discussion” turned into a full-blown geography class. Within half an hour, we had “finalized” — and I quote — Sea Beach, Taki River Front, Raichak, Gopalpur, and a few others that popped up like popcorn in a hot pan. The enthusiasm was high, logic was low, and the coffee had gone cold.
At that point, sensing that this debate could go on until retirement plus pension years, I decided enough was enough. I took the reins and declared, “my dear Kamina friends, the car leaves 5th morning. Pack whatever fits and don’t ask where we’re going!” … and that worked!
By evening, I had booked two rooms at the Makalukuchi Dalma Wildlife Resort, filled the tank, checked the tyre pressure, and mentally prepared for the Jalu chaos that always follows…
Panja called for a conference call the next evening to finalize the pick-up points. As usual, someone — and this time it was Souti — couldn’t join. So Jaga and Panja decided the route in their language of landmarks I could barely recognize. Jaga assured me that he’d “make Souti understand,” and together they’d guide me from one pickup to the next — first Souti, then Jaga, and finally Panja.
I asked for Google locations, but they dismissed it instantly — “Arrey, we’ll be with you! Who needs GPS when you’ve got us?”
The next morning, I started early and picked up Souti at 6:45 AM, a good fifteen minutes ahead of schedule. He directed me toward Maa Flyover and Park Circus exit en route to Garia. Kolkata’s traffic God was still half asleep, so we cruised smoothly till Gariahat — and that’s exactly when confusion decided to punch in for duty.
Just before the final crossing, no one could agree on which turn Jaga was waiting at. Amid the chaos of honking cars and frantic calls, I spotted him waving like a traffic cop. A quick right turn later, Jaga was onboard — bringing along a volley of those sweet, old-time college words!
Now the three of us began navigating towards Panja, supposedly somewhere near Taratala — though God knows which Taratala, since Google Maps shows a handful of them! After weaving through endless lanes and by-lanes of Chetla and other such tongue-twisting localities, we still couldn’t locate him. On the phone, with a generous dose of adjectives, Panja instructed Jaga to “find the bridge” under which he was waiting. I did find a bridge, but instead of going below it, I somehow ended up on top of it!
Panja claimed he had already sent his location to Souti, but that didn’t help — Souti’s phone refused to cooperate, and Jaga was meanwhile busy chatting with someone else while I was driving.
Spotting a petrol pump, I pulled over, parked, and rushed for a quick “pressure release.” Feeling lighter, I called Panja and asked him to share his live location directly with me. He did, and by then Souti had returned from his own “release mission.” With Google Maps now guiding us properly, a few turns later, I finally spotted Panja.
Once onboard, he unleashed a volley of colourful words — vintage Panja style! I tried to blame the delay on early morning biological pressure, but that only worked like a sand dam against a floodgate.
Sure, we lost a few minutes — but Jalu hardly cares about that! With everyone finally onboard, we headed straight for Kolaghat. There was a slight jam on the Second Hooghly Bridge and again near the Santragachi flyover. The NH traffic was slowly turning into a morning office parade, and what once looked like a comfortable 9:30 AM arrival at Kolaghat now seemed a distant dream. So, without much debate, we took a quick detour to Azadhind Dhaba at Uluberia for a well-deserved breakfast halt!
Panja — the health freak and a self-proclaimed Glucose management expert — soon turned the breakfast table into a mini housing seminar. He spoke like a seasoned realtor while we, the humble students in this class (Souti and me), listened with seriousness. In those 40–45 minutes, between bites of paratha and sips of tea & coffee, we got a crash course on Kolkata’s housing scene — all free of cost and full of spice!
After breakfast we set forth for our next stop – Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary. I was behind the wheel and Panja was definitely not happy with my speed which I always prefer to go not above 80 KPH. Finally somewhere after Kharagpur we stopped for coconut water. After a belly‐full of coconut water Panja took the wheel and we rushed towards our destination. I talked to the sanctuary resort for arranging lunch there but they said that it would not be available after 3 PM. Therefore, we stopped at 10th Milestone Resort 18 km before our destination for a quick luncheon.
To be continued…
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