Balais notes

 In the Ramayana there is this mention of young Shravanakumar traveling distances carrying his aged and blind parents in two baskets hanging from a pole from his two shoulders. I came visiting the U.K. recently and the way my son Sherpa Ritwik has been lugging me all over in a wheelchair bears an unmistakable similarity to the heroic efforts of Shravanakumar. All over London, from the BBC Proms, to the Globe Theatre for Shakespeare’s play, to the several movie theatres, numerous restaurants and even to the Northern Ireland just because I wanted to see the long cherished Giants Causeway leaves me short of any praise That’s actually due to him, that this semi - crippled me never missed his mobility.  I am by my own admission an ardent football fanatic. Yesterday afternoon Ritwik took me on my chariot to the Olympic Stadium in London ( which is now the home of the West Ham United Football Club) to witness the match between West Ham and Manchester City. Olympic Stadium now better...

 THE LONE CYPRESS From Monterey, we opted for a  drive along  the 17-mile drive hugging the Pacific Coast. A beautiful scenic drive indeed. Among the many stop and gawk stops, the The Lone Cypress, perhaps one of the most photographed trees in the USA, was prominent. Standing on a rocky knoll overlooking the Pacific, this single Cypress, reprtedly 250 years old, does provide for an interesting photo.

 OUR DAY IN THE VIGELAND PARK : OSLO : NORWAY Not many of my friends normally include Oslo in their European Tour itinerary. One reason is the fact that Oslo is hellishly expensive and the other that it does not boast of attractions that a London or a Paris does. And shopping-wise Oslo is far behind London, Paris,Milan and the ilk! We have, however, always wanted to visit Oslo - a city known for its fabulous sculptures and its enviable scenic beauty. So, while travelling to Spitzbergen, in the Norwegian Arctics, in search of Polar Bears, when we were required to spend at least a night in Oslo, we readily extended our stay to allow us to explore Oslo. The biggest draw for us in Oslo was the Vigeland Sculpture Park. Actually it is a misnomer in that it is more accurately known as the Vigeland Installation within the Frogner Park rather than a sculpture park per se - although popular usage has it as a Sculpture Park. Names aside, a huge area inside the Frogner Park has been solely ded...

 More on Monglajodi ( plus Bhetnoi ) I thank Mr Arnab Deb,Mr Somsekhar Banerjee and Mr Nilabja Ghosh for their kind interest in and appreciation of of my efforts on Monglajodi and Chupi and for their suggestions that I provide additional inputs on Monglajodi which may perhaps help intending visitors thereto. Monglajodi is about 80 kms from Bhuvaneswar (BBSR) on NH 5 towards Chennai. Any bus that goes from BBSR towards Balugaon or Berhampore (Ganjam) can be availed of. Tangi, at about 40 kms, roughly 45 minutes before Balugaon is where you get off. From Tangi Monglajodi is 7/8 kms. Shared Autos are available, alternatively an exclusive Auto can be hired (Rs 60). Another route would be to reach Khurda Road by train and then take an Auto from the Railway Station to Monglajodi (Rs 600). For all my trips, however, I have used a car : Rs 1500-1800 from BBSR and Rs 1000-1200 from Khurda Road. During our first visit, in December 2009, there were absolutely no accommodations anywhere in Mon...

 Amongst my many interests, and my list of interests keeps growing as I progress from 67 to 68 years, travel and photography occupy important positions. It’s like which should come first – the chicken or the egg? Is it because of photography that I travel or is it because I travel I take photos. It’s quite a difficult take for me. Even in my travels, I particularly love wildlife-related travels, surely I want to capture the sheer magnificence of the myriad wildlife I come across on camera, and tigers and birds rank very high on my travel plans as do the entire gamut of mountainscapes covering lofty snow capped peaks, huge glaciers and massive icebergs! Being based in Kolkata I am fortunate that two outstanding birding sites are nearby. One is Monglajodi near Tangi/ Balugaon in Odisha and the other is Chupi-Purbasthali near Krishnagar in Bengal. Come December each year both these places become swamped by huge numbers of migratory birds of brilliant hues, shapes and sizes. Monglajodi...