Ghumakkar's Diary

( This post has been published in TheViewspaper as The Paradise called Chilika ) This year seems to be much more happening than I expected. I realized it when I got an invitation from a senior colleague to attend his marriage at Bhubaneshwar. Hidden was another invitation to revisit the Puri- beach and also the Chilika Lake. I hadn’t still come out of the hangover of my pan-India ride , when the date to fly to the City of Temples knocked at doors. Packing the very morning of departure with least pairs of casuals and 3sets of party wears, I joined Kaustav and Abhimanyu bhaiya on our tour de Chilika and Puri, also the Odiya Wedding. Chilika Lake is the largest coastal lagoon in India and the second largest in World. It is an essentially shallow brackish water lagoon on the east coast, spread over the districts of Puri, Khurda and Ganjam of Odisa state. The lake, popularly known as Chilka, was designated the first Indian Wetland of International importance under the Ram...

Once upon a time there was a young man. He designed a water filter that was though not perfect, good for most. High on his Archimedean invention, he put it for the public display in the busiest market of the town with a tag “ Comments cordially invited ”. By the evening, it was difficult even to recognize what was actually kept there in the market. Devastated, our man burnt his invention and swears not to work on it further. There comes a wise man, out of blues, and advised him to build another and put it again in the market with a different tag “ Please modify it the way it would be better ”. That evening was different than the previous, there stood that piece with no changes at all! :) I am not a pro-chlorine, but am certainly not “just” anti-chlorine too . When I came across this Crusade against Chlorine topic on Indiblogger , first thing that came to my mind was my childhood that I spent in a well-maintained railway colony, where the water was treated with chlorine and potassium...

Not always the miles, friends you made en route can too grade the ride. Ride to Mahabaleshwar came at the time, when many of the Inddiethumpers have started itching to ride. Shyamal and Karna didn’t even hide their itch and shouted it publicly on FB. To cool the sensations most of the riders were having, Moderators of the club unleashed the Ride Calendar for the years few weeks back, with the first ride to Mahabaleshwar on 22nd-23rd of April. Ride to Rider Mania, Kolkata ; Ratnawadi and Gaddha Mania, Lonar were the other rides did by the Club this year. A gang of off-ride lovers also had a small one-day off-ride to Shahpur, Jangal me Dangal ; and those who had attended that, were still searching for water to quench their burnt throat! Well, this ride to Mahabaleshwar was not only special for being the customarily first of the year, but also cause the ride was actually planned for the founder-member of the Club, Mr Daman Sidhu. Over 40 riders with some 10 pillions registered for the ...