Yesterday morning when I woke up a feeling came that today I should go for a trip. But where?
My driver arrived sharp at 8AM and by nine we were speeding down the Rajarhat bypass.
Destination? It was yet to be decided, but towards NH2.
I generally love to travel alone because it not only allows freedom but also the madness in my methods gets more priority. But this time I had my driver Ananta Babu with me because I am not that expert to drive along the national highways.


While having tea at the disputed site of Singur we decided our first stop will be at my ancestral village in Bankura which we reached by 12 noon.
Oh! Yes, there were two more unplanned halts.
One was at Palsit. It is a place where the roadway and railway travels side by side. It is right here in the fields of Palsit Satyajit Ray took the shots of Pather Panchali where Apu-Durga runs through the kashbon (common reeds) to see the train. Why we stopped? It was just to watch a goods train passing along the Bardhamman Main Line.


Next was the Kaushik Ghosh’s Langcha shop at Shaktigarh.
Well, for all lover’s of Bengali sweet 'Kaushik Ghosh’s' is one the very few langcha sellers who never put flour packing in his sweets.
There are hundreds of langcha shops along the highway with names like Langcha House, Langcha Mahal , Langcha Palace ,Langcha Sadan ,Langcha Hall, and even Langcha Emporium !!


But notable absenties included: Langcha Hospital, Langcha Disco and of course Langcha Bathroom.




After having a short nap we left for Bishnupur.
Now here is a big problem the road to Bishnupur from my village is through the deep forest of Jaipur which of course falls in the Maoist belt.
Bishnupur  the ancient capital of Malla kings of Bengal, is a nice place. Its terracotta temple that includes the Jor-Bangla, the pyramidal Rashmancha, and the cluster of of temples stand as testimony to the exquite craftsmanship of the artisans of the region.
And yes who can forget the majestic Dol Madol cannon, constructed in 1742 by Raja Gopal Singh to keep the Maratha troops at bay.


Now when we were on the way I called up an old friend of mine who is currently teaching in an institute near Bishnupur.


“ Tui ektu bikel 4te nagad amar jonno bus stand e dnarabi”, he said. Please wait for me at the Bishnupur bus stand at 4pm.


So as planned, I was sitting on a bench at the bus stop.
This part of the country is barren; there is seldom any proper cultivation. The red soil is not as fertile as the alluvials found in other parts of Gangetic Bengal.
As the big fully loaded buses were passing one after another, they were leaving a cloud a red dust behind.
After one of the buses passed as I looked up when the dusts were getting cleared I saw something on the opposite side of the road.


These days, there are lot of bomb scares. Moreover in this place people do live in fear as Bishnupur is very near to rebel areas. The administration, the police take initiatives to be more vigilant, and also to make the public more conscious.
They use several methods to do so. They do routine flag march, they set up camps, they distribute leaflets explaining the dos donts etc etc


One such method is posters. The administration put up posters in public places carrying images and writing , explaining their purpose.


So, here are some posters. It is in Bengali. There are pictures of soft-toys, suitcase, and bags. I can’t read as it was quite far away. But it seems it’s about creating awareness about bombs.


I moved up and crossed the road.
Aha here is one in English too.


But what is this?
The heading says: “BO*BS COME IN DIFFERENT SHAPES AND SIZES”


Some mischief has scratched the M off from its place and has written a big O there.