My Travel Diaries (The magical duo)

I have visited Kolkata as many times. You cannot ever have enough of this city. Everything is a beautiful chaos here. It is a place for every artist to go to atleast once. There’s something mesmerizing that can add on something to your life.

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This was in the year 2014. I roamed around the city for a week, met many monks on my way. It was my first trip. After I left the city slowly I started exploring the villages.Near Baranagar in Kolkata, there is a village called Solhapur. Well it is an ancient name.

I came here to meet a friend who got posted as a public servant. It was a very rural place and he was complaining of missing his friends. So I decided to pay a visit. It was one such journey which I started with Rs 1000/- in my pocket. I reached the village by midnight and spent the night in the verandah of a hut.

The next morning, I got up to the news of a strike by local political party. The local buses and rikshaw wont run for next 3 days! PERFECT!! Now I got to walk for 38 kilometres.

I had a tea and started. The climate was getting hotter and there was no one out to help me with the way.By 11 AM, I got famished and tired. I sat nearby a temple, under a banyan tree.

I had covered 12 km's by then. I leaned by back on the tree and slept.

I woke up to the sound of a plate. There was one old lady standing there; with 2 roti and dal. She gave it to me and spoke something in bengali. I got the gesture and had the food in one go. She took my bag and walked. I realised it was an invitation to her home. I took it back and followed her. SHe was speaking something and I smiled in return. The only thing I knew was that she had brought me for life.

It was a small house. Little bigger than a hut but mostly made of mud and brick. Inside it was cold. I found one girl around my age inside. She was sleeping. There were so many tumblers and utensils and a small shed with fireplace. Now I got it, The dadi is running a small tea shop here. There was a small hall, 1 bedroom and the kitchen shed. The bathroom was built outside with a separate shed. The old lady went inside the room and I was given a mat to sleep on the floor. The girl was lying there snoring next to me.

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When I woke up, the girl was sitting with a glass of tea. She was staring at me. I smiled. We talked and bonded over in a short time. Her name was Pooja. She spoke English and Bengali and came to visit her maternal uncle in the same village. I got the story of the old lady from her.

" Dadi's name was Subatra and she ran a small tea-shop. She had no one and hence spent most of the time alone in the near by temple. "

Pooja told me that she lost her way the previous night and dadi helped her to spend the night. It was clear that dadi was longing to be loved by someone. We two were equally determined to be with her for the 3 days as we couldn't go anywhere. The very evening I went to nearby Durga temple with dadi and pooja.

There was an unusual crowd in the temple. Pooja enquired and came to know that there were many daily labourers who are stuck here due to strike. They came for PWD works and now are unable to get their meal. The temple offered roti as prasadam and hence the rush.

I got an idea. I took pooja to a corner and shared, " hey there are approximately 100 people stuck here. I think we can give them food for cheap price and offer the money for dadi. What say??" Her eyes flashed. She pressed my hand and said " You are a gem! I was looking for some way to help her. The house is leaking. Some money will definitely help her."

Once we reached dadi's house, pooja went to make some food with her. I took some 300 bucks which was left with me and 1000 that pooja gave. From the only open store nearby, I bought some wheat flour, rice and veggies amounting to around Rs.800. After dadi went to bed, we made a plan. It included what to make, how much and how well we can earn. Accordingly we estimated our profit to be around Rs10,000 in 3 days.

Next day we woke up at 4 AM. Without making much noise we started the prep. The day's menu was Methi Paratha, Chawal, Daal and Bhindi sabji. We finished evertything well before 6 AM. Pooja prepared a board to be kept in front.

As usual dadi woke up at 6 AM, did her prayers and came out. There were 3 or 4 people already. She wondered and came to kitchen. There a girl and boy were standing with a 100 watt smile and offered her morning tea. I was sure we impressed her.

The day went like crazy. The raw materials were finished by noon. I had to run and reload the stock. By 7 PM we closed and was super tired. We didn't make dadi work and she fed us with hands.

By the end of three days we made a little over Rs 7000. We handed over the entire sum to dadi. She cried like crazy. We three had a teary moment and hugged each other.

Well one thing is clear : Team Work Makes The Dream Work.

Vin

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Author's Note

please come forward

Reviews

[barleygirl]

Most definitely your best story that I've read so far. You have comes leaps & bounds since I first started reading you. I remember when I felt hungry for more details to fill out your early stories . . . well, this one is nicely filled out with great details that help us visualize the scene & the actions. You convey a sense of excitement with your breathless rushed delivery of short sentences as the action was peaking. This is a great story to show how entrepreneurial action happens -- seizing the moment! (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

PS I've been gone a couple months, so I'm catching up on 90 read requests! Be patient if you have others in there!