Date: 20 October 2018
Venue: Babughat, Kolkata

A Prophet is not honoured in his own country they say. We were in Kolkata for a week to celebrate Durga Puja.  And it took the Delhi arm of DelhiFunDos to bring the Kolkata member to the Ganges. West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation (WBTDC) organises a host of tours and we booked an evening ferry ride on the Ganga.

The weather here is still humid but the evenings are pleasant. When we reached the designated “ghat” or the WBTDC jetty near Babughat, there was a big launch waiting for us. Illuminated with multicoloured fairy lights, against the dusk sky, it literally looked like a dream boat ready to sail off. The vessel had two stories and there were chairs placed on the deck.

Almost all the chairs were occupied when we reached. But that didn’t matter since it was open from all sides. We managed to find seats in the front with an open view of the river. It was dark by then and the Durga Puja lights from the land shimmered on the water.  We could see the silhouette of the iconic Howrah Bridge at a distance.

The joyride started punctually and the ferry meandered in deep waters. There was a guide who, after welcoming the passengers, started relating various historical facts about the riverside in Kolkata and the city at large. Calcutta was the capital of India till the year 1911. Hence it had a rich colonial heritage. The colonial influence was evident in the design of the elaborate ghats built by zamindars between 18^th to early 20^th century.  The river is integral to daily lives of locals. Not only for festivals or religious reasons, ferries are a regular mode of transport in Calcutta. Consequently, while some of the ghats were dilapidated, many have been maintained. Babughat, Ahiritolaghat, Chandpalghat and Jagannathghat were some of the jetties that are in good order and hubs of activities throughout the day.  We saw glimpses of Durga idol immersion ceremony or “Bisarjon” at some of the ghats. The ferry slowed down at such times. However, given the darkness and distance between the launch and the ghats, it was not very clear.

Howrah Bridge deserves special mention in this post. It is a suspended bridge built over Ganges in 1943 to connect Calcutta to Howrah. We have travelled via Howrah Bridge many times and have been in awe of the majesty of this huge structure. This time we saw it from the river. Given the festival season, the long edges of the bridge were illuminated in happy colours. Set against the night sky, the glowing Howrah Bridge was a shutterbug’s delight.

We stood around the ferry deck railing and clicked away while the cool breeze from the river rejuvenated us from the festival fatigue.

To add to the cheer, it wasn’t a dry trip and they served refreshments on board. We had sandwiches, samosas (it is “shingara” in Kolkata if you please) and very tasty fruit cake. Having sweets or mishti is quintessential after Vijaya Dashami in West Bengal.

So also we had a big size extremely good quality “Talshash Sandesh” on the platter. And yes – there was tea – a beverage that is always available around any nook and corner in Kolkata. We are tea folks and can say that we have mostly not been disappointed with tea here.

This is not our first trip to Kolkata and we now wonder why we didn’t do this river ride earlier. It gives a completely different view of the city. The wide expanse of Ganga looks very soothing. Moreover, the ferry took us through many heritage areas and the photographs we clicked made every bit of the one and half hours worthwhile. Refreshed by the Ganga breeze, we are back in Delhi. But the next time we are in Kolkata, we will surely try some of the other trips offered by West Bengal Tourism. It was not luxury and yet they delivered what we wanted – a good experience.