Believe it or not, I boarded a Kolkata Metro after a whopping gap of 34 (yes, THIRTY FOUR) years yesterday, 2019-12-18.
My last ride was in mid December 1985, just 4 months after I joined Castrol India (then, Indrol Lubricants and Specialities Ltd) as an Executive Trainee. Thereafter, it was touring India for work with very little stay in Kolkata. I got delivery of my own white LML Vespa 150 NV sometime in mid 1986 and that signalled farewell to Kolkata Metro rides.
Spent over 6 hrs of quality time with St. Patrick's School, Asansol buddy Nayan Kumar Ghosh (Bua) settled in Ras Al Khaima in UAE on Wednesday, 2019-12-18 from 2.30pm to 8.30pm.
We relived our young days of 1980s while in respective colleges in Kolkata.
I was really so excited the moment Nayan suggested that I leave my personal transport at his place in Chetla and take the Kolkata Metro for a to and fro ride to Kolkata's CBD.
First it was a short auto-rickshaw ride from Chetla to Rashbehari crossing. Then it was an underground metro ride from Kalighat to Chandni Chowk. The young men at the ticket counters were superfast in their job. The small round plastic token tickets, the sensor machines which allowed me access to the downwards flight of stairs, the baggage scanners, the signages, the arrival of the North bound train sharp at 3.05pm as per schedule, the sliding doors of the trains opening and shutting in about 10 seconds, the cool air conditioned interiors of the compartments, the escalators to climb up from the platform, the machines with slots to drop the plastic tickets which allowed ne to exit the Chandni station left me spellbound.
Young college girls, young couples, not too young men and women were clicking selfies in the compartment with gay abandon. We too clicked a selfie inside the moving train.
Next was a hearty lunch of Tandoori Rotis, Chicken/ Mutton Rezala and Firni, a treat by Nayan at Shabir's in Chandni Market. It would have been so wonderful if my buddy's wifey Shampa and their kids were there, too.
At Shabir's, we couldn't miss the customary photo sessions.
After lunch it was a pretty long walk to a spectacles shop in Bowbazar Street. Thereafter, it was a looong walk to the books market off College Street near Presidency University and meeting two of Nayan's friends from his stay in private hostel days. Then it was the unmissable roadside sweet milk chai sitting on a bench laid out in an already narrow alley, off Surya Sen Sftreet.
We still had the energy to walk further down to the Central Metro station to board the return ride to Kalighat Metro station, a journey of only 17 mins. I was even lucky to get a seat, although Nayan wasn't 😊. By car, it would have taken me a minimum of 40 - 45 minutes in evening rush hour on a working day ðŸ˜.
After exiting the station at Rashbehari crossing we were lucky to get an empty bus which took us to Chetla in about 7 mins only.
After reaching Nayan's place, it was a long adda session with Sandip Samanta in Asansol over the phone.
Finally, it was a solo ride back home near Salt Lake Stadium in my 28 yrs old faithful via Alipore, AJC Bose Road flyover, MAA flyover.
