Shankarpur Shenanigans

If the year 2020 has taught us one thing, that is change is the ONLY constant. Add “uncertainty” to the mix, and you have got the perfect brew for the future! It is important to remember that, TODAY is all we have. Live in the present and mostly, ENJOY the present!

Being couped up in an apartment for an indefinite amount of time is bound to wreak havoc on one’s mental sanity. And boy did we suffer! So as things slowly started to improve our spirits too longed to break free of the shackles and run wild with the winds and dance with the waves, until we finally gave in to our Bohemian spirits and rode towards the warm and sunny beach of Shankarpur!

On the 27^th of December, 2020, early in the morning, we mounted our saddle bags onto our Chewbacca (that’s what we lovingly call our Dominar 400 UG 19) and set off for our destination. Gourab, being the rider, was the one with the responsibility of manoeuvering our way, which left me with ample time and opportunity to soak in the beautiful surroundings. It was a sultry winter morning, and the gushing winds made us fall in love with the roads all over again. One of the perks of marrying your best friend is all the fun things that you get to do together. It’s literally sharing ONE life together, living ONE dream and working towards ONE common goal. Anyway, getting back on track, or in our case the dusty roads of Kona Expressway, we took our first stop near Azad Hind Dhaba. Though we were carrying our breakfast with us, it was a customary stop – almost like a ritual. 

From there we again started our journey, next landmark being Kolaghat. We crossed Kolaghat around 9:40 a.m. and from there we took a left turn as we continued towards Nandokumar.

The distance between our house in Jadavpur, Kolkata to Shankarpur is almost 180 kms. The first 100 kms of the journey did not offer us much in terms of scenic beauty but the road was moderately smooth and hassle free. The next 79 kms from Nandokumar to Shankarpur was a completely different story altogether! As the roads became narrower, bumpier, covered in potholes and congested, the scenes on the either side became greener and a treat for the eyes. Fields and farms and trees and shrubs offered a refreshing visual.

As I enjoyed the scenes to my heart’s content, Gourab only had eye for the road ahead, with an occasional glance of his eye and twist of his neck on either side to soak in his surroundings. Soon I asked him to stop beside the road. It would have been a transgression to pass by these beautiful roads without stopping to admire the beauty. This is a huge perk of moto-touring! You can stop as much or as little as you want, based on your whim. Needless to say, obviously not without following the rules of the road. It was already 11 a.m. and thus we decided to have our brunch with the Mixed Singapore Noodles which we had packed from home. From there it was 70 kms till our hotel at Shankarpur and we hoped to reach there by 1 p.m. Unfortunately, the road conditions only deteriorated and the congestion increased. After manoeuvering through the apparent procession of private cars and buses, when we reached Shankarpur it was almost 2 p.m.

Hotel Belanibas has a decent parking area where we parked our bike and unloaded our luggage. We checked in and our clothes and luggage were sanitized following the COVID-19 sanitization protocol. Inside our already sanitized and clean hotel room, we went over with our personal regime of sanitization. Never hurts to be careful! No nook or cranny was spared from a bursting spray of our pungent sanitizer! Eyes watering with all the constant spraying, we headed to the washroom to clean ourselves up once we were thoroughly satisfied with the sanitisation.

It was almost 3 p.m. when we finally could have our lunch. The menu included steaming plates of rice with raw onions and lemon wedges on the side, crispy potato fries (or commonly known as jhuri aloo bhaaja), thick sunshine yellow daal, spicy cabbage and potato curry, Pomfret fish in a delectable mustard gravy and to finish the meal off - tomato chutney and crispy papad (poppadom).

It was a soulful and comforting meal which took away all the wearies of the journey.

The lunch was served in our room as per our request. This was another precaution taken by us in our endeavour to maintain maximum social distancing. Another “NEW NORMAL” in the age of the PANDEMIC. Thankfully we had a fantastic view of the sea beach from our room. As we had our lunch sitting at the table by the window, we had a refreshing view of the Bay of Bengal. We enjoyed our meal, watching the waves lazily breaking on the shore. It was a beautiful afternoon- a couple’s retreat indeed!

After the sumptuous lunch, as we were contemplating whether or not to go for an afternoon promenade by the beach, we watched in horror as a private bus along with two private cars filled with passengers stopped in front of our hotel. Day trippers poured out and rushed towards the beach- old and young alike! And thus, we tossed the idea of a peaceful and tranquil promenade out of the window for the time being. Thankfully, in a couple of hours the crowd cleared and we geared up to step out in the dark to stroll by the now deserted beach.

As we sat by the sea in the growing darkness, memories of the past flooded our minds. We first came to Shankarpur in the year 2016, a while after our court marriage. Since then, almost every year we have been coming back. Shankarpur holds a very special place in our hearts and life. Going back to the year 2016, we were a couple of newlyweds, filled with excitement, who visited Shankarpur, to find a virgin beach devoid of any cement construction or beautification. Many of the hotels and resorts were still there but the beach was relatively untouched. No structure or monument to mark the dominance of civilization. We still remember the mud road (which is now a well-constructed road regularly traversed by modern commutes) which we took walking hand in hand and dreaming of our future ahead. Walking snugly along the narrow path, 30 minutes later we found ourselves by the beach of Tajpur. It was a pleasant surprise and we still remember having tea in a small shack by the Tajpur beach, which too was dark and deserted.

But this was all in the past.

Now Shankarpur and Tajpur are regularly frequented by tourists. The once dark roads now flooded with streetlights and the once deserted surrounding is often occupied by hawkers selling their merchandise. Nevertheless, Shankarpur is still far from being as congested as Digha. Shankarpur, though not as untouched as it was in 2016, is still secluded enough to offer a recluse away from the maddening crowd, which we all sometimes want to escape from.

After a very private and romantic time by the beach, we returned back to our lovely hotel. In our room we had dinner sitting by the window side. The warm, spicy and succulent pieces of chicken were melting in our mouth, as we listened to the roaring of the waves and watched the meandering roads disappearing into the darkness of the night.

 Now that we were fed and watered and light headed from the evening’s euphoria, we decided to call it a night. Slipping beneath the freshly cleaned layers of blankets, I drifted into the most peaceful slumber 2020 had to offer.

Next morning, I woke up just early enough to see the sun slowly rising as the layers of fog and mist were lifted. The glass windows of our room indeed provided a front-row view. I quickly nudged Gourab and almost shook him out of his dream. I just couldn’t allow him to miss this wonderful view, that too from the bed and underneath the covers. As he woke up with a start, I almost felt a little apologetic. Tousled hair, he got up and looked outside the window. The expression on his face was one of awe and wonder. What an amazing start to a beautiful day! 

Morning tea was followed by a fulfilling breakfast of luchi and a simple potato curry along with soft and spongy roshogolla! Loaded with this fuel we just had to head out to the beach to bathe in the sunshine! It was time for our mandatory photo-shoot as well as time for vlogging for our YouTube channel. In the morning as we walked by the beach, it was a very different experience from that of the previous night’s.

Last night’s deserted beach was now flooded in brilliant sunlight and filled with energetic “morning walkers”, including us. In the distance we could see small fishing boats out there in the sea, going about their daily business, slowly becoming smaller until being reduced to a tiny speck. 

The sparkling waters of the sea, seemed to dance and rejoice with us as we eagerly waited for 2020 to end. 

Sitting hand in hand, Gourab told me that he was planning to capture the time lapse of the sunset and the changing colours of the sky in the late afternoon and evening. As it would be our last evening at Shankarpur, we decided to return to the beach once again in the evening, just before sunset. But alas! Man proposes and God disposes! 

Quarter to 5p.m. we headed out of our hotel to capture the perfect view by the sea. Crossing the parking lot, compelled by habit, Gourab went towards Chewbacca, just to check on him. After walking ahead for a while, I stopped and turned to see, that Gourab was still lingering by Chewie, now with an ominous frown on his forehead.  “What happened?” I asked. “The rear tyre has a puncture. I can see a nail sticking out of the tyre. I have to get it fixed immediately!” said Gourab. “Ugh! Now I won’t be able to capture the time lapse of the sunset!” he added. The shocking revelation of the punctured rear tyre damped our mood. Thankfully the staff informed us that there was a puncture repair shop nearby.

As I went back to our hotel room to sulk and scowl, Gourab carefully rode off with our Dominar. Standing by the window of our room, I saw the colours change, and the darkness gather…but it was not the same without having Gourab by my side. By the time Gourab returned, the surrounding was already covered in darkness. He opened the door of our room, sad that we had missed our beautiful sunset but visibly relieved that the puncture was taken care of. He informed me that there were three punctures, two of them caused by “Babla gachher kanta”- a kind of sharp thorn from the Gum Arabic Tree or commonly known as Babul Tree. Now that Chewie has been taken care of, Mr. Sen turned his attention to his sulking wife. It was time for his second mission! Coaxing his sad wife was no small feat indeed! He did that too with equal efficiency. Ultimately when we headed out, he had his arms around me and I had a smile on my face… Another magical evening, we had by the sea.

Dinner that night was Mutton Kosha and hot chapatis. Tummies filled with the delicious food we bid adieu to the night skies and beach of Shankarpur. We packed our bags that night to avoid any hassle and rush the next morning. Next day we would be riding out and back to our little nest in Jadavpur.

29^th December, 2020. After spending two carefree and splendid days by the sea, it was finally time to return home. Like every good thing, this trip too was coming to an end but the ride on our Chewie kept our adrenaline levels pretty high! We had already packed our lunch consisting of omelettes from our hotel. Gourab had this amazing idea of layering the piping hot omelettes with slices of cheese while we were packing it. This ultimately resulted in a gooey and cheesy delight which we enjoyed on road, during our return journey.

Has anyone noticed that the return journey always seems a little shorter and quicker? Or is it only us?

Though Shakespeare questions if the 

"Horse doth untread again

His tedious measures with the unbated fire

That he did pace them first?"

It seems our Chewbacca has more power than Gratiano’s horse in question! Well to be fair, our Chewie does possess of power of 40 horses! Thanks to our Dominar, our return journey was quite smooth and fast. We had set off at around 10:30 a.m. and when we reached home it was 4:20 p.m. We did take two stops while returning, one was at a petrol pump just after crossing Nandokumar and the second was after crossing Kolaghat, where we had our packed lunch.

Thus our hurricane tour came to an end and as we neared our little and imperfect yet perfect nest, we promised each other of new adventures and getaways, just as we promise you to come back with yet another ranting of our eccentric minds and stories of our adventures! Till then stay safe, stay happy!

To watch the video of our full journey please click the link below

https://youtu.be/ATpU917EosI

Much love,

Ananya Kundu

Bangali BackPacker