Though a small firm, we have undertaken projects that have taken us to places. In this section, we intend sharing with you some of our experiences while on those sojourns including some exciting visits.

An assignment of Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Cherrapunjee, demanded a meting at Karimganj . . .

and there I was, ready to pack my travel bag and be on my way. I tried for an air ticket to Silchar as I planned to travel to Karimganj by road from there, however, found all apex seats to be full in all the airlines flying there from Kolkata. So, I decided to take the other way round – travel to Karimganj from Agartala. I was in fact more eager to go ahead with the alternative as it would give me an opportunity to see Agartala en route. I took the Indigo Airlines flight from Kolkata at 9.50 a.m. It was mid December and fog at Agartala delayed the departure from Kolkata which ultimately happened about an hour behind schedule. The somewhat gloomy Agartala weather was broken by a smiling Ashok babu (Mr. Ashok Chakravarty) was waiting at the exit of Agartala Airport instructed by Revered Swami Sumedhananda ji Maharaj to enable me to have a glimpse of Agartala before dropping me at the station from where I was to take the train to Karimganj.

My first stop was Ujjayant Palace the royal house of the kings of Tripura built by king Radhakishore Manikya during 1899 – 1901 the campus with pools and fountains spanning an area of a square kilometre the imposing structure reflecting in the waters of the tanks on either side. The palace which was away from the city was destroyed in the earthquake which shook the north eastern part of the country in 1897. It was re-built thereafter in the heart of the city. I visited the temples of Lakshmi-Narayan, Uma-Maheshwari and Kali beside. A vist to Ramakrishna Mission Viveknagar, Amtoli was next on the hurried itinerary. A sprawling campus with a large school and its architecturally beautiful central administrative block, pathways, orchards and tanks bore witness to the mingling of ancient hermitage with the modern era. I learnt that an aviary was set up too but could not be maintained by persons at the helm of affairs in the later years.

I was dropped at Agartala railway station – an imposing structure in the midst of nowhere built somewhat to replicate the Ujjayanta Palace. I was quite sure about the prospect of finding a decent food joint at the station and confidently walked in but to my surprise and somewhat dismay discovered that not even a stall was present. Quite puzzled at how to organize my lunch I walked out again and had to settle for bread and bananas as the best choice amongst the ‘cuisine’ available in the makeshift stalls outside foregoing my excitement of having a railway lunch.

The Agartala – Lumding Express which was to depart at 2 p.m. was nowhere in sight. The UP train hadn’t arrived till then. I therefore made myself comfortable on the overbridge and enjoyed the laidback station atmosphere of Tripura capital. Suddenly there was an air of restlessness as if a sleeping crowd had been woken by the touch of a wand. The metre guage express hauled by a diesel locomotive chugged in. At once the station went alive with the din and bustle of the passengers forcing their way in the coaches in rather tough competition with those forcing their way out. The sight was an ideal example to any student of biology in Darwin’s theory of survival of the fittest be it with reserved or unreserved seats. Having a reservation in the only AC coach, quite wary of my laptop, saved me from having to put my fitness to test. Leaving Agartala, the the metre guage train trugged along of at a merry pace crossing stations like Jogendranagar, Jirania, Teliamura, Ambassa, Manu, Kumarghat and reached Dharmanagar around 8 p.m. Taking the opportunity of a considerable stoppage, I hopped on to the platform to stretch my legs when I saw the approaching figure of Biswajit Goswami, an old associate from Cherrapunjee, peeping into the compartments one by one. He had come to know of my journey to Karimganj from Revered Sumedhananda ji Maharaj and had come to check on me during the journey on Revered Maharaj’s instructions. The stoppage of fifteen minutes or so, munching over potato chips and reminiscending Cherrapunjee was a refreshing break. After the train left Barigram after Patherkandi, I was alerted by the coach attendant that the next stop was Karimganj Junction and I was to be ready. It was past 10 p.m.and in that December winter Revered Maharaj had come to pick me up at the station along with two other respected Swamijis from Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama.

Karimganj District is located in the Southern Assam in the Barak Valley zone. The river Barak enters the district through its north-eastern corner near Badarpurghat and at a place called Haritikar near Bhanga, is bifurcates into two branches - the Kushiara and the Surma. From the point of bifurcation, the Kushiara flows westwards to Bangladesh forming the northern boundary of Karimganj situated on the bank of this river. The Surma flows into Bagladesh. At the time of partition of the country, in 1947, the district of Sylhet was transferred to East Pakistan barring Ratabari, Patherkandi, Badarpur and half of Karimganj of the Karimganj sub-division. This truncated Karimganj sub-division was incorporated in the Cachar District of Assam. Trade link with Sylhet passed through Karimganj.

A morning walk with Revered Swami Sumedhananda ji Maharaj took me to the banks of the river Kushiara, Bangladesh being just the opposite bank. River Kushiara seemed to be just knee deep and one could just walk across to Bangladesh but for the ever vigilant BSF personnel who stood by the river with their AK-47s slung on their shoulders. The sight of a dilapidated warehouse bore witness to the trading past when vessels carrying argo used to anchor. Revered Maharaj showed me the memorial of Bangladesh War of 1971 erected by the river bank.

I spent the rest of the day in sessions regarding the assignment for which I had come. The next day I would travel to Silchar.