Rumi Mallick is now married!

February 2009 was a fantastic month. It began with Rumi's wedding and I with my friend Bharti, Ranu, Jaggu, Himanshu and Subro were all there to grace the occasion, celebrate and be with the bride and groom. Udit, whom Rumi married is working in Mumbai, and so for Rumi it was first Delhi, then Kolkata for the wedding then, quite soon Mumbai where she will be living.

Bharti and I spent a few more days spending time with her friend in Chandan Nagore, a quaint French town just one hour's local train ride from Howrah. Snigdha and her family with her daughter were hosts to us there, and the first day at her place was marked with a Krishna Bhajan which we enjoyed on the terrace with all the family and friends who gathered and sang songs in praise of Lord Krishna.

The house is done up so beautifully, as most houses in Chandan Nagore are... each house has a couple of rooms facing the nearby pond, which is clean and a source of fresh water fish rearing. The ponds are often private, but are then contracted out to farmers who grow and sell fish. The idyllic surroundings not only inspired us, but also the great minds like Shri Aurobindo, Shri Rabindranath Tagore, etc.

The next day was spent in a picnic with Anamika, another friend of Snigdha and Bharti with whom we went to see the Holy temple of Dakshineshwar. The place that has the holy presence of Shiva, Devi and Krishna temples, and is set on the banks of the Ganges. After enjoying a lovely visit, we took a ferry ride across the river over to the Belur Math. We returned back that evening, and took a walk along the river in Chandan Nagore.

The next day, we spent some time with the family, and heading back in the afternoon, returning from a most enriching trip to West Bengal.

Thanks Bharti, Snigdha, Anamika, Rumi (and all her family members) for this wonderful 9 days trip by train.