Half a decade of Blogging, celebrating my blog’s 5th birthday

Half a decade of Blogging

Celebrating my blog’s 5th birthday

Also see: My Blog’s Birthdays

“…….there are many, who has become famous by blogging, and many famous people have taken to blogging.”

– Anuradha Goyal, Blogger and author of The Mouse Charmers

With half a decade of blogging, I am not yet famous but a few famous people have appreciated my blog, which includes two best selling authors Amitav Ghosh and William Dalrymple. I have been among the top travel bloggers list published by a number of travel portals like Holidify and Tours of Kerala.

Half a decade of blogging

My blog has been reviewed by the Bengali newspaper Ei Samay, of Times of India (TOI) group. I have been interviewed by travel portal 101 Vacation and news portal Bangla Your Story. Also I had a QnA session at the Oxford Book Stores organized by Kolkata Bloggers.

Travel Blog, A Dozen Blog Tales, Ei Samay

Compilation: Nilanjan Hazra and Layout: Arghya Bandyopadhyay

My blog was among the 12 travel blogs (both international and national) to be featured in Ei Samay, the Bengali news paper of the Times of India (TOI) group, on 8 Nov. 2015 (Sunday).

A Dozen Blog Tales, Ei Samay, Kolkata, 8 Nov., 2015

Amazing Way to Celebrate by Blog’s Fourth Birthday

Amazing Way to Celebrate my Blog’s Fourth Birthday

Thanks to Holidify and Arpita Pramanick

Also see: My Blog’s Birthdays

I still remember the wet morning of 17th June 2011 my friend, colleague and fellow photo enthusiast Akash Mondal introduced me to the world of Blogging. Although I have been writing travelogues for more than a decade and maintained a personal website, I have never been much of a computer friendly person. Strangely I soon got the hang of Blogging and started posting articles regularly.

Soon words of inspiration and likes from friend followed, inspiring me to work hard on my blog. I set up an action plan of “Mid Week Update” updating an article every Wednesday. In a short span of time likes and comments extended beyond my friend circle with eminent scholars and best selling authors started on my blog. I also got invited for tours in both India and abroad.

A Few Good Bloggers, The Times of India

A Few Good Bloggers

Jaideep Mazumdar, The Times of India

“Good Morning Sir, have you received your copy of The Times of India?” this was what I used to say as Reader Relation Executive (RRE) for The Times of India (TOI).

It was October 1999 and Times of India was making its inroads in Kolkata (Calcutta). I was doing my Masters of Business Management (MBM) from Calcutta University (CU) and the travelling bug had already bit me.

So to fund my trips I joined the door to door promotional campaign for Times of India. It was an early morning job and I had ample time to attend my classes at the Alipur Campus of Calcutta University.

A Few Good Bloggers, Jaideep Mazumdar, The Times of India, 7 March 2015

Couple of months stint with Times of India provided me with enough funds to make my first solo trip, a trek to Sandakphu & Phalut, and opened up the opportunity of taking travel seriously.

Words of appreciation from Dr. Amitav Ghosh

Amitav Ghosh’s writing has always fascinated me. Although a mainly a fictional writer Ghosh has the ability of blending fictional characters in historical backdrop. For the last couple of years I have been reading his books and have read Calcutta Chromosome, Hungry Tide, Circle of Raesons, Shadow Lines, Glass Palace, Sea of Poppies and River of Smoke. I also read is non – fiction work In an Antique Land.

Top Left: Cover of Calcutta Chromosome; Top Right: Ronald Ross Memorial, Calcutta; Bottom: Ross’ Medallion and the two inscriptions

I have read most of Ghosh’s books from the library of International School of Business & Media (ISB&M), where I work as a visiting faculty teaching Mathematics, Statistics, Operation Research and Research Methodology for BBA students.

Recently I picked up the courage to write to Amitava Ghosh sharing a link of my blog entry on Ronald Ross Memorial, which was the centre of attraction of Ghosh’s best selling novel Calcutta Chromosome.

My Letter to Dr. Amitava Ghosh

Reading Calcutta Chromosome at ISB&M, Kolkata library (photo courtesy: Akash Mondal)

Dear Dr Amitav Ghosh, I am one of your numerous reader and one of the numerous persons to write to you. I have read many of your books but the one that fascinated me most is “Calcutta Chromosome.” Centered round Ronald Ross’ Nobel Prize winning discovery the book has left an enormous impact on me.

My first encounter with the Roland Ross Memorial, located on the western wall of the Presidency General Hospital, happened during my days of Post Graduation in the Department of Business Management of Calcutta University’s Alipur Campus (1998 – 2000). During the two years I regularly walked past the memorial and often stopping to read the inscriptions over and over again

I read Calcutta Chromosome a couple of years back and it was enough to ignite my decade old passion on the memorial. I decided to have a small writeup (along with photos) on the Ronald Ross Memorial in my Blog.

I am sending you the link Ronald Ross Memorial.

I would be ever grateful if you come up with your comments and suggestions.

Eagerly waiting for a reply.

Regards
RANGAN DATTA

Left: Inscription from Roanld Ross memorial; Right: A page from Calcutta Chromosome showing the inscription

To my utter surprise Ghosh not only replied immediately but also posted my letter in his blog, along with a note of appreciation. In spite of his tight scheduled Ghosh also had the time to go through several other entries of by blog and have also appreciated my post on Kolkata’s Chinese Temples and Zorostrian Temple.

Dr. Amitav Ghosh’s Reply

From Kolkata Rangan Datta sends the letter below with a link to an interesting piece on the Ronald Ross memorial. There are several other interesting posts on his page, including an excellent piece on Kolkata’s Chinese temples and one on the Zoroastrian temple, which he visited when it was under renovation (the temples are otherwise closed to (non-Zoroastrians).

To see my letter and the reply visit Amitav Ghosh’s Blog.

Special thanks:

• Akash Mondal, fellow photo enthusiast and my colleague at ISB&M, Kolkata for shooting my photo.
• Gobinda Pahari. librarian at ISB&M, Kolkata.

TESTIMONIAL – I

Testimonial

From Prof. Tirthankar Roy,

Economic History Dept.

THE LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS

AND POLITICAL SCIENCE (LSE)

 

Six of my photos were selected for publication by Prof. Tirthankar Roy of the Economic History Dept. of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) for his book titled “India in the World Economy” published by the Cambridge University Press.

Below is a testimonial from Prof. Roy

Testimonial from Prof. Tirthankar Roy, Economic History Dept., London School of Economics and Political Science

Here is the list of the selected six photos:

• Radhagobinda Temple, Aatpur (Antpur)
• Panel of European soldiers from Radhagobinda Temple, Aatpur (Antpur)
• Rajrajeshwar Temple, Darhawata
• Panel of Ship from Rajrajeshwar Temple, Darhawata
• Nanking Restaurant & Tong On Church, Calcutta (Kolkata)
• Abandoned Light House, Kulpi

PHOTOS OF AATPUR (ANTPUR)

Left: Radhagobinda Temple, Aatpur (Antpur). Right: Panel of European Soldiers

Built in 1786 Krishnaram Mitra, the Dewan of Maharaja of Burdwan, constructed the huge Radhagobinda Temple. The towering aat – chala temple has a triple arched entrance and the entire front face is covered with the finest terracotta. The temple was constructed during an important transition period of Bengal history. This period marked the end of Muslim rule and the beginning of European era. The terracotta panels reflect this transition. Apart from traditional panels showing images of Gods & Goddesses, scenes from Ramayana & Krishnalila it also houses a vast number of panels showing European lifestyles. European soldiers with bayonet mounted guns and hunting scenes with dogs are abundant on the walls of the temple.

PHOTOS OF DARHAWTA

Left: Rajrajeshwar Temple, Darhawta. Right: Panel of ship

The Rajrajeshwar Temple of Darhawta was constructed in 1728 by Apurbamohan Singaroy. The base of the aat – chala (eight sloped roof) temple measures 24 feet by 21 feet and has a triple arched entrance. The entire front surface have intricate terracotta, but sadly most of these panels have been heavily damaged. The base panels consists of images of boats and ships.

PHOTO OF ABANDONED LIGHT – HOUSE, KULPI

Abandoned Light House, Kalitala, Kulpi

The abandoned  light house at Kalitala village is approached from the Sam Bose bus stop in Kulpi (near Diamond Harbour) by the Military road. The unpaved road, of about 3 km, is called locally as the Military Road but their are no concrete historical evidences of the origin of the name. Today the abandoned light house is reduced to half its original height and is located at the edge of the agricultural field. The light house is located quiet a distance from the Hooghly River and is separated from the river by a series of brick kiln.

With a circumference of about 10 feet the light house today towers to a height of about 25 feet and is built with bricks measuring 10.2  X 4.7 X 2.3 cubic inch. The structure lies in utter neglect and is totally overgrown with vegetation. The roots of the vegetation have embedded them deep in the structure and resulted in deep cracks stretching the entire length of the structure, it is a mystery that the structure still stands.

PHOTO OF NANKING RESTAURANT

Nanking Restaurant & Tong On Chinese Temple

At the Chattawalla Guli of of Tiretta Bazar of Central Calcutta (Kolkata) lies a elegant two storied building.  The ground floor once housed the Nanking Restaurant. Opened in 1924 the Nanking Restaurant is the oldest Chinese restaurant in Calcutta (Kolkata) and also in India.  The first floor housed the Tong On Chinese Temple.

A property dispute in 1980s closed both the restaurant and the temple and they remain closed to this day, denying the Calcuttans of their authentic Chinese food. The Tong On Church operates from a nearby house in Bow Street in Bou Bazar.

References:

Aatpur:

• Hooghly Jelar Purakirti by Narendranath Bhattacharya
• Next weekend you can be at … Antpur by Somen Sengupta, The Telegraph
• Links from my website Aatpur Travelogue

Darhawta:

• Hooghly Jelar Purakirti by Narendranath Bhattacharya

Abandoned Light – House, Kulpi:

• Dakshin 24 Pargana Jelar Purakirti by Sagar Chattopadhyay

Nanking Restaurant & Tong On Church:

• Jaywalkers Guide Calcutta by Soumitra Das
• Links from my website Chinese Temple of Old China Town, Calcutta (Kolkata)