It was almost like a movie-the whole story appears within three hours. Just within two weeks I submitted my design project, finished my exams and I applied for a student visa for India. My parents also wanted to come to Auroville to see the place where their “little” daughter is going to stay. So they applied for tourist visa the same day. The next day was our visa delivery date. We had to wait for one hour and we got our visa. No no …… my parents got there visa, I didn’t. The Embassy told me, “You need to wait for one more week.” What? I begged to them, “I have to reach Auroville by 30th August, otherwise I will miss it. And what will my parents do in Auroville without me, earth construction?” who cares? No one. But thanks to Allah that finally I got my visa on 24th August and within two days I finished all the formalities for my school, packed my bag and on 26th August at 11:30pm we started our journey by bus.
I was a little bit excited. Each and everything was new. Even the route that the bus was following, I had never been to this
part of Bangladesh before. At mid night we reached Aricha Ferry Ghat. It was a long boring queue to get into the ferry. The night was so dark that you can see the shining water but there was no charm in it. Almost at 1 am our bus got into the ferry and the ferry began to move. I asked the conductor the time it’s going to take and the answer was 1 hour. Fuh! I was pissed. I tried to read something but it didn’t work. So, what to do! Let’s go outside if I get some fresh air.
I got down and… O my God….. What’s that? It’s like I was in the middle of the sea. You cannot see anything but you can feel something, something you cannot describe, you can just feel. There was no one on the terrace. The wind was cold and strong. My hair was flying and I was shivering a little. But still I stood there for the whole hour. Amazing, amazing, I don’t have any word to describe that. I am yet speechless.
Early in the morning we reached Benapole Border. It was raining, so we had to wait, because we had to walk. Yes, it is not like an airport that your plane lands and your journey is over. No, not at all dear friends, it was the beginning of the journey. We registered ourselves in Bangladeshi Customs Office, walked for 10 minutes and entered India. A lot of porters came running to carry our luggage and said, “Babu amay din”. (Sir, let me carry.) And with this line another chapter of my journey began.
I used to read a lot of books from West Bengal and when in the customs office everybody was speaking Bangla with a Calcacian accent, I felt like a character of those books, girl friend of Dhrubo Chowdhury….ufffffff!!!!!! I love him.
You know, I have never seen a woman driving bicycle or motor bike with a saree. It was my first observation in India!! Hahahahaha….
I must say Kolkata is a nice city. Before coming here I heard it’s a very nasty city, but it is not. It is far cleaner then Dhaka at least. I think if anyone takes a picture without any people on the road, she can easily proclaim that as a European city. There are two possibilities. Either they are very too conservative to change their architecture and town planning or they don’t have money to change. Not only the public buildings are Colonial, even the street lights are of Colonial style. But the funniest thing is there are lot more customers in the street food shops than the restaurants. Because those are far tasty and obviously lot cheaper.
We were in Kolkata just for one night. The next day, on 28th August, we crossed the famous Howrah Bridge by taxi and took “Coromandel Express” from Howrah Junction. I should say, the system they follow to maintain such a huge railway network is amazing and truly admirable.
I always wanted to come to India. This is the country that attracted me the most. It has canals, rivers, seas, mountains, DESERT and SNOW. I have never been to a desert or snow.
No, there was neither desert nor snow on my way to Auroville. It is the tropical zone of India and it has almost same landscape like our country-Vast crop fields meeting the horizon with small villages sometimes. But all the houses has exactly same staircase that make them look a like…….oh!! They are just like me. They like vibrant colors. hahhah…
Now my friend, I am going to give you an advice. Don’t worry, its 100% free. In train never take the first seat of a compartment. You can take, but may be then you may need to use a clip to close your nose. The toilets smell so good you know!!!!!!!
Finally we reached Chennai at 5 pm. One night at Chennai was nice. I did a very important thing. I bought a SIM card for me.
Now it’s time for another free advice. If you want to buy SIM card for your phone please think a lot from where you want to buy it and talk to your shopkeeper in detail to know where it will be on roaming and where it will not.
I was very INTELLIGENT (everybody knows). I didn’t buy a SIM from Kolkata. I bought it from Chennai and I put 300 rupees in it. Next day we took a bus from Chennai to Pondicherry and a taxi from Pondi to Auroville. I didn’t know the location of Mitra Youth Camp, so I called one of my friends. I noticed a sign on my screen “Rm”. I didn’t know what that is. But now I know………… still I am on roaming!!!!!!!!! I can’t believe … so be careful.
Anyways, my life in Auroville began…
It was almost like a movie-the whole story appears within three hours. Just within two weeks I submitted my design project, finished my exams and I applied for a student visa for India. My parents also wanted to come to Auroville to see the place where their “little” daughter is going to stay. So they applied for tourist visa the same day. The next day was our visa delivery date. We had to wait for one hour and we got our visa. No no …… my parents got there visa, I didn’t. The Embassy told me, “You need to wait for one more week.” What? I begged to them, “I have to reach Auroville by 30th August, otherwise I will miss it. And what will my parents do in Auroville without me, earth construction?” who cares? No one. But thanks to Allah that finally I got my visa on 24th August and within two days I finished all the formalities for my school, packed my bag and on 26th August at 11:30pm we started our journey by bus.
I was a little bit excited. Each and everything was new. Even the route that the bus was following, I had never been to this 
part of Bangladesh before. At mid night we reached Aricha Ferry Ghat. It was a long boring queue to get into the ferry. The night was so dark that you can see the shining water but there was no charm in it. Almost at 1 am our bus got into the ferry and the ferry began to move. I asked the conductor the time it’s going to take and the answer was 1 hour. Fuh! I was pissed. I tried to read something but it didn’t work. So, what to do! Let’s go outside if I get some fresh air.
I got down and… O my God….. What’s that? It’s like I was in the middle of the sea. You cannot see anything but you can feel something, something you cannot describe, you can just feel. There was no one on the terrace. The wind was cold and strong. My hair was flying and I was shivering a little. But still I stood there for the whole hour. Amazing, amazing, I don’t have any word to describe that. I am yet speechless.
Early in the morning we reached Benapole Border. It was raining, so we had to wait, because we had to walk. Yes, it is not like an airport that your plane lands and your journey is over. No, not at all dear friends, it was the beginning of the journey. We registered ourselves in Bangladeshi Customs Office, walked for 10 minutes and entered India. A lot of porters came running to carry our luggage and said, “Babu amay din”. (Sir, let me carry.) And with this line another chapter of my journey began.
I used to read a lot of books from West Bengal and when in the customs office everybody was speaking Bangla with a Calcacian accent, I felt like a character of those books, girl friend of Dhrubo Chowdhury….ufffffff!!!!!! I love him.
You know, I have never seen a woman driving bicycle or motor bike with a saree. It was my first observation in India!! Hahahahaha….
I must say Kolkata is a nice city. Before coming here I heard it’s a very nasty city, but it is not. It is far cleaner then Dhaka at least. I think if anyone takes a picture without any people on the road, she can easily proclaim that as a European city. There are two possibilities. Either they are very too conservative to change their architecture and town planning or they don’t have money to change. Not only the public buildings are Colonial, even the street lights are of Colonial style. But the funniest thing is there are lot more customers in the street food shops than the restaurants. Because those are far tasty and obviously lot cheaper.
We were in Kolkata just for one night. The next day, on 28th August, we crossed the famous Howrah Bridge by taxi and took “Coromandel Express” from Howrah Junction. I should say, the system they follow to maintain such a huge railway network is amazing and truly admirable.
I always wanted to come to India. This is the country that attracted me the most. It has canals, rivers, seas, mountains, DESERT and SNOW. I have never been to a desert or snow.
No, there was neither desert nor snow on my way to Auroville. It is the tropical zone of India and it has almost same landscape like our country-Vast crop fields meeting the horizon with small villages sometimes. But all the houses has exactly same staircase that make them look a like…….oh!! They are just like me. They like vibrant colors. hahhah…
Now my friend, I am going to give you an advice. Don’t worry, its 100% free. In train never take the first seat of a compartment. You can take, but may be then you may need to use a clip to close your nose. The toilets smell so good you know!!!!!!!
Finally we reached Chennai at 5 pm. One night at Chennai was nice. I did a very important thing. I bought a SIM card for me.
Now it’s time for another free advice. If you want to buy SIM card for your phone please think a lot from where you want to buy it and talk to your shopkeeper in detail to know where it will be on roaming and where it will not.
I was very INTELLIGENT (everybody knows). I didn’t buy a SIM from Kolkata. I bought it from Chennai and I put 300 rupees in it. Next day we took a bus from Chennai to Pondicherry and a taxi from Pondi to Auroville. I didn’t know the location of Mitra Youth Camp, so I called one of my friends. I noticed a sign on my screen “Rm”. I didn’t know what that is. But now I know………… still I am on roaming!!!!!!!!! I can’t believe … so be careful.
Anyways, my life in Auroville began…
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