Godan Express: गोदान एक्सप्रेस - प्रेमचन्द की लेखनी ने रची यह अनुपम कृति, ये जोड़े मुंबई से पूंर्वांचली संस्कृति ।। - Saurabh

প্রত্যেক মঙ্গলবার হাওড়া স্টেশনে আমার এক হৃদয়বিদারক অভিজ্ঞতা হয়। ৮ নম্বর প্ল্যাটফর্মে দাঁড়িয়ে থাকে ময়লাটে ব্ল্যাক ডায়মণ্ড এক্সপ্রেস। তাতে উঠে কয়লার গুঁড়োর ম্যারিনেশনে হাফবয়েল ডিম হয়ে রানিগঞ্জ পোঁছুতে সাড়ে নটা বেজেই যায়৷ কিন্তু হাওড়ায় প্রায় তার ই গা ঘেঁষে দাঁড়িয়ে থাকে রাঁচীমুখী শতাব্দী এক্সপ্রেস। ঝাঁ চকচকে স্মার্ট কর্পোরেট যুবার মতোন হাবভাব তার। মায় তার জানলাগুলোও ব্ল্যাকের থেকে উঁচুতে। স্রেফ দু'ঘন্টায় রানিগঞ্জ পৌছুয়। সুন্দর নীলচে গদিওয়ালা সীট গুলো আমাকে নিশির ডাকের মতোন ডাকে। আমি বিশ্রী ছোটো অপরিসর সীটে বসে বসে ভাবি একদিন আমিও শতাব্দী চড়ে রানীগঞ্জ যাব৷ কিন্তু ভাড়া চার-পাঁচ গুণ বেশি হওয়ায় স্বাভাবিক ভাবেই আজ অব্দি টিকিট কেটে উঠতে পারিনি। সাধ আর সাধ্যের তফাত বোঝা হয়ে যায় আরো একবার। মনে মনে ডি.এ পে.কমিশন ইত্যাদি কে খানিক কষিয়ে গালমন্দ করে নি৷ যদিও এটাও জানিযে মাইনে বাড়লেও ৬০০ টাকা ভাড়া দিয়ে দু'ঘন্টা ট্রেন জান্নি পোষাবে না! -_-
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সে যাই হোক...ইদানিং শতাব্দী চড়তে না পারার হতাশা থেকে আর ও দিকে যেচে তাকাই না বড়৷ আজ ঝিমুতে ঝিমুতে ব্ল্যাক ডায়মন্ডে নিজের সীটে বস্লুম৷ হঠাৎ দেখি সামনে এক ফর্সা আর হ্যান্ডসাম হিরো মাফিক লোক আমার দিকে তাকিয়ে ফিক করে হেসে দিলে৷ তারপর দেখি সে মক্কেল জানলার দিকে তাকিয়ে বেজায় খুশি হয়েছে। হাত নেড়ে নেড়ে ওদের ভাষায় কিসব বলছে। আমিও তাকিয়ে দেখি পাশের প্ল্যাটফর্ম এ গা ঘেঁষে হতচ্ছাড়া শতাব্দী দাঁড়িয়ে৷ আর ওই ট্রেনে আমাদের জানলার পাশাপাশি বসেছে আরেক ফুটফুটে হিরোইন৷ সেও তার মায়ের কোল থেকে আরাধনার শর্মিলার মতোন লাজুক লাজুক হাসছে আর হাত নাড়ছে। দুই বেয়ান অবশ্য ব্যাপার টা কেমন ভাবে নিচ্ছে বোঝা যাচ্ছিল না। জাত ধর্ম স্টেটাসে কী আর শতাব্দী আর ব্ল্যাক ডায়মণ্ডের মিল হয়!! কিন্তু আমি এদের নীরব প্রেম কাহিনী টা পড়ে ফেলায় হিরো ভারী বিরক্ত হয়েছে আমার ওপর৷ আর হাসছেনা। :/ নআ হাসুক গে। প্রেমিকার বিদায়ে কেঁদেকেটে না জ্বালালেই হল -_-

By Mayurakshi Das click here
#banglaGolpo Series

#banglagolpo series
In the Howrah-Azimganj section of Eastern Railway, 192 km away from Howrah Station, there is a small village and station named "Karna Subarna". Perhaps, most of the people passing through this station/village would not know that 1400 years ago, Karna Subarna was the capital city of Sasanka, the first Brahman king of ancient Bengal (Gaur) who ruled in the 7th Century CE. Legend has it that this place was also the capital of the "Anga" kingdom that was gifted by Duryodhana to Karna.
Karna Subarna was famous as a formal...
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politico-administrative, military and religious urban center. The ancient university of Raktamrittika Mahavihar, a leading educational institute of Buddhism was here (visited by Xuanzang - Hu en Sang).
During Sasanka's rule, Bengal played a significannt role in the North Indian politics. Sasanka perhaps ruled over the Northern and Western parts of Bengal but dreamed of a vast empire. After annexing Magadha and conquering Varanasi (Kasi), Sasanka and his ally, Devagupta, the king of Malwa, attacked Kanauj, defeated and killed its king Grahavarmana. The retaliatory battle between Rajya Vrdhana, the latter's brother-in-law and the king of Thaneswar and Sasanka and his ally resulted in the death of the former. This was followed by prolonged battle between Sasanka and Rajya Vardhan's brother and successor, King Harsha Vardhana, a powerful ruler and a military genius. Though Harsha could conquer back Kanauj, he could not conquer Bengal till such time Sasnka was alive.
Possibly Sasanka died without a heir and after his death, by the end of the 7th Century, CE, Karna Subarna faded into oblivion. The sun of glory of Karna Subarna had set many centuries ago. Sasanka appeared as a meteor in Bengal and left a blazing trail of glory but today that is mostly forgotten.
Pics here are of the Karna Subarna Railway Station Building and remains of Raktamrittika Mahavihar (c 600 CE).
To day at Karna Subarna, there is neither any place to stay (hotel) nor any eating joint, only its history is there. click here

A Travel story shared publicly by Shri Pulak Kumar Sinha click here
Challenge: Face it boldly or Flee from it
The dictionary meaning of “Challenge” is “Something that needs great mental or physical effort in order to be done successfully and therefore tests a person’s ability”. In other words, it can also be defined as an adverse situation in our life which we need to tide over.
Our...
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lives are full of challenges. Incidentally, human beings cannot live without challenges. Day in and day out, we have been encountering challenges. While arranging for two square meals is a challenge for a poor man, protecting his wealth is a huge problem for a rich man. But then these are routine or foreseen challenges. We shall, however, discuss here about challenges which are unforeseen. Broadly, they are of three types, as under:
 Those created due to your action / inaction e.g. you have invested hard earned savings into chit funds for higher interest but lost everything, you failed to ensure proper maintenance of your vehicle and met with an accident, etc.
 Those created by others, e.g. cheating, burglary, unnecessary harassment, road rage, bandh, etc.
 Those are created by nature e.g. flood, earthquake, wild fire, etc.
At times, the challenges, particularly those created by nature, are devastating and very difficult to face still human beings are surviving. Recent flood in Kerala is a glaring example. However, we have no / very little control over it. Challenges created by our own action / inaction can also be brought down drastically with proper knowledge / information / action in time. On the other hand, challenges due to someone else’s action are completely unpredictable and ever increasing in the modern world. While the people responsible for creating troubles are a very few in number, they always pose a huge problem for individuals as well as society. At times, even the law enforcing agency like police can also create problems for you. I know facing such challenges is very difficult and most of the times, we have to eat humble pie to save ourselves. I, however, venture to suggest that we need to assess the intensity of the challenge and act very judiciously. We must not take the issue head on if the opponent is strong and there is a threat of life. Instead, we have to use our brain to find out a solution to the problem. Despite huge degeneration of the social and moral values, the quote “Pen is mightier than Sword” still remains relevant. It is not a sermon as I was successful in getting success on a number of occasions. Here, I would like to narrate an incident which we encountered at Jamalpur Railway Station while we were on way to Pakaur from Patna, as under:
It was sometime in July / August 1989. I was posted in SBI, Local Head Office, Patna. My in-laws were in Pakaur. There were only two direct trains viz. Delhi – Sealdah Upper India Express (Now Varanasi Express) and Danapur – Howrah Fast Passenger (Now Rajgir – Howrah fast Passenger). As the running of the former was a bit erratic, we preferred to travel by the latter which used to be around 11.30 a.m. at Patna. The schedule time of arrival of the train at Pakaur was little after mid-night. Accordingly, we (myself, my wife, my sister-in-law and my 9 month old son) boarded the train and occupied seats in an unreserved compartment as reservation for 3-4 hours (beyond 9.00 p.m.) was meaningless. Journey was smooth up to Jamalpur.
As the train stopped at the station, I alighted with a view to purchasing some food items and taking tea. It was around 6.00 p.m. The halt of the train at Jamalpur station was almost half an hour. After completing my work within 15 minutes, when I came back near the compartment to board the train, I found one of the doors of the compartment (a smaller one with two doors) was closed, a hanging sign board mentioning thereon “Escort Party” both in Hindi and English and passengers alighting from the other door. There were five police personnel. As I was trying to board the train, I was not allowed to go in. I pleaded with one of them, “We are coming from Patna and shall go to Pakaur. I am accompanied by two ladies and an infant. Where shall we go? The train has become crowded now. We may be allowed to travel in this compartment only.” He, however, insisted on vacating the compartment. By then, excepting my family members, everyone else vacated the compartment. Finding no assurance from the police party, I went inside to help my family members to help them to come out. As we were about to come out, one of the police personnel came to us and told us not to get down. I thanked him for the nice gesture.
Very soon, what I saw had really surprised me. Passengers started entering into the compartment and within no time, all the seats got filled up. Though I could guess the motive behind the action but I did not ask anything to the fellow passengers. The train started its onward journey. After around half an hour, what I saw that didn’t surprised me at all. I saw that two police personnel were collecting Rs. 5/- from all the passengers (They were without tickets) and in the process, they asked for Rs. 15/- (3 persons) even though we were having proper tickets. I tried to argue with them but to no avail and we had also to pay. As the train was a little late, we reached Pakaur one hour past mid night.
As I could not digest that illegal practice, I sent two letters – one to the SP, Railway Police, Jamalpur and another to IG, Railway Police, Patna – narrating the episode. To give emphasis to the complaint, the letter was, however, signed by my wife. We went back to Patna after a week and was pleasantly surprised to receive an acknowledgement with an assurance to look into the matter from one, Shri Sahay (Unfortunately, I forgot his full name.), IG, Railway Police. In another one month, we received another letter mentioning therein that a Test Identification (TI) Parade of all the police personnel would be held at Jamalpur as per the availability of my wife. As going to Jamalpur was very difficult for my wife, she wrote a letter to the IG stating her inability. Within a few days, she received a reply that TI Parade would now be held in our residence at Patna wherein the date was also indicated. We certainly expected some action but never ever thought of such an action.
On that fixed date, around 9.00 o’clock one police personnel knocked at the door and introduced himself. He was the observer for that purpose. He said, “All eight police personnel (We saw only five at Jamalpur) who were on duty on that day are here. If it is okay with you, we can call them one by one for TI Parade.” We asked him for tea but he said that it could be once the exercise was over. So TI Parade started. As one after another police personnel appeared before my wife, the observer asked her two questions – (i) Did any police personnel ask you to vacate the compartment and subsequently ask for money? and (ii) Was he one of them? In response to first question, she told “Yes” and for the second “I do not remember.” Incidentally, I also could not identify any of them.
When the exercise got over, they all came together, thanked her and left the place. The observer then wrote a note and took her signature. While taking tea, he said, “ Madam, though you could not identify anyone, the practice has been completely stopped now. Moreover, everyone in railway police force in Bihar knows you by name. I appreciate your courage. Our IG was also praising you.” He also left after finishing his tea.
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#BanglaGolpo series

#BanglaGolpo series
খড়্গপুরে প্রথম ট্রেন আসার ঘটনা খুব মজার।ট্রেনকে সবাই ভেবেছিল যন্ত্রের অজগর।সাপের মত লম্বা শরীর, সাপের মত বুকে হেঁটে চলে,বিষের ধোঁয়া ছাড়ে নাক দিয়ে আর শিস দেয় সাপের মত।গ্রামে গ্রামে অভিশাপ নামবে এমন ভয় সকলের।আর ও গাড়িতে বামুন বাগদী সব ঘেঁষাঘেঁষি বসতে হবে মানে জাত যাবে সক্কলের!মালঞ্চ তখন গ্রাম।সেখানে যাগযজ্ঞ শুরু হয়ে গেল।কিছুজন কলেরায় মারা যেতেই লোকে ট্রেনের কারণে মড়কের ভয় পেল।রেললাইন উপড়ে দিতে লোকে প্রস্তুত।এমন অবস্থা যে একগাড়ি পল্টন রইল পাহারায়।
কিন্তু পেটে ভাত না থাকলে ধর্ম,কুসংস্কার হাওয়া।রেল কোম্পানির চাকরি হলে ধান চাল মিলবে,খাওয়া পরার ভাবনা থাকবে না,দলে দলে...
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লোকে ঢুকল কারখানায়।
তবু জাতের ভয়ে ট্রেনে চাপবে না।তখন দেখানো হল কম্বলের লোভ!তিন মাসে দেড় লক্ষ কম্বল শেষ! তারপর এমন হল রেলে চড়তে পাগল হয়ে উঠল সব।যে রেলগাড়ি অভিশপ্ত মনে করেছিল শুরুতে তাই হয়ে দাঁড়াল দেবতা।রেল তাদের মুখে অন্ন দিয়েছে।শুরু হল ঘরে ঘরে রেল পুজো! স্নান করে,এলোচুলে,মটকার শাড়ি পরে দল বেঁধে গাঁয়ের মেয়েরা যেত স্টেশনে।কুলোর ওপর তেল,সিঁদুর আর ফলমূল।ইঞ্জিনের সামনে দাঁড়িয়ে সুর করে গান-
রেল রেল রেল
তোমার পায়ে দিই তেল
রেলের কুঠি কতদূর
ব্যথার পায়ে তেল সিঁদুর।
এসো রেল বোসো রেল
মুখে জল বাতাসা
চালে ডালে রেখো তুমি
আমার কাছারে বাছারে...
রেল রেল রেল
আমার ভাতারে দিও মুড়ি তেল।
***উৎস : প্রথম প্রহর/রমাপদ চৌধুরী click here

#banglagolpo series 73036 ডাউন নিমতিতা-কাটোয়া প‍্যাসেঞ্জার এবং 73035 আপ কাটোয়া-নিমতিতা প‍্যাসেঞ্জার ট্রেন দুটির সময় সালার ষ্টেশনে যথাক্রমে সকাল 7 টা ও দুপুর 1.20 মিনিট। রবিবার বন্ধ থাকে। কিন্তু দুর্ভাগ্যজনকভাবে ট্রেনটি কখন‌ই সপ্তাহের প্রথম অর্থাৎ সোমবার সময় মতো আসতে পারে না যেমন আজ ডাউন ট্রেনটি সালার ষ্টেশনে এসেছে দুপুর 2 দুটোর পর ( প্রায় 7 ঘন্টা লেট) আর আপ ট্রেন কাটোয়া থেকে এসেছে সন্ধ্যা 7.30 এর পর (প্রায় 6 ঘন্টা লেট) ।
এটা কোন এক সপ্তাহের বিষয় নয়। অভিযোগ প্রতি সোমবারে‌ই ট্রেনটি অস্বাভাবিক দেরীতে চলে।
তার ফলে সাধারণ নিত‍্য যাত্রী ও অন‍্যান‍্য...
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যাত্রীরা খুব‌ই সমস্যার মধ্যে পড়েন।
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