Visit to Shantiniketan

This past weekend I rode the Shantiniketan Express train to Shantiniketan for a 1 night trip. I was accompanied by a friend of a friend that is a travel agent and had some business to do there. On the way there we had the AC car, which was wayyy too cold, and on the way back non AC car which was friggin hot. The train ride was nice and I had a somewhat comfy seat and took some cool videos for my train loving nephew Sachin.

The train stops at Bolpur and then goes back to Howrah Station outside of Calcutta, and does this every day, meant for the sole purpose of going to Shantiniketan, hence the name. Howrah Station itself was pretty cool to see, seemed organized and efficient, and is a huge bus terminal as well. I wanted to explore around there and get cool pics of Howrah bridge, but apparently pics of the bridge are not allowed. Shantiniketan is where Rabindranath Tagore lived for some time and wrote some of his work, and eventually the Vishva-Bharati University developed from his vision of education and schooling. The campus is nice, huge and spread out. The small town itself was quaint, not too touristy and felt safe. I went to a small museum and walked through the compound where Tagore lived (once again no cameras allowed). There were a few cool sculptures around campus.

Apparently during Holi, this is the place to be.

People ride bikes everywhere, and the girls carry umbrellas in one hand to provide shade from the extreme sun while steering the bicycle with the other hand. We rode around on bicycle rickshaws, and I was sore afterwards. It was also nice to see an equal mix of girls and boys walking around and hanging out, very different from where I am right now at BESUS. Overall, a cool experience, but not something I would see if I was only in Calcutta for a short while.