Ranchi-Rajrappa-Hazaribag

For several years now the second half of February has been holiday time for me, seeing that all the schools have their year-ending and board examinations during this time. And I usually don’t fail to grab the opportunity to go travelling. This time round I made a four-day, 900 km trip to Ranchi and back, taking in Rajrappa and Hazaribag on the way. Ma went along, and we picked up Swarnava, who is reading physics at BIT Mesra, and who had been asking me to come over ever since he went there. The new car got its first long trip, and went like a dream. I drove it for more than five hours on the whole myself, and would have done much more, if only my leg and back hadn’t hurt, and people on the road hadn't made driving a nightmare with their recklessness.

We went via Purulia, and I am proud to say that most of the road was in excellent condition. Mamata Banerjee has certainly done more in this regard in seven years than the CPI(M) did in 35. The village folk also look far more well-fed and clothed than I saw in the 80s. It was cloudy and drizzling in Durgapur when we set out, then the day cleared up, but it drizzled again in Ranchi after sunset, so we had pleasant weather all through the day. On the way we stopped to see the Hundroo falls; no one had warned me of the thousand steps one had to climb up and down, and then the falls were a disappointment: I have seen many that were much more spectacular. Maybe it will be a tad more awe-inspiring at the height of the monsoons. Ranchi itself is rather an overgrown village, I was disappointed to see, with roads – some very bad ones, despite it being a state capital – clogged with swarming, lawless traffic, frequent power cuts, and all the disadvantages of a city without many of its advantages. The hotel was good though modest, and thankfully quiet, with a very helpful staff. The town does have several well-maintained parks, though, as I found out next day – I shall especially recommend the Rock Garden overlooking Kanke Lake. Swarnava showed us around the BIT campus: the huge sal forest there is a treasure. Then off we went to Rajrappa, origin of the Damodar, beside which stands the Chhinnamasta Temple, made famous by Satyajit Ray’s Feluda. The drive was lovely, going partly through low hills; the temple was ugly and crowded, as most Hindu holy places are; the riverfront was spoiled with carelessly dumped trash, but otherwise it could have been the Marble Rocks near Jabbalpur on a small scale. 

I had planned to visit Netarhat the next day, but the only decent hotel there was overbooked as I learnt via phone and net, and I didn’t want to make a twelve-hour round trip, so I dropped it for the sake of Hazaribag, which is less than three hours away. Nice, clean town, though there isn’t much in the way of sightseeing, except for a little private museum of tribal art which strongly stirred my interest because of the eccentric people who run it: I think I shall write separately about them later, and, God willing, visit them again for a longer stay. On the way back to Ranchi, we stopped at Tagore Hill, once home to Rabindranath’s elder brother Jyotirindranath, and now preserved as a museum. Made me wonder why we know so little about these other brothers of the great man after he became a super-celebrity…

A quiet drive home the next day, and on Thursday the 21st I flew over to Delhi. Now looking forward to the next part of my holiday, this time with Pupu and Shilpi for company.

[for photos click here]