ETUNAGARAM TOUR ( EPISODE - 29 )

Lodge Owner: - Oh! You people have checked out from your room. Just wait for 5 minutes, Sir. Let us check the room No. 123. Hey, Shyam, just check the Room No. 123 once and give me the report.

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Shyam: - Everything is ok in room No.123.

Lodge Owner: - Ok. Sir, just sign in this register book and also write the log out time. Here is your deposit money, Sir. I hope that you people will visit our Warangal town again in future. Thank you for staying in our lodge.

Arindam:- Ok, ok, goodbye.

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Soumesh: - Oh! You people have come back from your Etunagaram Tour. How was the tour?

Prady: - Boss, we are still alive, that is the main thing. We would have been killed by a leopard. We were tracking wild animals by seeing their footprints.

Baccha: - Baah…it was an adventurous tour, then?

Arindam: - It was indeed!

Soumesh: - You people could have taken any one of ours digital camera to the tour. At least, we could have also seen the photos of Etunagaram Tour.

Prady: - Don’t worry. Our Arindam was the photographer of this tour. He clicked some of the photos while walking inside the jungle with his mobile phone camera.

Baccha: - ki bolchish bey…mobile taa sesh mesh bhaloi kaajey lagaali toh…he he he…Come on, show us the photos.

Arindam: - Aaah…we have just returned from a long tour. Let us relax a little bit. Again, tomorrow, we need to go to office. He he he…today evening, I will upload all the photos of Etunagaram Tour in the website: - http://arindamsain-etunagaramtourphotos.blogspot.com

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Prady: - Hey, Arindam. Do you know where we went for a tour? Come here. I have opened the Google Map in my laptop. I will show you the exact map of Etunagaram. Look at this spot. This is the Etunagaram Bus stand, where we went on the first day. Luckily, we came back from this bus stand and moved northwards to the Etunagaram forest bunglow. Had we heard the suggestion of that Chiran and went South Eastwards to see that botanical garden, then we would have reached the Etunagaram village, which is just at the bank of this Godavari River.

Arindam: - So, what? Is it a dangerous village?

Prady: - Boss, that muddy path inside the jungle, about which you were asking the questions to Narayan, leads to this Etunagaram village only. Everything is shown clearly in this Google Earth Map. The Godavari River remains dried out for most of the time in a year. Therefore it is very easy to cross the Godavari River during winter, spring or summer time, when no rainfall occurs in this region. If you cross the Godavari River, there is the Godavari Basin, which is the training ground for Maoists. Etunagaram forest is the main head-quarter of Naxals for all the 5 naxalite states of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal. All the heavy-weight Maoist leaders have taken training in this Godavari basin only. Today, have you read the newspaper? Just see this headline. The oldest leader of Naxals of Andhra Pradesh has surrendered in front of the Police. He has been arrested from his house in Etunagaram village only. He is saying that he has surrendered in front of YSR government because of his ill-health and has faith on the rural development schemes launched by YSR. So, he does not want to go for any fresh naxal operations in Andhra Pradesh. Boss, we were totally in a dangerous zone. We could have been a soft target for the Maoists in Etunagaram forest. They could have abducted us easily. We have done the right thing to ignore that Chiran.

Arindam: - Hmm…anyway, we are still alive, he he he…Arrey, boss, the more you fear, the more you are near to your death. That’s my foolish philosophy, but still it works well in times of danger. Chalo, at least, we have been able to tour the deadly Etunagaram forest, which everyone cannot do like us.

Prady: - I will never suggest anyone to visit that Etunagaram forest, which is a den of Maoists, the internal terrorists of India, who even kills their own tribal villagers also. Anyway, the chapter of ‘ETUNAGARAM TOUR’ ends here. Now, we need to plan about our Bandipur- Madhumalai Tour in May 2009.

ETUNAGARAM TOUR ( EPISODE - 28 )

Arindam: - He he he…this fort is an excursion spot for the little school children. See there, all the little students of a local school of Warangal are enjoying themselves. The two young lady teachers, who are leading those little students, look very sweet, but their skin is dusky.

Prady: - Ha ha ha…in this hot climatic conditions of Andhra Pradesh, are you expecting a fair-skinned beautiful lady? How funny!

Arindam: - Hey Prady, do we need to go to that point by walking on this steep staircase? My goodness, the main fort is at the top of this hillock.

Prady: - Yes, we need to go to that top only. See those little school students. They are just running on the staircases.

Arindam: - aah…we are now getting old. We don’t have that much stamina and enthusiasm, which we used to have when we were school children. Anyway, let us go to the top.

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Arindam: - Baah…the architecture of this Warangal is really cool and good. By the way, who was the ruler of Warangal? I mean, who used to stay in this Warangal fort?

Prady: - Actually, Warangal was the main city for the Kakatiya tribe of India. The strong ruler of Kakatiyas was the King Ganapati Deva Raya. This was his fort only.

Arindam: - Kakatiyas? Oho! Now, I understand why the ITC Hotel of Hyderabad has been renamed as ITC Kakatiya. The ancestors of majority of the Andhra people belonged to Kakatiya tribe only.

Prady: - Yes, you are right. As far my knowledge, these Kakatiyas used to rule in this Andhra region till 1300 AD or so. After that, the Kakatiya rulers lost their own power, because the Mughal Empire was expanding rapidly at that time.

Arindam: - Hmm…this Warangal fort looks like a deserted place now. Who devastated this fort?

Prady: - The No.1 cruel King of Mughal Empire destroyed the Warangal fort.

Arindam: - Oho! Akbar has done that…hmm…

Prady: - Dhaath…Akbar was a very liberal ruler. At least in later part of his life, he brought unity of peace and harmony among the Hindus, the Muslims and the people of other religions. The No.1 cruel Mughal ruler was Aurangzeb. He completely destroyed this Warangal fort. At that time, Aurangzeb was ruling this region, while staying in his Golconda fort.

Arindam: - Nevertheless, this Warangal fort was a planned fort. There is temple at this hillock. This building was the watch tower for soldiers. On the northern side of this fort, there was a talaab (lake). On the western side, there was a Gulaab bagh or ghalicha (garden). On the eastern side, there was a courtyard, where meetings were held with the ministers. All the soldiers used to live with their family members on the southern side of this fort. Now, those areas have become slum areas. You can have a nice view of the Warangal town from the top of this watch tower. On the north-western part, I can see some constructions of buildings are going on. Maybe, those areas will become an industrial zone very soon.

Prady: - The Andhra Pradesh government has failed to maintain this Warangal fort as a historical fort. It has now become a lovers’ spot. Look there, the love birds are singing a romantic Telugu song together while sitting inside that temple and that too in this morning hours. There are also bats inside this watch tower. Be careful. I can smell the urine of bats. It is not feasible to enter inside this watch tower too often.

Arindam: - Hey, boss, it is already 10.45 AM now. Don’t forget that we have to catch the train at 1.30 PM today. We need to go to our lodge to freshen ourselves. It will take some time. Come on, let us go now.

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Auto Driver: - Where will you go, Sir?

Arindam: - Warangal market. Is it a shared auto?

Auto Driver: - Yes, Sir. It’s a shared auto to Warangal market.

Prady: - Then, we will give you only 15 bucks. Now, speed up the auto.

ETUNAGARAM TOUR ( EPISODE - 27 )

Prady: - Hmm…today is Sunday, that’s why; many shops of Warangal market are closed. Actually, Sunday is a holiday for some shop owners in this area. I think that today we need to do our breakfast by eating those ‘Mirchi – Bhaji’ (Fried Green Chilli Pakoda) from the roadside stalls. Come on; let us eat those mirchi bhajis.

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Arindam: - It’s good. Actually, in Hyderabad, I have never tried out this item. I always prefer to eat ‘Aloo-Bonda’ (Potato Pakoda) as it tastes like samosas only. But, one thing, I miss in Andhra Pradesh and that is our Bengali ‘Aloo Chops’ (Fried Potato masala mixed with Besan). Anyway, the taste of these mirchi bhajis is not bad. I like it. It is not the traditional green chili that we eat in our house. The size of this green chili is somewhat different. Its size is in between a small green chili and a capsicum. Rather, I thought, it’s a slim-sized capsicum only, though it is not. It has its own chilliness.

Prady: - These types of Chilies are very hot. Before preparing this mirchi bhaji, these chilies are kept inside a pot full of tamarind water for 2 to 3 hours. That adds a sour flavor to these green chilies. That’s why, the people of Andhra Pradesh love to eat these mirchi bhajis.

Arindam: - but, I have also heard that if you eat too much of these mirchi bhajis, it may lead to acidity and other gastric problems?

Prady: - Who told you to eat too much of mirchi bhajis? Just eat 2 or 3 mirchi bhajis per day and that is more than enough. If you eat any food in excess, then it is bound to create gastric problems. The supply should fulfill the required demand only but not beyond that.

Arindam: - Ok, now, we have to take an auto to reach Warangal fort. I think that we will get the auto from that side only. Come on, let’s go.

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Auto Driver: - No, no, Sir, I will take 25 bucks. Today is Sunday. The Auto rate is more on Sundays.

Arindam: - Le halua…These Auto drivers always make their own rules. Ok, ok, we will give you 25 bucks. Now, start the Auto.

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Prady: - Woh, the Warangal fort is on the western side of the Warangal railway station. Yesterday and the day before yesterday, we went to the eastern side of the Warangal station to reach Munna Road.

Arindam: - Hmm…baapre, the condition of the western side of Warangal is more pathetic than that of its eastern side. I can see a series of slum areas in this part of Warangal town. At least on the eastern side of Warangal, there are Banks and several SMEs. In the western side, it is just the opposite. All the factories are on this side and the family members of all the labourers stay in these areas.

Auto Driver: - Sir, you want to visit the main Warangal fort or its adjoining Warangal garden?

Prady: - No, no, just take us to the main fort of Warangal.

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Arindam: - So, this is the Warangal fort. Hmm…

Auto Driver: - Sir, you people go and visit the Warangal fort. I will wait for you people here.

Arindam: - Ei , I have given you 25 bucks, right? Already, you have taken 5 bucks more than the standard rate. You don’t need to wait for us. We will take another Auto after coming out of this fort. You can go now.

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Prady: - Hey Arindam, to enter inside this Warangal fort, we need to buy tickets of 10 bucks each.

Arindam: - Ok, not an issue. Every historical fort has a tourism cost for its maintenance.

ETUNAGARAM TOUR ( EPISODE - 26 )

Prady: - This is not the Goat’s meat (Khashi), but it is of lambs only.

Arindam: - But, how do you understand the difference between a goat’s meat and that of lambs?

Prady: - the meat of lambs are very soft and spongy type, whereas, a goat’s meat is like a hard rubber type, which is not too soft or spongy and has a Ghee-type smell. By that ghee-type smell only, you can make out that it is a Khashi meat.

Arindam: - Hmm…anyway, the meat of this lamb is not bad either.

Prady: - Hey, Arindam, just listen to the conversation carefully between those married couples at that right hand corner table.

Arindam: - Yeah, they are talking in Bengali among themselves.

Prady: - They may have either came in Warangal for a tour from Kolkata or maybe stays in this town only.

Arindam: - I don’t think that they are Indian Bengalis.

Prady: - How can you say that?

Arindam: - Look at those married women. They are not wearing any red bangles and white shankhas. They are also not having any vermillion in their forehead. The way they have wore the saris is of typical Muslim type. Moreover, their Bengali tone is of Bangaal type. It is more like Chittagong style.

Prady: - Yeah, you are right. They are talking in pure Bangaal tone, which is very hard to understand. Actually, Warangal is a Muslim town and the Muslims of this region of Andhra Pradesh have good connections with the Muslims of Bangladesh.

Arindam: - Andhra Pradesh is the second hub for Bangladeshi Muslims. You will be stunned to know that the banned SIMI of India and HUJI of Bangladesh have their own training centers in Old Hyderabad and maybe in Warangal too.

Prady: - Anyway, we should not discuss about these things inside this restaurant. You never know that this restaurant owner maybe a Bangladeshi Muslim also. Have you not noticed the signboard outside this restaurant? It was written there, ‘Amago Banglar Khabar’. Also, the hotel boys are saying among themselves, ‘arrey, oi table e tey paani ditey hoibo’. So, it is a Bangladeshi restaurant rather than an Indian Bengali restaurant.

Arindam: - Let us just finish our dinner and go back to our lodge. Already, I am feeling very tired.

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Prady: - Our lodge is at least at distance of 3 Km from this restaurant. We need to take an auto.

Arindam: - Ei, auto, roko roko…we need to go to Ashok Lodge near the Warangal station.

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Prady: - Our Auto is going through a street, where I can see the branches of all PSU banks. I think that this street is the bank street of Warangal town. All banks are in this street only.

Arindam: - Arrey, is there any festival going on in this town? Look at that lane in our right side. There are lots of lighting in that lane. Also, I can see many people are selling ‘Gajras’ made of white flowers. Many people are buying it.

Prady: - Aaah…don’t you understand, what is inside that lane? It is like our ‘Golden Tree’ Lane of Kolkata. You can get several ‘Umrao-Jaan’ in this lane. As a Hindu, are you interested in ‘Umrao-Jaan’ rather than Champa and Chameli?

Arindam:- He he he…Aishwariya Rai is not as good as Rekha in terms of the character ‘Umrao-Jaan’, but that does not mean that the character of ‘Umrao-Jaan’ cannot satisfy you like the Champa and Chameli. Sexual relationship breaks the barrier of religion and caste. Come on, let us visit that lane.

Prady:- My goodness, after wasting so much energy by walking 11 Km today, you still have so much enthusiasm in your body to visit that lane….he he he…