Round Trip To Badu

Taken a day before the trip

In my continued quest to explore rural South and North 24 Parganas on bicycle, yesterday I went on a round trip of Badu. Badu is a small hamlet near our ancestral village Kuberpur. It is on the road that connects Madhyamgram with Kharibari. Actually the idea for the trip was born when Chenku and I were talking about our childhood bike ride to Kuberpur long ago. Chenku and his son joined me and the three of us set off for this round trip on 25th October, 2020. We would go via New Town, turn right from Rajarhat, turn left from Kharibari towards Madhyamgram, turn left again towards Airport. It was the day of Durga Nabami as well as Sunday.

The route map above shows our route very clearly. 

From Chenku's house we started a little past 6 am. For the first time I was carrying two bags on the rear carrier. Each had about 3 kg of load in it (I think). While one bag had the usual stuff and food the other bag had three one litre water bottles. I could understand the difference when I started from home but soon got used to it and didn't feel much the worse for it. 

The sky was overcast right from the morning, which was a boon. It meant no sun and as a result we felt much less tired or thirsty than we normally do. After turning right from Rajarhat I was quite pleasantly surprised that the road had become much wider than when I last saw it. In fact it seemed like a 4-laned road upto the bheris (huge shallow water bodies for pisciculture). From the bheris the road was narrower but completely pot hole free. This part of the road used to be quite a gravel road few years ago. 

The road becomes interesting when you turn left towards Badu from Kharibari. It's a very old road with well established old villages all around. The population is very visibly Muslim though most of the place names are very traditionally Hindu. We saw huge queues of people crowding in front of local mutton shops. Nabami is the day when Bengalis eat mutton in a ceremonial way. The use of masks had become very rare by now. The road is narrow but with minimal public transport it was fun riding down this road. 

Me in front of my grandfather's school 

I kept an eye open for Guste High School where my grandfather had studied, possibly sometime towards the end of the 19th century (the school was set up in 1885 and my father, the fifth child in the family, was born in 1920). When we came there I stopped for a selfie in front of the gate. This school  as I said before was established in 1885 - in those days possibly the only school within miles. My grand father, Bimal Bihari Roy, got a gold medal from here in his Matriculation examination. After this he sold off the medal, gave the money to his sister in law (presumably the head of the family) and went out in search of a livelihood. I am sure farming wasn't getting them enough financial stability and government jobs were aplenty for those who were moderately educated. He ended up working as the chief accountant in the Bengal Presidency and was posted mostly in small towns of Orissa and Bihar when my father was growing up. I have heard the names of Cuttack, Motihari, Ara, Hazaribagh as his towns where he grew up. In those days Bengal meant a huge geographical area. Incidentally, for whatever strange reason, my father was born in Puna. 

Many from that generation of my grand father went out of the village, which is close by. Those who did generally prospered. Those who did not and stayed back were driven to impoverishment over three generations. The current generation of Roys in Kuberpur who are closest to our clan are absolutely impoverished and I feel very embarrassed to go there because of the difference in financial status between them and us. They scarcely manage a square meal every day. My mother gives them money from time to time, particularly for the children's education or on special occasions. but that's about it. The most well to do there used to be a temporary labourer in a spinning mill nearby. They don't have any farm land and generally lack any enterprise. Leave aside Calcutta, they simply don't come out of the village to even explore Barasat.

This is the precise reason why I did not turn right towards Kuberpur from Kanchantala and went straight to Badu and then to Madhyamgram. 

Before Guste (the official name is Gustiya) we stopped for a small breakfast. I discovered a closed tea stall with a couple of wooden benches outside. This was made into our pit stop. I ate two boiled eggs, a few sandwiches. Putin offered me a few egg toasts that is called French toast here in India. Too bad the shop was closed and we couldn't have any tea.

Our breakfast pit stop before Guste

In Badu we crossed the small sweet shop where Baba used to stop for a fill of rosogolla etc. It has morphed into a more modern looking store with an upmarket feel about it. All along the road building construction and signs of the city encroaching upon these once very rural area was visible. 

The road from Madhyamgram - Jessore Road - also looked very wide with a divider in between. This is a miracle of sorts. Putin and Chenku were feeling tired because of the pain in their wrist. I think both had an ulnar nerve issue. Their cycles are not really meant for 80 km long rides. Also I think they put a lot of weight on the wrists - either due to wrong fit or due to weak core strength. These bikes are meant for riding around the blocks. Not for an 80 km ride. Not even 50 I guess.

From Ultadanga we took the internal route through the city crossing Beleghata and CIT Road. By the time we reached Chenku's house off Elgin Road I realised it was just 80 km and I didn't want to miss the chance to hit a metric century. So off I went towards Victoria, Red Road and Prinsep Ghat. This part of the ride was a solitary one. When I came back to PG I realised a century was still quite distant. So I went towards Alipore and then turned towards Kalighat. I had ten more kilometers to go. So again I went towards Ballygunge Phari and then Southern Avenue. I was almost running out of ideas. Even here I had to go for a double climb of the Lake Gardens flyover. The elusive 100 was hit near Peep Inn. Thank goodness. Those who know the geography of South Calcutta would realise how ridiculous this route is to go from Elgin Road to my house. 

When I reached home it was 100.77 km. My second metric century of the year. I make it a point to mention that these are metric centuries. Americans and the British actually do 160 km when they complete a century. I don't think in my current fitness I am quite ready for an FPS century. Winter might help me achieve that. Let me see.