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Bhalopahar
A wide vista rolling all the way upto the horizon...a mountain range
covered with lush verdour ... trees galore swaying gracefully in the
breeze... a long, almost traffic-free road to ride a bicycle on...a bunch of
poets whispering modern Bengali poetry in your ear...and all these within
a half a day of travel from Kolkata!!! Tempting? Well, it would have been
tempting but for the poets. But every rose has its thorns, and Bhalopahar
has a bunch of modern poets. But still Sanjit and I had a jolly good time
at Bhalopahar over the weekend.
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Sunrise at Bhalopahar.
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Bhalopahar is actually not a "pahar" though it is situated close by the
Dalma Range in Purulia. It is the name given to a man-made forest about
8km from Bandoan. The place is very near the West Bengal-Jharkhand
border. It is a very peaceful area, except for the millitants who
ocassionally enjoy themselves by doing off with an OC or two. It is being
developed as an eco-tourism centre by the government. A little brook
murmurs pleasantly very close to the government tourist cottages at
Duarshini, about 5km from Bhalopahar. The
brook is called Satgurum, (Gurum being the S(n)aotal word for little
rapids) We, however, did not stay at the government lodge. We stayed at
Bhalopahar, where some people have created a man-made forest over an area
of 150 bigha. The project started in 1996, and currently the forest claims
to have about one lakh trees, including some exotic trees provided by a
sympathetic botany professor of the Kharagpur IIT.
"Who are these people," you might wonder, "who buy 150 bigha of
land in a desolate place and go on creating a forest?" They are some urban
gentlemen with an ideal before them, and some NRIs behind them. NRIs and
ideals usually mix well. So the project is sort of thriving. So far so
good. Unfortunately these people also have the habit of writing modern
Bengali poetry...well, I guess I should not venture to express my opinion
about the poems...I am no expert in this field...
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