North-east Nostalgia...Part-V.....Urban Assam

knbg · Mar 13, 2013

Following my
http://www.indusladies.com/forums/s...north-east-nostalgia-part-iv.html#post2653735
here is North-east Nostalgia...Part-V.....Urban Assam

After spending almost three years in Rural Assam, it was time for a move, and this time it was to a City.....Guwahati......

We packed our baggage and moved there with mixed feelings.......

Memories of the quiet rural life..........
Fear of insurgency.....( infamous serial blasts....) and
Joy of living in a city after a long time.......

And we had a great time there.......

We lived in a Residential Complex and found a few long lost friends and lots of new friends there........

I had a little balcony garden......with sparrows , mynahs , crows and squirrels visiting and chatting all through the day.....

My typical mid mornings would be relaxing in the balcony with a book and a cup of tea.......with friends waving from their balconies....and then a little chit-chat......

Sometimes....if the chit chat gets so interesting...... we would all head to the terrace.....

Big city..........lots of places to shop and visit.........lots of temples to visit and lots of friends.......what else do we want.......?

We were a nice gang who would.......

Visit Hanuman temple every tuesday.......

Go shopping as and when the impulse hits......

Meet up and chat up at each others' places over endless cups of tea and plates of samosas..........

Celebrate festivals together in the complex.....dressing up and goofing up.......

Do arts and crafts together.......

I refreshed my Textile technology skills there.....by doing 'Tie-and-dye' ....made a lot of scarves, duppatas and wall hangings for my friends......

I had my share of young buddies.......students in high school and engineering college.......found one accidentally in a shopping complex....( was talking to my DS in tamil and the mom-daughter duo introduced themselves.....and we became best of buddies.....the mom would say...." You are God-sent to help me tackle my high energy adolescent.......")

There used to be book fairs.......exhibitions.......cultural programs.....promotional campaigns across the city and we tried to be a part of it......

There are lot of places to visit in Guwahati......and we did visit them one by one.......

Kalakshetra.........with it's awesome exhibits and programs on culture of Assam.....in a sprawling campus..........

Dighuli Phukri.......a lake bordered by shady trees amidst the city.......

Nehru park.......with lush green lawns....where me and DH had our bonding time walking together......when DS would be busy playing...........

The mighty Brahmaputra.......we used to go for long drives on the enormous bridge....viewing the ferries...........

We even drove to Bhutan border and visited a border city in Bhutan in a day...( had delegates from Bhutan Bank who visited DH's office on an official visit and they invited us )..
and drank the beauty of the serene monasteries there to our heart's content.....

We used to visit Guwahati Zoo regularly ......and got to watch mighty tigers, rhinos and elephants in close quarters.......( just a week after our visit Guwahati Zoo was in news.......An adult tiger escaped and was roaming in the zoo for nearly two hours.......Tigers let loose, visitors panic in Guwahati zoo | NDTV.com)

Contd.............

knbg · Mar 13, 2013

We visited Kamakhya devi Temple ( the first of 51 Shakthi peetams of Devi ), Umanandha Temple, Navagraha temple , Kamakshi temple , Ganesh guri Ganesha temple , Balaji Temple and Sai Mandir regularly and felt blessed...........

Guwahati....the gateway to Northeast ....a bustling large city was a nice a place to live......
We also had lovely vacations with friends at Darjeeling and Gangtok.....both are breathtakingly beautiful and serene places worth vacationing.......

Nice places to visit and good friends for company.......time flew just like that.....:coffee

And it was a very short stay there and we had to pack our bags again...............

I long to be back in Northeast again.............and shall write to you about the new places we would live once we get there....( by God's grace....)

Till then it's Bhargavi......signing off from Guwahati............:hiya

BHAVNAM6 · Mar 13, 2013

My dear Bhargavi,

Your nostalgic memories of urban Assam is as interesting to read as your other parts too.

The pictures gave me the virtual feast of the beautiful places.

You have truly enjoyed your time by blending yourself in their culture with ease.

Thank you for sharing this spectacular experience with us.

Love,
Bhavna

Mindian · Mar 13, 2013

Hi Bhargs,

Enjoyed your urban experience of Guwahati.Attaching the pics was a good idea as I had no idea it was so green.But remembered something from my Geography classes now ..Isnt Cherapunji in Assam the recipient of highest rainfall in India?

also fond memories of us with M as a two year old ,visiting 'Darjingil' as she called it

Arunarc · Mar 13, 2013

Dear Knbg

Enjoyed your Guwahati stay felt bless to view those awesome pictures. )
Was the stay so short that our travelling with you got over so fast.

satchitananda · Mar 13, 2013

Lovely memoirs Bhargavi. Very fortunate you are to have had such an excellent opportunity to live in such a neglected (by tourists) part of the world. I too hope that you will get posted there once again and that I will have a friend there to visit. :-D

iyerviji · Mar 13, 2013

Enjoyed your nostalgic memeories Bhargavi dear and felt with yyour wonderful narration and the lovely photos I was also with you there. Glad you got an opportunity to enjoy being there

EverHappy · Mar 13, 2013

Dear Bhargavi,

I thouroughly enjoyed your write up, to an extent that I went on to read all your nostalgia series! I have always had this dream of living close to nature, and I lived it through your eyes. Wow, what an amazing series of experiences from the dignified Vigneshwara in your face to the Bengali dishes to the Xorai.. Blessed are you.. Also hats off to your attitude of blending into the environment and picking up all the positive things.. Hope you keep getting such lovely opportunities and we keep getting to read them.

Thank you!

knbg · Mar 14, 2013

Dear Bhavna,
Thanks buddy,for joining me here and glad that you enjoyed the post and pics.....

knbg · Mar 14, 2013

Dear Mindz....
Nice to see you here and yeah Cherapunchi in Assam......have read that in Middle school geography.......(fetched some marks for me too.....) but currently it is listed under Meghalaya........:confused2:
Darjingil........so sweeeet.........thanks for sharing........glad that the post brought this sweet memory .....:cheers...Thanks buddy......