Haldia, West Bengal, India
Thirty years ago, as a sallow faced youth, I came to this godforsaken place to start my first real job. It was the back of beyond. There was absolutely nothing here, save the factory to which I was posted. This was the heyday of Bengal's communist revolution. Unions were all powerful and one of my first jobs was to pay obeisance to the union leader. Power cuts were rampant – 10 hours a day was common and this was before the days of inverters and generators. Housing was abysmal. Entertainment was zero. Today it is unimaginable that young twenty somethings would put up with that. But we did, in those days, and that was how life was. Welcome to Haldia.
Haldia isn’t on my route, but it was close by and I hadn’t been there at all since I left the town 25 years ago
. So I made the detour, for a trip down memory lane.
I roamed around the place with a faraway look. As is always the case, many things have changed and some haven’t. The old house is still there decrepit and without a coat of paint in all those years ! The factory is still in full blast, although my former company long sold it to another. The apology for a shopping centre is still there. My old haunt, the badminton court, has alas been torn down. The "bans" are all there – I am itching to do a ride for old times sake. The ban is a unique Bengali contraption ; a cycle rickshaw but with simply a wooden plank in the back. You sat with your legs dangling down, and if you were nice to the guy pedaling, he would treat you to Rabindra Sangeet as he labored. If he panted, you got down and basically pushed to give him a break. Life was uncomplicated then.
Some things have changed. There is a mall (surprise surprise). Lot more factories have come up , this being an industrial town
. A hotel or two have has arrived, but service is still "hobe na". There were virtually no hotels when I was here, bar one fairly basic one.Those days a visitor was not welcome as he had no place to stay; you only did day trips from Calcutta if you were a visitor.
I stood outside the factory gate and stared wistfully. The years fell away before my eyes. I remember the incredible slogging me and my colleagues of yore did. It was the norm to work seven days a week, but you could go back early that is mid afternoon, on a Sunday ! I wondered what was the motivation to work like this in what was the prime years of my life. I remembered the time when a cow came into the office and ate up my file !! I had to learn to operate a telex. Lightning calls you could get if you cozy up to Mrs Sen, all of 70 years old, at the telephone exchange. The innumerable all nights I have spent in the factory, all floated by in memory. The occasional trips to Calcutta, where you had to cross the Hooghly on a ferry - there was no bridge then, and there's still no bridge now at Diamond Harbour
.
I wanted to go inside the factory, but of course, I know nobody now and wouldn't be welcome. I clicked a photo or two from outside. And then I was brought back to the present quickly by the security guard who shooed me away. Perhaps to the good; these memories are best left behind.
There are a few photos in this post, but they are really for the two readers who were around in Haldia in those days and I am too lazy to write something separately for them.
Today was an easier day in the saddle – only some 400kms or so. But the bad roads are beginning to show up. My faithful companion has had a loosener in preparation for some real pounding that beckons in the days to come. Henceforth I will be lucky if I see smooth tarmac. But the river I crossed today, Mahanadi, was a piece of cake. There is a modern six lane bridge over it (most river bridges in India are from the British times and are narrow and congested !!). And there was water flowing underneath.
Bengal hasn’t changed since I remember. Once the mighty showpiece of India, how far it has fallen, alas. I can still hear chalbe na and hobe na. And there was a CPM rally in the middle of the road.
A detour down memory lane
Thursday, February 05, 2015
Haldia, West Bengal, India
Other Entries
-
Feb 032 days prior
Vijayawada, India -
Feb 041 day prior
Bhubaneswar, India -
Feb 05
Haldia, India -
Feb 061 day later
Bardhaman, India -
Feb 072 days later
Siliguri, India -
Feb 083 days later
Guwahati, India -
Feb 094 days later
Guwahati, India -
Feb 105 days later
Guwahati, India -
Feb 127 days later
Kaziranga, India -
Feb 138 days later
Itanagar, India -
Feb 1510 days later
Ziro, India -
Feb 1611 days later
Ziro, India -
Feb 1813 days later
Daporijo, India -
Feb 1914 days later
Along, India -
Feb 2015 days later
Mechuka, India -
Feb 2217 days later
Mechuka, India -
Feb 2318 days later
Tinsukia, India -
Feb 2419 days later
Lekhapani, India -
Feb 2520 days later
Sibsagar, India -
Feb 2621 days later
Mokokchung, India -
Feb 2722 days later
Mokokchung, India
Comments
2025-05-23
Comment code: Ask author if the code is blank
Vincy Joseph
2015-02-05
the emotions in you coming out through memories of the past, very touching to read that part of the post. well written and pulled at my heart strings.
The reference of Bengal brings in the comparison of Kerala for obvious reasons.
waiting in anticipation of where you are heading next :-O)
Anne in Salem
2015-02-06
Curious how you occupy your mind over all those hundreds of miles - music, books on tape, daydreaming, hands-free cell phone calls? Sounds like the next leg (or the remainder) of the journey will require more concentration!
Glad the trip is going well and safely. Fascinating for one who has never heard of any of the places you visit or rivers you span.
Ravi Rajagopalan
2015-02-06
I remember visiting you in Haldia in July 1985. I was in Calcutta on work, and I tore myself away from the considerable charms of Ms Guha-Ray in Calcutta on a weekend to come and visit you. I remember riding on a 'ban' from the station to the HLL factory, piling on to the chummery with other fresh-faced accountants, i remember your office and your stories of drinking beer with the captains of ships unloading raw material at the port. I worked in a company nowhere near illustrious as yours, and I really envied the tremendous sense of ownership and responsibility that HLL managed to instill in its staff. You were all of 25 and you were the Commercial Manager of fairly large plant. It takes some doing to give so much of responsibility and it takes strong shoulders to take it. You should be proud of yourself, and I remember being very proud of you when I saw where you worked and what you did. I still have a picture of you from those days which I can send you over a scan (if I find it)...
Now about Ms Guha-Roy - who loved rock, took me to the flea market and we bought books, read widely and was a charming Bengali lass - more later...
indigoite
2015-02-06
@Vincy : :) Thanks for reading and commenting on every post of mine.
@Anne - Yes, I know. This will all be very strange for you. No, I don't do any of the things during driving. Driving in India requires intense concentration. I get into" the zone" - all I can see is the road all around. Occasionally I listen to music, but its mostly focused driving. I actually find it "relaxing" :)
@Ravi - Awwwwww. You remember that ?? Honoured, touched, and I am still searching for more words !!
Ahhhh Ms Guha-Ray. You were the true romantic amongst us all. Correction. You ARE the true romantic !!
Asha
2015-02-06
I went awww.... reading this post. nice to see those lovely pics.I know this feeling and i feel the same when i visit my school or all those old places in Bangalore.
The photos there remind me so much of neyveli township too and yes i love drinking chai in such places. such small chai shops offer the tastiest chai although i prefer disposable cups.
P.S.Chandrasekaran
2015-02-06
I find the narrative totally absorbing. Light of touch and a happy and poetic turn of phrase ever so often, it has unmasked the truly romantic spirit of the blogger. A true concoction of humour, past memories and a harking back to the good old days when life was heavenly and less complicated (in retrospect, though it may not have looked that way at that time). It has, I am sure, kindled memories of childhood and early adulthood, when we were starry eyed and not as hard-nosed as we have become now. My plea is that you should really write a full-fledged travelogue.
indigoite
2015-02-07
@Asha - I was in Haldia only for 4 years, so its nowhere near the same association as Neyveli. But all the same, I am a sucker for nostalgia.
@Chandrasekaran - Delighted to see you here and to read your comment. Thanks very much.
Suja
2015-02-09
Am playing catch-up today Ramesh..Your trip down memory lane is an interesting read, I can see how linked you feel emotionally and at the same time how baffled you in the understanding your self of the past. Is that not the same for all of us?
indigoite
2015-02-09
@sUJA - Indeed so. As always your simple explanation of a philosophical point of view is wonderful.
Shachi
2015-02-09
wow - playing catch up today on your posts.
Your post reminds me of my dad's early years in his career....very nostalgic!
And Ravi's comment is amazing too!
indigoite
2015-02-10
@Shachi - Where are all did work ? Many of us had early beginnings in industrial towns, so lots have had a similar experience.
Vinod
2015-02-10
I am loving it!
indigoite
2015-02-11
@Vinod - :) Trust your clients have gone away :)
Vinod
2015-02-11
Yes, they went back over the weekend :-)