On September 2016, I was very tired because of my hectic schedule in office. On top of that I had some photography assignments. Even my personal life was experiencing some downward curve. I was completely bogged up, dejected and desperately looking for a small break so that my mind can take rest and get freshened up by the blessing of nature.

One fine morning my elder brother and sister in law (bro’s wife) called me up and said about a plan for weekend trip in rural Bengal. The plan sounded good to me. So on the very next Saturday morning we drove to Samukpota.

• Kolkata – Science City – Basanti Highway– Bhojer Haat – Tardah Bhojer Haat Road – Samukpota
• Kolkata – Ruby crossing – Tardah Bhojer Haat Road – Samukpota

As our home is at Salt Lake area, we chose the first option. When our car took left turn from Science City the urban noise gets reduced and our ears got some relief. After taking right turn from Bhojer Hat, plenty of small water bodies got visible. These water bodies are used as a prawn breeding purpose.

At around 10am we reached at Samukpota Jungle Tent. It is basically a resort of four permanent tents around a big lake. The interior of the tents have been decorated as a master bedroom with anti-chamber and attached bathroom. The resort has some other amusement options like dolna, hammock, boating etc. On winter, migratory birds can also be visible. A tiger fish and a piranha are the residents of the lake so swimming is strictly prohibited.

After checking in we had breakfast with luchi, sabji and sweets. Then I decided to roam around the village. After 1-2 hours I came back to the resort. My brother asked me whether I am interested to have beer or not. I did nod my head. The care taker served fried small fish. We ridded up on hammock, looking at the beautiful autumn sky of rural Bengal we started having beer with snacks.

It was almost 2pm when the care taker asked whether he would serve lunch or not. We got a bit hungry. The lunch was superb. The care taker was a great cook. He prepared rice, moong dal, potato bhujia, hilsa bhaapa.

After having a heavy lunch, we decided to take a nap. In the late afternoon my nephew woke me up and asked for my interest about boating. It was a lovely afternoon with breeze.

We enjoyed boating until stars come out by two or three. The care taker said that evening tea is ready. We had evening tea. Suddenly moon and stars disappeared behind cloud. The air stopped breezing.  The entire environment got peach black and silent.

It started raining and we came back to tent, opened the bottle of Chivas Regal and asked the care taker to serve chicken pakora.

We had diner at 10.30 pm with roti and delicious mutton Bengali curry. By that time the rain has been stopped. We sat on the bank of the lake and enjoyed the starry night and the “sound of silence”. Calmness is the main attraction of this place.

Next morning we got up and after breakfast we checked out. While coming back home, I was feeling very much refreshed. The weekend tour has given me the energy to start a new week.