Everyone was ready and waiting. Chakri was still getting ready . We all had another round of Tea. Out side the steel house there was a small tea stall where we all used to spend time waiting for our friends , Buses and most of the times ‘Just pastime’.
People slowly started getting irritated , Arun Kumar Jain started cribbing ‘ agar abhi hhi hum ek admi ko ane ke liye bolega tho bhi itna time nahi lagega’ . Arun kumar Jain and Sashi Nath bhagat were really getting impatient for two reasons, one, they were the only folks from North and other being Chakri was getting ready for 2 hours.
Since I was the organizer (was called a guide to Durgapur Darshan, frankly it was my first time too but I was always interested in seeing the places and used to capture the information as much as possible so that I can visit one day), I had to answer every body’s questions and handle their frustrations. It was during our first 2 months in Durgapur. I used to have one old camera (Yashika), we all visited lot of places in Durgapur. Suddenly we all saw Chakri running and rushing from his room wearing a red shirt. It was like a great moment for all of us as the waiting of our life time was over. We all got into the mini bus and reached Damodar River. There is a dam over the river and was built during British rule. It has lot of picnic points and Trees. The downside there is not much water as only 1-2 gates were opened. The river was called as ‘Sorrow of Bengal’ by some and ‘Sorrow of Bihar’ by others as there are lot of uncontrolled floods and calamities which ruined lot of families. We started taking photos. Suddenly, some one from the controlling room called us and asked us not to take the pictures of the dam. Those days were, frankly, not as restricted as current days but for some reason they seemed not liking us/group of youngsters walking on grass, shouting , taking photos etc… By then we already had taken around 10 photos.
On that day I never thought I will visit that place later so many times. Once we all purchased scooters, we explored lot of areas there (Dam).
On our way from Steel House to Damodar River, you first cross ‘city centre’ and then pass by an area where there was a hill. You cross CMERI and the road splits into two, as we reach close to railway station. One route takes you to railway station (from there you can go to Damodar river by taking right) another route will directly takes you to the river. But this route is really a great route as you drive on the pathway next to water/river and you run along with it/parrelel) and reach the Dam’s entrance where the other route merges.
Though I came with Chakri once, Goki once and Rajmohan once but there are multiple number of times I came with Praveen. Especially on Sundays. There are four to five places we used to sit/relax/chat/enjoy the dam, water and mother nature.
You can walk down the dam and can sit in the sand (gates were closed).I was doing my MBA 2nd year during that time and myself and Praveen visited that place and sat on the sand and were studying. He was reading some general stuff and I was preparing for my MBA exams. Praveen also used to bring his Speakers which he did purchase few days before and tried to connect them to his walkman. Definitely it was great time. It is winter and afternoons in winter, especially in Durgapur and at Damodar river used to be top class. You don’t feel cold and don’t feel hot.
Another place used to be the peaceful location, walk on the dam and reach other end, there were some cement benches where you can see the controlled water (lot of water controlled by 20-25 gates) and its peaceful sound. Power plant at a distance and extremely peaceful surroundings. Other than Sundays, this was never crowded. This place was good during evenings(till 8:30 PM). The water was not flowing but the sound of the water trying to cross the gate and gate not allowing it to flow down was really great. I remember one specific incident. One day it was around 7:30 PM and I and Praveen were chatting there for almost 1-2 hours, we just walked here and there and looked around for some water/snacks. There was a very small tea shop and this shop did not contain any thing. It was a very very small shop and we were little disappointed. That shopwala was also seemed not keen on expanding his shop as very few people visit that place. To our astonishment the tea tasted real good. I think the timing was right, mood was on and a very peaceful day without any tensions and responsibilities. There was always a sense of belongingness, cohesiveness among all of us. As we were far from Andhra and nobody to take care of. I think the days in Durgapur are the best considering many factors. While penning my feelings now, I strongly think, I should visit Durgapur again once (which I have been planning for the past 10 years).This thought is strengthening day by day.
When u r driving from railway station to Dam, you find a mini dam .This was a fabulous, probably my best pick. There was a giant tree and you can watch the water running /flowing/roaring. This dam was/is probably the right canal of Damodar river which supplies water for Drinking and day to day usage. The water was so great that we never had water filters/aqua guards etc... We used to collect/drink water from bathrooms for all purposes. On the other note, as they had the abundant supply of water, the usage /wastage of water was also at higher levels. You can sit near the tree or walk to other end (there a re only 3-4 gates) and watch the roaring white waters, the large tree. This place was best for all seasons and all times of the day. After my marriage was settled I visited this place 3-4 times.