My Thoughts, Feelings & Experiences

04:30 AM, Oct 27 2013 – Break of dawn

“30 mins before we hit the road”, I muttered to myself as I stashed my binocular into the deep pocket of my backpack. I knew I would be late by 20 mins.

Raima is known for springing surprises and so I wasn’t surprised when the night before she told me about this ride she & Sukanya (her friend & a great rider) had in mind and my friend John wanted to tag me along. When I googled, I found out that Rolling Wheels ( a motorbike club in Kolkata) & XKMPH had been there some time back.

I had not heard about Gangani (a canyon in Bengal) and at this point I would shamelessly admit that I have yet to discover many of the interesting places in my State. Few hours later I would witness the breathtaking view of the canyon along the course of Silavati river.

So the four of us met at Dakshineshwar and Dibyendu joined us from the Kona Expressway connector. Sukanya was riding Apache RTR, John was on Duke, Raima on Avenger and Dibyendu & myself with our CBRs.

Via Kolaghat, Kharagpur, Salboni, Chandrakona and Garbeta the ride was picturesque as we passed through stretches of paddy fields on both sides dotted by rows of trees and at times segments of NH60 looking like a silken ribbon laid ahead for us. From the highway connected a small road and aound 1 km from there emerged a trail through the greenery and then abruptly the landscape changed! I could not believe my eyes when I saw below the horizon the long serpentile river, the canyon bordering its bank soaked in the wilderness.

With us and our motorbikes parked on the ledge I understood what it means when they say ‘Eyes are voyeur & nature is exibitionist’. And then I forgot all about my Olympus 8X40 DPSI.