Travel to Bengal: A Short Essay About Bengal & Its People

Many of might be wondering why I'm writing this article after I've written about other more sensitive & shocking issues. Well, the main reason is that, I want to tell everybody about West Bengal, about Kolkata, my hometown which many of you don't know.

To start with, Kolkata has a rich culture & history dating back to many centuries, this was the part where the English East India Company established their base & their strong-hold over the other parts of India. Then, it was known as Calcutta. It was the capital of British empire in India & also the capital of India till 1913, when it was transferred to Delhi. In 1905, Lord Curzon splitted Bengal into two parts-East & West. West is now West Bengal, East Bengal is now Bangladesh. Many freedom fighters have been born here. The most famous being Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, after whom, the Calcutta International Airport derives its name. Also, there were Khudiram Bose, Rashbehari Bose, Binoy, Badal, Dinesh & many others, all of them spear-headed the fight for India's motherland from the eastern zone, while, Netaji & Rashbehari were international figures, encouraging the people of the other countries also which were under the British rule.

Literature in India also has seen significant contributions from this state. The best being, obviously, Rabindranath Tagore who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913 for his "Gitanjali." His "Jana Gana Mana" is the national anthem of India. Apart from him, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhay, Bibhuti Bhushan Bandhopadhay, Sarat Chandra Chattopadhay are eminent personalities. Modern day writers from Bengal like Satyajit Ray, Sunil Ganguly, Sirshendhu Mukherjee, Samaresh Basu, Bimol Kar, Ashapurna Devi, Buddhadeb Guha & others.

People of Bengal are very hospitable & also there to help you whenever you need them. The food is fantastic, you want any cuisine, you get it, & lastly, our home-cooked delicious Bengali food is always there. The famed "Rosogolla" is the ideal sweet of this region. The food is also the cheapest in India.

Transportation is good, taxis & buses run 24 hours a day, so, there is no problem about travelling from one place to another. The weather remains pleasent throughout the year, from a high 35 degrees celsius in the summers to a low 10/12 in the winters. Rainfall is moderate.

Now, about the terrain, most of it is plains, the main occupation being agriculture. The Ganges runs through the heart of the state. On the north, are the mighty Himalayas, the hilly stations of Darjeeling, Mirik, Kalimpong, Darjeeling being called the "Queen of Himalayas." The Sandakphu is the highest peak of this region, at a height of 3,630 metres. Beautiful mountains flanked by low lying valleys & winding rivers are the majestic sights that meet the eyes of the tourist here.On the western part of the state is, the plateau, the Purulia plateau. On the southern part, is the dense forest of the Sunderbans, where the famous Royal Bengal Tigers rule. The Ganges meets Brahmaputra in this part to form the largest delta in the world, The Sunderbans, which derives its name from the name of a tree: "The Sundari" frequenting this part. The region is full of mangrove trees, it is a marshy land where the tides often flood the numerous islands & take them under water.

About Kolkata: the city was named by Job Charnok in 1690 & the name has been changed from Calcutta to Kolkata. The famous buildings here & the sight-seeings include Victoria Memorial, Birla Planeterium, Science City, Nicco Park, the Howrah Bridge, Race Course, Fort William, Dakshineshwar Temple, Kalighat Temple.

That's a few statistics about Bengal, the lovely state in the eastern part of India.

Somnath.