Cycling, Finally!

I finally went cycling on Sunday at about noon. The sky was overcast and with the sun hidden behind the cloud cover, it was a perfect opportunity to head out and explore the neighbourhood on my cycle. Yes the Firefox Tempest that I had bought a while back and hardly used till date.

So I came out of my colony gate and turned left to the canal that ran behind the complex. I had to ride up a steep levee which also served as a narrow back lane. It ran parallel to the canal similar to the one on the other side of the canal. There were small bridges that connected both sides, some just wide enough for a motorcycle to pass over.

So while I was riding along the canal road, I noticed a large gathering of people and once I reached where they were standing, I noticed that they had all gathered to watch the dredging work that had been on for a while now. There were mounds of clay on either side of the canal and more on our side. So I stopped and got my handy Nokia 6630 out and clicked away at the odd dredging machine in operation. Basically it was an excavator with caterpillar tracks that had been locked in on a square metal barge like platform which was able to float on the canal water. The excavator arm would plunge into the water and sink its teeth into the bottom and pull itself forward, if it needed to move. Once in place, there were two extractable poles on each side which would be driven into the bottom to keep the barge stable and in place for the excavator to go to work, digging out buckets full of silt from the canal bed.

Anyway after watching the operation I headed on and went further down past the back of the Highland Park complex and over a small bridge. I was being adventurous and going deeper into the interiors through the narrow road of what seemed to be more like a little village and lo I came upon railway tracks. I looked back and saw the sign. I had come along side the Baghajatin railway station. This was on of the Suburban Railway lines and I had heard of Baghajatin several times, but never realised that lived so close to this place. I turned back from here and cycled through some more of the village in a different direction and came upon the Main road where the Highland Park Metropolitan Mall was. From there it was a straight ride back home.

I was so kicked with myself that after lunch and a little rest, I headed out again. This time I decided to go in the opposite direction. The little lanes of Santoshpur are a treasure trove of “pukurs” (ponds) and there were people enjoying a swim nearly every pond that I came upon. To tell you the truth I was so tempted to jump in myself. Maybe on a some other day, I’ll go a bit better prepared for a dip in one of them.