Kolkata Meetups

bikemanic

i will be there too with clifhanger

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[IMG]http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y81/luve_immortal/me.gif[/IMG]

cliffhanger

this was a nice gettogether today ......bigzero came from hydrabad.we had a grt time ..... if all the members could come I am shure it would be a greater fun.......hope nex time we will be able to meet more of our friends.

sadhuji

yeah, waiting for the next time.

somnath

Hey Cliff, other IMers are looking frwrd for the detailed report.
Come on guys, some one new commer should post it in details. It is your first IM meetup afterall. And plz do not forgt. what was the menue for the dinner. I missed it .


- Somnath

laterally inclined

Firstly, this report deals with the 2nd part of the aforementioned Meetup. The 1st part of this report shall be posted by Sree as previously declared by Somnath:

It was with some trepidation that I had turned up at the appointed spot. 7p.m. Nike stall under The Grand Hotel. The apprehension was there; because it was my first IM meetup and I din't know what to expect. Laterally Inclined was going to meet Somnath, Cliffhanger, Sree, BigZero and a bunch of people who till then were at most virtual entities. It was a usual humid Calcutta evening. And as i walked upto the stall there was this big group of around 6-7 people and i overhear something about someone posting something a while back. So I walked up to the nearest person and said "IndiaMike? Are you all from India Mike?”. "Hello, I'm BikeManic, and this is Cliffhanger". A group of three stood a little further off and walking to them i recognised the tall and lanky Somnath. With him were Sree and BigZero. "Hello I'm BigZero", went the robust gentleman of mid thirties (?). "Hi I'm Sree" and "I'm Somnath". And there i was standing in the middle of a group of people of various sizes shapes and variety, but with a common passion: that of travelling in India. Someone was a software professional, someone was a bike aficionado, another person was an aspiring photographer and yet another was a college student.

As we got talking it turned out that Sree and Somnath had already gone ahead and taken BigZero around. "Victoria Memorial and a lot of walking" was the BigZero put in. We stood there and chatted whilst waiting for Babu, and a photo session followed. Deciding on what to do next turned out to be a bit difficult because of 2 reasons 1) we all had different ideas; 2) we all had NO ideas, it was both the same and one thing.

While this was going on Somnath and Sree announced that they had leave as they had to travel quite a distance back and so they'd rather begin early. And i wish they'd stayed on because we had just met up. BikeManic too left in a while and so there we were BigZero, Cliffhanger, a friend of Cliffhanger's (a to be IM member) and yours truly. The evening being hot we decided to cool off first and went into this small roadside place to have Lemon Sodas. A lot of conversation about IM about each of us followed. BigZero has seemingly been city hopping every weekend and has managed to attend metups in various cities. We heard about the Bangalore IM meetups organised by the very capable Natasha.

After Lemon Sodas, BigZ proposed something even the dumbest of people couldn’t refuse. Dinner sponsored by him!! Well BigZ, if and when I come down to Hyderabad I’ll surely return the favour . So there we were: Cliffhanger, BigZero, Cliffhanger’s friend (i promise if you don't join IM, you'll be condemned to this nickname forever) and yours truly trudging along to Park Street. And with every step my hunger seemed to grow. It was a tiring walk you see.

At first we walked into this place called Bar-B-Q, but couldn’t find seats there. So we crossed the road and trudged into Peter Cat. Saturday Night I guess the city turns pretty hungry and the wives refuse to cook. All the restaurants experience heavy traffic. Luckily Peter Cat accommodated us and within 15 minutes we were faced with the dilemma of what to order in the comfort of the AC environs of this restaurant. Since BigZ was around we decided to go with some fish dishes as all fishes love Bengalis ( or is it the other way around?). Anyways we ended up ordering a Mutton Badam something something dish. A Fish Masala and another fishy dish. The food was good (but with a little more time on our hands and a little more planning i'm sure we could've gotten you better fish BigZero,but i'm sure we gotta leave something for next time eh?) The conversation was even better.

I hope you got your pics of Howrah Bridge the next day, and i hope you got your rasogollas and bought the saree too.

Being my first IM meetup, i must say it has been meaningful in so many ways. It could have been better. But as a first timer it was a novel experience as all first time experiences are supposed to be. Babu you should've been around too.

Next time you drop by BigZ, we'll have more elaborate plans i'm sure. And yes i'm eager to see those photos. As i guess a lot of other people are.

-LI

somnath

Thankyou LI for such a lovely reporting .Yes, I expect Sree will post the first part of this great meetup report. But just a breaking news - The latest status of Big’Zee :
Today morning he enjoyed an early morning (I am a late riser) motorbike ride with Cleff and breakfast (with a boring SMS from Somnath) and now he is damn busy to purchase a cotton / handloom saree for MediumZero (plz convey belated birth day wish from Calcutta) and some sweets for their SmallZero.

cliffhanger

Hi somnath, it would be nice if u could have stayed with us. at firs we went to rallis and had lemon soda...... and then we went for dinner.......we had our dinner at petercat......the menu was great...... i think u really missed it...... i hope bigzero liked it.and thanks to bigzero for a lovely dinner....

cliffhanger

today me and bigzero went for a ride early in the morning........we visited Howrah bridge,2'nd Hugli bridge, Princep ghat and Vectoriamemorial hall........we had agood time.........I hope he will tell us how he liked the city......

laterally inclined

well i'm sure you guys must've had a great time cliffhanger. and yes bigzero convey our birthday wishes (belated) to middlezero!

babuchand

its sa........d i missed it on saturday...
and oh petercat....I missed her great cuisine too.
okk for that I have a pal.... somnath dont cry we will go again soon.

any pics of the meetup???

I had gone to barracpore to convert some pics of mine from negatives to digital.....anyway hope to see another meetup coming up..
I will try to share some photos in the gallery once done.

babu

Sree

Yaaa it was declared by Somnath that I would post the
report. But afterwards I saw he was inviting the same
from new comers (first meet up experience). As it is
my second meetup experience, I was trying to be
considered as ‘experienced’ . But didn’t work. Anyway,
I’ll love to share it with you all.

Excellent coverage laterally inclined . Though I could
not join the later part I can smell it from your
reporting. And it was Peter cat, ohhhhh…it is a lovely
place.

It was a hot & humid evening still we enjoyed that. We
could not enter the Victoria Memorial Hall (We tried
but it was closed.) but make a round of it. Big zee
came here for official tour. After completing his job
he joined us (me & Somnath) at Park Street. It was
around six at evening, one hour we spend roaming here
and there. The day was very special for Big zee, as it
was his wife’s birth day. He decided to buy some saree
for his better half.

At the said place we saw some young chaps coming
towards us. They all were our new friends. We
introduced ourselves & decided to sit somewhere. But
before we could decide, our watch reminds that it’s
too late, so we have to leave the fun.

Ohh I forgot to say that Big zee told that the J.N
Road looks like London. I had never been to London but
assuming that the typical architecture is the main
reason for such similarities. We will love to hear
from Big zee. Tank you all for this beautiful meetup.
Sree

sadhuji

rallis and petercat revive old forgotten memories. during my recent visit to kolkata, i went to rallis. the place looks exactly as i had seen it earlier in the seventies, only the room at the rear is now smaller, the large acquarium has vanished.

somnath

Our friend LI did a great post. Congratulations LI. It is a nice reporting situated here:
http://www.indiamike.com/india/showthread.php?t=12809

It was such a nice meetup, thank you all, specially Big’Zee. After a day long official activities in such a hot and humid weather (Hyderabad is hot but commonly irritating humidity is not there) he walked a lot and spend the evening with us. Every one was present at the meetup place in time. Unfortunately, Babu and Rocky were unable to join us due to some obvious difficulties. Babu and Rocky, thanks for informing about the situation in advance and I wish during the next meetup we all will be there.

As mentioned by Sree, It was our bad luck that we reached Victoria Memorial after 6.00pm and it was closed by then, so we couldn’t enter. Big’Zee, Sree and me took a walk around the same and the citizen’s park which is a new addition in Calcutta’s breathing map. I am also the first time visitor of the park. We were busy with our experience sharing and discussing about our IM family. By that time, Big’Zee informed us that it is the birthday of Mrs.Big’Zee and he wants to purchase a saree for her. I tried to put my nose into the discussion as a saree expert and ended up with a disappointed performance. But one thing is absolutely clear that both of us are equally knowledgeable as far as the saree is concern. Then Sree took over the matter and we went to the New Market area so that next morning Big’Zee can find out the shops easily. Let us wait for a few hours more to know the result of our expedition (depends on how Mrs. Big’Zee will find the saree, if it is purchased at all ).
Friends, you all can remember that Big’Zee was curious that why Mr. Oberoi built a hotel on the top of a shoe store (nike stall - the meetup point), believe me, I told him to go insight and ask the question (come on Big’Zee don’t deny ).

It is always true that happy moments are short. Unfortunately, my residence is far away from the place and had to move after a very short discussion with all other friends. And I missed the peter cat episode which is already reported by LI. Big’Zee took several photographs and those will be posted once he is back.

Big’Zee, I don’t know that you are able to visit the Coffee House this time or not but the famous song of Manna Dey you were referring is this one:

http://ww.smashits.com/player/ra/ond...f=1&browserf=1

Now, Big'Zee please put your headphones on, start uploading pix and post your experience and let me work. I told you that if I get time in office, of course I work.

- Somnath

Bigzero

Hi all,

just got a quick peep-in; detailed post follows later!

Thank you all great people for the wonderful meet-up! It was a real pleasure meeting up and chatting with all of you.

Somnath and Sree, really appreciate you coming along such a long distance on a saturday evening! perhaps next time we can schedule something a little earlier in the day, and give ourselves more time to discuss about life in general!

Laterally inclined, thanks for the wonderful meet-up report! we had a good time together, didnt we! i enjoyed the fish, though you would say that it is not a traditional bengali preparation.

and Cliffhanger, what can i say! you turned up at 6.30 am in the morning at the hotel and what followed was a most memorable early-morning bike trip covering some of the most prominent landmarks of calcutta! it was great fun; roads were more or less empty, and we could stop wherever we chose to take photographs etc. and your running commentary was also extremely helpful! I cant tell you how grateful i am or this wonderful experience!

what happened after that? well, i said bye-bye to cliffhanger and then went back to the hotel to have breakfast. After breakfast, I and a couple of colleagues went to Gariya hat (is that how it is spelt?) - thanks cliffhanger for the suggestion - to purchase some sarees. We spent considerable time to select and buy a few sarees. time was running out - our flight was at 2, and from what i heard, we were to leave at least at 12 to reach airport comfortably at 1.

But by the time we finished the purchase, it was already close to 12. And we still hadn't purchased sweets! KCDas was the next destination! we rushed there, and finally could purchase some rossogollas and sandesh. that done, we took the metro from there to park street, and were in the hotel by around 12.30. We were living very dangerously! All of us knew we were going to be in trouble. We rushed to pack our luggage and finished our check-out formalities.

By the time we were out of the hotel and in a taxi, it was around 12.50. I had more or less written of our chances of catching the flight. OK, we tried our last option. We told the driver that we had to reach the airport ASAP, and he started by complaining about the distance etc., but finally he accepted the challenge, and boy, did he drive fast! It was crazy, but it had to be done. We reached the airport around 1.30 and just about checked in when boarding was announced. within 10 minutes we were in the aircraft.

The rest was smooth - landed in hyderabad in time.
I will fill in with some of the meet-up and other experiences later, just wanted to say thanks to all of you again!
keep in touch, all of you!

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miles to go....

Bigzero's Photo Gallery

cliffhanger

hi,LI,
it was a very impressive report ,i must say ...i have also the same opinion about the fish preparation...it could have been a little more 'bangali'.....whatever , we will definitly give bigzero a grand begali treat...
it was a real quality time that we spent together... i hope we will meet soon to have more fun .
till then, keep mailing and keep travelling(in reality or in imagination)