Koenika Chakrabarty, VI A (2018 – 19)

Santiniketan is always a fascinating and attractive place for me as my grandparents live there and my mother studied there. Therefore, I am lucky enough that I can visit it quite often.

Santiniketan was founded by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, where he established the world famous Visva Bharati University. Santiniketan is also considered as an attractive tourist spot, where one gets to visit ‘Uttarayan’ – where to Tagore used to live, ‘Kanch mandir’ – the prayer hall, ‘Patha Bhavana’ – where students study beneath the trees, ‘Amar Kutir’ – the leather factory, ‘Shanibarer Haat’ – a small handicraft fair that takes place every Saturday and many other places.

Each season beautifies Sanitiniketan in a different way. Whether you travel by train or by car, the scenic beauty will never fail you. In the first week of September we planned a sudden road trip to Santiniketan. From Kolkata it takes approximately 4 hours to cover 170 kilometres. Since we were travelling during the monsoon season and Autumn was in the offing, mile after mile of paddy fields were covered with green corps. White patches were spotted blooming among the greenery; those were nothing but clumps of ‘Kash’ flowers. The hide–and–seek between streaks of sunlight and the grey clouds reflected on the paddy fields enhanced the beauty of the surroundings immensely. I was totally mesmerized by the scenic beauty while taking this road trip.

My mother often regrets that Santiniketan, day by day, is getting commercialised. Hotels are rising rapidly, making Santiniketan more crowded by attracting tourists. Therefore, the essence of solemnity and serenity is getting diluted. But, apart from everything, Santiniketan is a paradise for me, where I can inhale the pure pollution-free air and stay away for a while from the cacophony of city life.