Haldia Township: My home town

Haldia located on the bank of Haldi river in Purba Midnapore of West Bengal in India is a popular industrial belt with a major port, Haldia Dock. It has become a weekend gateway with development of tourism and comfortable stays and hotels around this place with beautiful places to visit like river side (marine drive), sunset point, Mohana, Mahishadal Rajbari, Haldia Dock, Tamluk Rajbari..... but to me it is a soulful journey to my roots.

It is approximately 120 kms southwest of Kolkata at the mouth of river Hoogly. Here Haldi river meets Hoogly river at ‘Mohana’ meaning confluence of two rivers, a treat to eyes. Just on the bank of Haldi river, lies a small quiet township, Haldia township. This is the place where I grew up and have rich memories of my childhood. This excellent riverside location had made this small township a heaven to live in. Swept by the winds of Haldi river throughout the year and greeneries everywhere with gulmohar trees lining every road of the township is what we grew up with. Here I enjoyed watching butterflies sipping nector from flowers, rainbows coming out in the sky, melodious twilights with birds chirping and returning to their nests, strong smell of jasmine and kadam (Neolamarckia cadamba) flowers, most fierce thunderstorms (kalbaishakhi) and the clear blue sky most of the year.

Whenever I get tired of the hustle bustle of the city life, I visit my home town and find solace. This year I made a short trip from Kolkata to Haldia by car via national highway NH-116 through Kolaghat, Mecheda, Nandakumar and then reached Haldia after 3 hours ride. We went to the river side, the marine drive. The stormy wind touching my body and rejuvenating my soul instantly is something worth visiting this place again and again. The view of distant cargo ships sailing over the horizon and their gradual disappearance dragged me back to my childhood days, when I used to get enthralled by this mystery of disappearing ships over the horizon. Even today I enjoy this view with equal fascination. Not only ships, also view of the fishing boats sailing in the river, vessels crossing the river, boats berthed securely in the wet shores, trollers floating here and there are amazing to watch.

There are beautiful temples in Haldia and my favourite is the Anchorage temple situated at extreme end of the township. We passed few jetties along the river side and Indian coast guard area harbouring four hovercrafts and finally reached Anchorage temple. When ‘Amphan’ the super cyclone hit West Bengal in May 2020, Haldia witnessed the worst devastation ever and thousands of trees were uprooted. With grace of God, I was highly contented to see the great banyan tree standing tall at the entrance of Anchorage temple, overcoming all odds. Here me and my brother used to come with our mother in any auspicious occasion to offer puja and we played under the shades of this huge banyan tree, swinging to and fro clinging on the hanging roots… cherishable memories. I also visited my school. The colour of the building has changed, name has been changed, many gulmohar trees across the boundary were uprooted by Amphan, there was no bougainvillea ornamenting the gates but I could still locate my classrooms and I time travelled immediately to my schooldays… the prayer assemblies, annual day performances, science exhibitions, annual sports day, school magazines … all together made me nostalgic and emotional … a wonderful rendition of good old days.

Haldia isn’t a place, it’s a feeling to me.