Horns ablaze, trucks trailing forward in mud and gravel, rain drizzling away in a sudden nonchalant fashion. I jumped out of the passenger seat and entered Mio Amore at Amtala Crossing. “I’m standing in the distance, you come once you’re done”, said Rajib, before dashing off as the signal turned green. Later I realized, I had misunderstood the ending of his sentence. Chomping away on a Chicken Claw at the patisserie joint, I got a call from him 7 minutes later. “Where are you? Haven’t you bought something already?”

“I did. I’m eating now.” I replied, thinking about what brought about that undertone. He sounded anxious: “I don’t think I can wait here any longer, the police won’t let me. You have to come fast.”

“I’m coming right now!” and I gulped down the rest of the claw and marched out of the joint. He was standing around 2 minutes away. Laughing about the misunderstanding of “once you’re done”, I entered the car, and we headed further south towards the riverside at Diamond Harbour.

It had been raining incessantly from the morning. It was a boon mostly, though. The temperature was finally down a notch, and we had a fun late weekend to look forward to. We were heading towards the Punyalakshmi Resort, dab-smack on the banks of the Hooghly and adjoining the Diamond Harbour railway station. The resort is around 1.5-2 hours away from Kolkata (depending on the traffic), and accessible by car, bus, and train. It was a bit confusing to find the lane leading to the gate, but we asked the locals and they gladly helped us locate the exit on the highway. Even from outside, we knew we had chosen the right place to take some rest. We were shown the place to park inside the gate and led to the reception. We had booked a river-facing cottage with access to the swimming pool. The best part is, here we can get an in-room view of the Hooghly river in all its colossal beauty. As if referring to the view from an island of Greece, Greko-Roman columns thronged the main resort building and the scenic riverside cottages. The walls were painted beige in a comfortable backdrop of the overcast sky. The humidity was still there, but it was too windy to make us feel uncomfortable, and we hummed some feel-good car songs while checking into our room.

Hotel Punyalakshmi is a budget-friendly three-star resort. The room tariff starts from 2500/- (double bedroom standard) to more than 7000/- (luxury suite). The rooms were definitely worth it though. We settled for something priced in between (around 4500/- for the cottage) because we wanted to see the river from the room itself. In retrospect, we chose well, because we definitely didn’t predict the rain. So we saw the river swell and fall with the tides, and only in the evening did we go out to sit on the cute benches once the rain stopped. We had also brought our swimwear but decided against getting into the pool, as we didn’t want to catch a cold.

TIDBIT ABOUT: Diamond Harbour is not a port, rather it is a bustling town where people do their usual trade, or go to the factories at Haldia (the opposite side of the Hooghly river) by ferry service. The jetty ghat is beautiful and you can spend an excessive amount of time just staring at the vastness of the river. Add to that, the livelihoods of people living there make a telling story for whoever wants to know about the urban areas outside of Kolkata. Fishing, transport and trade seem to make up the majority of businesses. Situated just before the delta region starts, Diamond Harbour is a terminal place, and further south you will find Kakdwip, Lakshmikantapur and Gangasagar. To the east, you will find Canning, Henry’s Island and Bakkhali (the latter two being popular tourist spots too). Diamond Harbour has always been a top affordable choice for a weekend gateway to the Bengalis and a well-regulated picnic spot. in winter, finding a place to set foot in becomes very difficult due to tourist crowds.

Coming to Punyalakshmi, the evening stroll really lived up to our expectations. The Sun was setting somewhere, which we couldn’t see, courtesy of the clouds. Birds were flying above the ‘choppy waters’ (words you do not associate with rivers). But it sure felt like tidal waves were hitting the banks with brute force. The opposite bank was lighting up. We could see the factory lights being turned on. A rower brought his boat to the muddy shore and anchored it carefully. People were waiting on the jetty bridge for the tide to subside so that they can cross the river. Nature was just as busy as the people who were living within its lap. Punyalakshmi offered us a respite from both the daily cacophony of life and the soaring mercury. The breeze was soothing, yet kept us alert to minuscule motions in our surroundings. All in all, we had a blast at this enchanting and splendid place (the place lives up to its tagline)!

The resort has a bar, a restaurant and a cafe where you can get quality wholesome food, especially fish and meat. And apparently, a cruise pick-up point for the area is also at Punyalakshmi. You can know about them further HERE and get the tariff for all the packages HERE. The WhatsApp number for doing a booking is 9679205110 and you can do the same at fo@hotelpunyalakshmi.com . That’s all from this side, have fun looking at the pictures!