Being a tourist at home

Recently, two of my friends from Kolkata visited Ranchi. They carefully co-ordinated their trip so that the second arrived one day after the first one left. What that meant was that, everyday, for about a week, we would leave our house at 9:00 am (just when the sun had decided that it was time to turn on some serious heat) and stayed out till 4:00 pm (till just when the sun decided that it was time to start winding down for the day), making sure that we caught as much of the summer heat as was possible. What it also meant was, that for the first time in a really long time, I got the opportunity to sightsee around Ranchi. Twice. I have raved about the beauty of Sikkim and Kerala and Tamil Nadu , and now it is time to tell you about Ranchi.

Ranchi, was the Summer Capital of Bihar for a really long time. Situated on the Chota Nagpur plateau at a height of 2140 ft, this quaint little hill station was known for it's pleasant weather, water falls and lakes. The temperatures, I have been assured, never rose beyond 30 degrees and it used to be the talk of the town the day it rose to 32 degrees. And almost every evening, I am told, it used to rain. Now those days are gone of course. But the temperatures here, rarely go beyond 40 degrees these days and two or three days of intense heat is still invariably followed by a cool, refreshing shower.

As with all the other places I have written about, I will not talk about the various 'tourist spots' of Ranchi, be it the Jagannath Mandir, Pahari Mandir, Tagore Hill, Crocodile Park, Rock Garden, Nakshatra Van, Dhurwa dam, or the Kanke dam etc. I will however, spare a word or two for the wonderful Ormanjhi Zoo, to say only this - that in all my 22 years of zoo visiting I have come across only four that are worth putting on the favourites list:
1. The Himalayan Zoological Park, Sikkim
2. The Trivandrum Zoo, Kerala and Ormanjhi Zoo, Ranchi and
3. The Mysore Zoo, Karnataka.
(Here, I must record my dissapointment with the much touted Alipur Zoo at Kolkata. Appalingly, it has become merely yet-another-ill-kept-zoo!)

Also, worth mentioning are the various water-falls and lakes around this city. Dassam Falls (10 falls), Johna falls, Hundru Falls, Ranchi lake etc were a major tourist attraction even till around 10 years ago. Sadly however, Naxal infestation has meant that only the Ranchi lake is accessible these days and in a limited at-your-own-risk kind of way, - the dassam falls.

However the thing that makes Ranchi so endearing is the typical small town feel - where it is still scandalous for a girl to sit on the front seat of an auto, where eyebrows are raised when kids take up anything other than science or at the very least commerce for their +2, where you still draw stares if you wear sunglasses, but also where neighbours bring you food after you come back from a long trip out of town, where there is still enough greenery enough to ensure that squirrels, sparrows, a variety of other birds, butterflies etc are not a rare commodity, and where organic food is unheard of since all that you get is farm fresh anyway. People would be appalled if it were otherwise.

But the best thing about Ranchi, a trait which it shares with Bokaro (another city where I spent 6 of the most formative years of my life) is simply that it is inhabited by Biharis. Throughout my life I have drawn stares which have ranged from disgusted to pitiful when I have told people from the more 'developed' parts of the country that I am from Bihar (OK now, technically, Jharkhand). I only smile in response. You would have to have stayed here to appreciate that a typical Bihari is one of the friendliest people in the country, he is also one of the most cultured. (yes yes, scoff away) He has a sweet tongue (be it Maithli, Bhojpuri or the many other dialects they speak here) and has a few of the tastiest dishes I have ever tasted. (do make it a point to try malpua, litti, sattu ka parantha, dal puri, kheer, thekua, dahi chuda, and lai). And of course he has chatt and holi. Enough said.