horrors on my way to calcutta

Victoria Memorial in Kolkata

Once again, I crossed the border overland from Dhaka to the Benapole-Haridaspur border to India. It was a thrill seeing the Bay of Bengal, cruising on a ferry for 30 minutes. When we reached the Indian border, the experience turned hairy. Policemen with morose faces came, harassing people. I was told to empty my pockets and hand them all my takas, and asked why I have Indian rupees, which isn't really much. As far as I know, it is illegal not to declare carrying the amount in excess of $10,000 into any territory. Any idiot would need local tender to buy food during the trip, right? It was like a scene coming from a bad movie about a corrupt country. To cut the long story short, I was eventually left off, while 6 other people had to be left at the border. That was scary!

My bus ride took 14-15 hours with much corrupt drama at the border to fill up a TV series' script for a year. Since then, I have developed phobia against ugly, pot-bellied Indian officers. I hope they'd fry in hell and die a slow and very painful death.

This is the Eye in the Sky!