When I remember the time I spent in West Bengal, I am instantly filled with gamut of emotions. I feel words will fall short if I have to describe the experience I had in West Bengal.

Calcutta was indeed the first city that I explored. Being the capital city of West Bengal, Calcutta truly reflects the ethos and culture of the state.

Intially, I was not very interested coming to India but then I had to. My cousin Natalie was not well and so I had to come. Never I realized that my stay in this place will be one of the memorable one.

Situated at the center of the Eastern Region of India, West Bengal is a strategically made state with 3 international frontiers - Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. Surrounded by Bihar, Orissa, Sikkim and Assam, its landline stretches for about 700 Km, from the Bay of Bengal in the South to the mighty Himalayas in the North.

As a part of the exploration, I unearth many facets of West Bengal which included its wildlife, cities and monuments. Each of them was a spectacular enough to form a state like West Bengal.

Although I faced problem in communicating as most of them used to speak Bangla. At times it became a great difficulty for me to make them understand what I wanted to say. But then I survived that somehow.

Altogether, I can say that my foray to West Bengal was not bad, in fact it gave me some experiences that are going to last for life time. I was indeed overwhelmed by the true colors of West Bengal. The people, beautiful culture and heritage all in amalgamation formed a wonderful state - West Bengal.

Touch the Undiscoved Zone !!!!!
The story that I am going to tell you now will definitely sound strange but then it is a part of my life, infact an integral part. The story actually began when I came to know that one of my cousin in India is not well. She was studying Fine Arts from Shanitiketan and was there in India for last 1 year.

Though she could have done the same course from London Institute of Arts but I have no idea why she chose Shantiniketan. According to her, Shantiniketan is dream place to be in; where one get trained amidst the tranquil environment.

No doubt! at first I was quite skeptical as I thought it will be like any other institute, and boasted a false claim. But then, I was wrong. Just one visit to the place cleared all my doubts and proved my cousin statement right..

" Maroline! I am not well, doctor diagonized typhoid and have prescribed a complete bed rest " said Natalie, my cousin in India. " I thought if you could come to my place" she insisted. Frankly, though we were not best of pals but I couldn't say NO to her. " See today its Monday! I''ll be there by Friday and will stay for one week!" I answered back.

Little I knew, this one week stay will extend to one month and will take me to a journey of self discovery and an exploration that still flashes in my heart and mind.

It took me exactly one day to reach Calcutta from London, first I booked my tickets to Mumbai and then I again had to take a flight to Calcutta. My cousin, Natalie, was residing in a paying guest accomodation in Calcutta so I didn't actually had to explore the city for resorts / hotels. Within few days, I realized that I shouldn't leave the state just like that. I must unveil its beauty.

Be it Victoria Memorial or the exotic Sunderbans... each tourists spot spoke in their loudest form that there is more to unearth in West Bengal. And I quietly listened to each unspoken word and made it a point to explore each and every tourist spots. Bounded by states like Bhutan, Sikkim, Bangladesh, Assam, Orissa, Nepal and Bihar, West Bengal indeed forms a spectacular zone of India.