My Visit to Fort William

This is the first time in my life at Fort William. I went there on November 28, 2009. The purpose of my visit was to point the exact location of Kendriya Vidyalay (Central School) where a competitive exam of Indira Gandhi Open University will be held. It was the first exam of the recruitment of stenographers. I learnt stenography before graduation. I had followed Isaac Pittman's shorthand and learnt that well and sat for exams of Public Service Commission. The Fort William is located near Prinsep Ghat. The circular railway takes you to the Prinsep Ghat. It's a beautiful spot with the Ganges on one side and the houses on the other side. A single rail line takes you straight towards Dum Dum Station.

I went to the Fort William taking a bus from Esplanade. Then I started walking from Babughat and inquired the local people to reach the spot. I saw a large building of the State Bank of India. It's the headquarters. The design of the building is like the Victoria Memorial. On my right side, there was the Ganges and the cool breeze blowing in the morning making me feel really good. I hear the sounds of the cars but those are rare. The area is sparsely populated. As I am walking across the road, I went to a gate where there are army quarters. I inquired a tall, handsome jawan. He told me to go further to reach the spot. I walked further listening to the radio. There were beautiful trees on both sides of the road. Some people are lying on the footpath fast asleep forgetting everything, all the tensions of life, some are chatting endlessly in a low voice. I went towards the gate of the Kendriya Vidyalay and peeped through the iron railings of the gate and found the compound of the school and the buildings painted in light green color. There are many trees in the compound. The building has worn out by the strong winds and rain water as it is standing firm in an area where there are no other buildings.

I returned to my home taking a train from Prinsep Ghat station. I stopped at the station called "Tala." Though I had purchased a ticket to Dum Dum, I felt it will be convenient to go to Tala and walk home on foot.

On November 29, I took a train at 9:40 from Dum Dum after buying a ticket of Rs. 5. I went to the platform on the extreme left after an enquiry among the daily passengers. I boarded the train and reached Prinsep Ghat on time. I had to stand at the gate of Kendriya Vidyalay for one hour as I had reached an hour ago. I passed the valuable time reading the competitive exam magazines.

We were allowed to enter half an hour earlier. Our exam started at 12 noon and it ended at 2 p.m. I went to the Prinsep Ghat station and found that there was no train. So I took a bus and came to Esplanade. I took my lunch and bought my music compact disks. I came to home and felt so happy visiting such a beautiful place located on the banks of the Ganges. The beauty of Fort William lies in its location on the river banks. The ride of the circular rail was really a pleasant, unique and memorable experience.