It is to the forest I go for rest,
For serenity is what I forever seek.
It is here, under the nascent rays of a sun born
To rise each day
That I find myself so very alive…
 

Clothed in vibrant greens, sturdy trunks straining to touch the endless blue above, the forest also stretches wide, ever wider, seeking out friends in almost everything that lives. From simple seed, with mud, water and sun, sprout these towering gentle giants.There is an affinity; my arms ache to embrace, and be embraced in turn.

The idea resonated with my Chief and we craved a nearby forest destination for our Drive-Out column. Captain’s knowhow of the area and of the Ghuskara Airfield added to the excitement. Team WHEELS carried out extensive research and thus we were soon off, driving towards our next woody expedition – a nearby forest and an abandoned airfield of World War II. We had decided to head for Orgram, near Ghuskara, Bardhaman, about 133 km from Kolkata.

Route
With only 133 km to cover and no plans for an overnight stay, Team WHEELS was ready to tear through a forest and explore an abandoned airfield. After reaching Vidyasagar Setu around 10 am and setting the trip meter to 0.0 km, off went the team, zipping along Kona Expressway to enter NH-19 (NH-2). Driving forward, we crossed the Dankuni Toll Plaza beyond which we halted at our regular food joint for a filling breakfast about 11 am. Continuing to drive, we went forward towards Bardhaman. Taking the right from Nababhat Morh at the end of Bardhaman Town (Renaissance Complex on left), we turned left to enter NH-114 (NH-2B) towards Ghuskara – the Suri Road, with the famous 108 Shiv Mandir at the entrance enroute Bolpur.

The recently renovated Ghuskara Road was indeed a driver’s delight. We glided along, marvelling at the vast stretches of yellow paddy fields with their patches of green, stretching into the distance on both sides of the tarmac interrupted occasionally by palm trees. The pleasurable drive was soon obstructed by a number of locally constructed speed breakers.

Following NH-114 (NH-2B) straight ahead, we reached Orgram village, just before Ghuskara. From here, we took the right after Bhatar Police Station, towards Devgram, leaving the highway. The stretch, passes through tiny villages with tinier ponds, mud huts and grazing cattle – a charming interlude. Driving for about 2 km by the village road we finally arrived at our desired destination – the Orgram Forest. Interestingly, the Orgram Forest trail is to be discovered on entering the left, with practically no signage or indications of the Orgram Forest.

Orgram Forest
As we entered and drove through the village into the forest, there was a gradual transition of the road as it changed from broad smooth tarmac to narrow pukka lane that finally led to a red laterite forest pathway. At a distance we spotted the rather quaint office of the Forest Department, set in an enclosure, and with a woody backdrop. We peeped inside the decidedly forlorn looking office and then found an unused Forest Guest House. Unfortunately, we were unable to locate the Forest Officer of the Orgram Fortest Beat Office.

While exploring the forest, it was quite surprising to find such a broad and flat laterite pathway passing through the forest with very few depressions to break the comparative smoothness of the pathway. As we drove deeper, we noticed several anthills here and there. The foliage grew thicker, forming a deep green canopy over us, sunlight seeping through the slender, towering trees. The weather was pleasant. The crunching of the dry leaves under the tyres and the smell of the forest with its mixed fauna was intoxicating. We spotted several birds like the small green bee-eater and parakeets and found the place perfect for bird watching.

Orgram is definitely not a deep forest and we couldn’t find any undergrowth. We also noticed a few tracks entering mostly to the left – perpendicular to the main pathway. The afforestation effort over vast stretches of land (with sal tree saplings bound within a fenced area) brought relief to our souls – otherwise disturbed with the idea of the continued illegal timber trade. How long we drove along this 3 km long stretch of virgin land, gaping at the woods, is hard to say. This was when we were stopped by Sunil Das, a forest guard of Orgram Forest.

Having worked here for the last 26 years Sunil Das knew everything there is to know about Orgram. He told us that the forest falls in the category of Reserved Forest – Orgram Beat Forest Office Ghuskara Range, Burdwan Division, and stretches over 90 hectares. The forest abounds in trees such as sal, teak, eucalyptus, akashmoni, sonajhuri. Animals include the rabbit, wild boar, fox and there are many kinds of birds. Towards the end of the forest is a small village sprouting huts on both sides of the pathway. On turning right, we came upon a village called Ramchandrapur 2nd Colony (also known as Subhash Colony).

Ghuskara Airfield
History
Ghuskara Airfield was the Tenth Air Force base used between 1943-45. This Air Force was heavily involved in the Burma campaign. It was constructed by Indian locals in 1942, for the US Air Forces. The airfield cement used for the construction was mainly mixed by hand and laid by locals – thus the airfield was hurriedly built and was not of a superior quality. The airfield has long been abandoned. Many of the locals were employed at the base at a nominal wage of `40 a month. Interestingly, the army personnel at Ghuskara even studied Chinese in the Cantonese dialect, in preparation for the move.

The airfield
Still lost in our thoughts, as we drove out of the forest trail, we were taken aback to behold a vast stretch of barren land that appeared before us suddenly, as if out of nowhere. The broken tarmac of the land, we could identify from our earlier research, was a World War II abandoned airfield built for the US Airforce – 75 years ago. We stood awe inspired for a while and then turned right onto the metal road towards the east. This is a wide uneven road with occasional tarmac and open fields. Captain suggested that this was basically the taxiing bay of the airfield, which has been lying abandoned and hidden since 1945.

While I was tripping on w’o’nderlust, in the middle of Neverneverland, Chief caught hold of a villager named Uttam Biswas (who claims to have seen helicopters land on the airfield 20 years back), who then showed us the way to the actual runway.
Coming up from the south at the end of the forest trail, we took a right turn and proceeded eastwards (the forest trail was in the north-south direction). A quaint village with uneven laterite roads, paddy fields on both sides and occasional tarmac was all that we could see. After driving for about 2 km we took a left heading northwards and were faced with a wide open area with solid concrete base.

On proceeding further, Chief excitedly pointed at the kilometre-long concreted base which was obviously the runway we had read about. Seeing the width of the runway, Chief explained that this was the place where the aircrafts would land and take off during the World War II. This was evidently an important base for flights taking off due east. To our surprise, we found the runway in a fairly good condition, with grass trails growing through the concrete slab joints. Though the rest of the field seemed to be utilised for cultivation, there has been luckily no encroachment on the runway.

Interestingly, such a huge airbase, expanding over an area of about 16 odd sq km is lying obscure from the public eye. In fact, none of the NH-114 (NH-2B) users can see this place from the highway, leave alone think of exploring it. Unable to contain the excitement of having driven into an abandoned World War II airfield, I finally called for a tea break. Sipping some of the hot beverage that we were carrying, helped steer us back on track – for more adventure awaited us.

Thereafter, the passage narrowed down, and once again we were on an uneven tarmac road. With no one to guide us, and no signages or indicators, we had to depend entirely on our intuition. ‘Intuition is God’, I said to myself. Chief vroomed his engine as we reached a huge red brick wall that stood guard in the middle of nowhere. The old baked clay bricks piled to almost 40 ft height, stood like a fortress, marking the end of the airfield. The wall, collapsed in the middle section, had made way for the village road.
 

On hitting the village road once again, we took a right turn heading towards Ghuskara. This is the shortest route to reach the highway. The more adventurous can brave the airfield, retracing the way they came from.

Accommodation
Finding a proper resort at the entrance of the Orgram Forest trail was a welcome surprise in such remote area. As we entered through the gate of the Silverline Resort, we were happy to have discovered this beautiful property with its sprawling lawn, a lavish fresh food and snacks bar and a few guestrooms. There are in all 6 guestrooms for travellers, both ac and non ac. There is also a small car parking inside the premises.

The newly constructed twin storeyed modern restaurant with Indian and Chinese cuisine is of a reasonably high standard. There is also a bar-cum-restaurant on the first floor with steel and glass furniture thrown in for good measure and which overlooks the lawn. The guestrooms however are on the ‘basic’ side. It is a good place to halt for a day’s picnic, where the family can relax, eat and use clean washrooms.

Though the bar is lightly stocked, the restaurant serves decent food. We refrained from experimenting and restricted ourselves to basic Chinese food with fried rice and chilli chicken. With our stomachs growling we simply pounced on the food when it was served. And the preparation lived up to our expectations. It was quite a tasty treat and served in large portions.
 

It was already 5 pm by the time we were back on the highway. We were badly craving for a chai break by now. We halted at a roadside stall, for a hot cuppa in clay pots. I dug out some scones from my bag to go with the chai. While Captain and Chief were still in a daze, reminiscing over every minute detail of the trip, and excitedly engaged in a self-congratulatory conversation that centred around the theme of how smartly we came out of this forsaken place, I was reminded of the lines of Erol Ozan, ‘Some beautiful paths cannot be discovered without getting lost.’ Ozan spoke metaphorically. The airfield was metaphor in itself!