feels like darjeeling on the hooghly!

Matsakanya sets sail from Millennium Park with 150 people on a Heritage Boat Ride on Sunday morning

A shot of Dakshineswar Temple for the Facebook album

Ghazal singer Rita Ganguly breaks into Rabindrasangeet and (above) poses for her grandniece’s camera with Howrah bridge as backdrop

What can be better than a cup steaming of coffee and piping hot luchi-alur dum on a rainy Sunday morning?

Answer: A steaming cup of coffee and piping hot luchi-alur dum on a rainy Sunday morning while sailing down the Hooghly.

Be it a couple in their sixties reliving their first date on the Hooghly or toddlers who can barely speak breaking into song — the 150-odd people who had booked themselves on a Heritage Boat Ride, as part of The Telegraph Bagbazar Festival, from Millennium Park to Dakshineswar and back on Sunday went home with a sea of memories and rich with insight into how the Hooghly played a significant role in fashioning three villages into a thriving metropolis called Calcutta.

The guests arrived wrapped in mufflers, jackets and woollen caps, all of which had been grudgingly packed away and had to be hurriedly brought out in the morning. Some sipped on coffee with mufflers wrapped tightly around the head, some zipped up their jackets and pulled on their hoods while a few simply got drenched.

The boat set sail at 9.15am and travelled under Howrah bridge, Vidyasagar Setu and Bally Bridge, thereby encompassing old Calcutta, new Calcutta and greater Calcutta in one journey.

K.K. Roongta, 60, and Suresh Goyal, 57, neighbours on Pretoria Street, have lived and worked in Calcutta all their lives but had never experienced a ride down the river. The two friends, along with their granddaughters, Nitya, 6 and Prisha, 4, decided to spend Sunday morning sailing down a river they had previously only seen from their car windows or from atop bridges.

“I have been on several river cruises in London, Paris and Amsterdam but had no idea that my own city could offer such a beautiful ride of its own,” Roongta said.

Despite the drizzle, almost all the passengers, armed with mobiles, tabs and high-end cameras, went shutter-happy, clicking selfies with the Howrah bridge, Vidyasagar Setu, Howrah station or the Eden Gardens as backdrop.

“My first date with my wife was a boat ride on the Hooghly way back in 1980. Today, after 34 years, we are here once again on a second date,” smiled Dilip Doshi, 64, with wife Krishna by his side. The couple from Bhowanipore were among the most active photographers on board the cruise.

If the Doshis were clicking away on their tab and cell phone, young Hridaja, a second-year engineering student and a budding photographer, spent her time studiously training her newly acquired digital SLR at the ghats on either side of the Hooghly. “This cruise provides a prefect opportunity to hone my photography skills,” said the 19-year-old before quickly capturing a candid shot of her mother Lalita and grandmother Peuli Chakrabarty sharing a laugh by the window.

The boat lazily cut through the waves and Ritwick Ghosh, the guide for the trip, showered the passengers with fascinating trivia on the river, the ghats and the buildings on the banks. It was primarily because of the Hooghly’s navigability that Calcutta and Howrah evolved as hubs of commerce and trade in the subcontinent and the ghats were the port of entry for the British, the French, the Jews, the Parsis and the Armenians, he explained.

“The first ship from the US to Calcutta in the late 19th century carried with it an enormous amount of ice, something that captured the imagination of the city as Calcuttans had yet not learnt how to make ice,” said Ghosh. “They must have had a brilliant cocktail party that evening,” he added with a chuckle.

As the Matsakanya approached the iconic Gun and Shell factory to its right, Ghosh came up with an interesting anecdote on how Dum Dum got its name. “According to a popular lore, during British rule, bullets would often be tested by being fired from the factory and the booming sound they made gave Dum Dum its name.”

Soon, the drizzle became heavier and the wind sharper as a blanket of mist engulfed the Howrah bridge. But nothing could dampen the spirit of the passengers. A strain of Rabindrasangeet wafted across the deck. Ghazal singer Rita Ganguly, a student of Begum Akhtar, broke into a spontaneous rendition of Tagore’s Megher kole rode heshecche with her sister Suhita Thakur, son Arijit, niece Parama Ghatak and grandniece Sneha joining in.

Within 20 minutes, about a dozen others had joined in with renditions of popular Tagore songs. By the time the boat arrived at Dakshineswar, the trip had assumed a picnic atmosphere with food, music and laughter.

“I live in Delhi and come to Calcutta every winter to be with my family. This ride with my loved ones had been a unique experience. Hope this happens next year as well,” said Ganguly.

The boat crossed Belur Math and took a U-turn before approaching Dakshineswar around 11.30am. The music paused as joined hands and bowed heads united in quick silent prayers.

The boat returned to Millennium Park at 1pm, drawing curtains over a selfie-and-song-filled Sunday morning.

Picture yourself in a boat on a river/ With tangerine trees and marmalade skies… the opening couplet from Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds by George ‘Beatle’ Harrison’, whose ashes were scattered in the Ganga, perhaps sum up the frame captured by many a camera during the journey and one that is likely to endure in memory and on Facebook.

Pictures by Anup Bhattacharya