Our member Ms M. Basu recently visited her daughter in Columbus, USA. She spoke to us about her stay there, her trip to Las Vegas, and visiting the Titanic artifact exhibition at COSI.
On 15 April 2024 I travelled to the USA for two months to visit my daughter. I travelled with her friend’s parents who were going to San Francisco. I stayed with them for two days before taking a seven-hour flight to Columbus, where my daughter lives. During my stay there, I made a trip to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, located on the shore of the Shaughnessy Reservoir on the Scioto river. It was the first time I was seeing marine life at such close quarters, through glass windows, and I was fascinated to see sharks, manta rays and the strange manatee.
I enjoyed the view of the river from my daughter’s apartment. The riverside had a lovely promenade which was a great place to sit quietly or with friends. No amount of rain or sun seemed to stop people from going for runs by the river. I was struck by how polite the locals were. Passing cars stop for the elderly so they can take their time to cross the road.
During my stay, we made a four-day trip Las Vegas. Vegas is a truly astonishing place. Our flight was delayed, and we reached at 1:30 in the night, but the streets were so crowded it seemed like it was early evening. I was amazed by the Fountains of Bellagio: the fountains were extremely colourful, and their dance was synchronised to beautiful music.
Back in Columbus I visited the Columbus Arts Festival and the most remarkable museum, the Titanic artifact exhibition at COSI. The curators had put on display over 200 items retrieved from the Titanic wreck at the bottom of the sea. There were combs, necklaces, diamond rings, toothbrushes, coasters, all preserved so well that I felt that the original owners of the objects would come along any minute to take their possessions away!
On my way back to India I travelled to San Francisco and back home with my daughter’s friend’s parents. My stay in Columbus was lovely, but the most memorable sight was the view of the river from my daughter’s flat. I could spend days at the window, gazing out towards the river. I hope to return to Columbus one day again.

Our member Ms. A. Dey’s trip to Shimla and Manali shows that sometimes the journey can be as memorable as reaching the destination.
My trip to Shimla and Manali in 1992 was memorable not only for the challenges we had to overcome but because both my mother and my mother-in-law travelled with us. It was a family trip and we were a big group of ten people. We faced obstacles even before the trip began, but nothing could dampen our spirits.
We purchased our tickets three months in advance. Four tickets—that of the three of us and my mother-in-law—were semi-reserved: we could board the train but would have to share our berths. We felt there was plenty of time for the tickets to get confirmed. Much to our surprise, when we checked the status the evening before our date of departure, the four tickets had not been confirmed. Imagine our plight. We had our bags packed and everything!
We decided to travel separately. My husband and I sold the four tickets and bought confirmed tickets on a first-class coach to a station before Delhi. My mother-in-law had complimentary freedom-fighter passes for herself and an attendant, so my son accompanied her. We then requested the TTE, and thankfully for an extra charge he allowed us to carry on to Delhi, and onwards to Kalka.
At Shimla, where we met up with the rest of the group, we had no hotel bookings. A senior manager in my husband’s office who was on the board of a government body insisted we stay at the government guest house. He wrote a letter of recommendation. Thankfully all of us could be accommodated at the guest house. Our next stop was Old Manali, where we stayed at a beautiful resort surrounded by apple trees. The caretaker was kind enough to gift us with sacks of apples which my sisters carried back to Kolkata. Back home we heard the apples had come in handy in Varanasi where they made a pit stop. A troop of monkeys stole my eldest sister’s chappals. She threw some apples at them, and in response they threw the chappals back. Thus, the footwear was retrieved.
On the trip we constantly felt we were being rewarded for our determination to take on challenges. In Shimla we managed to stay in a lovely guest house for no charge, and in Manali we received a gift of delicious apples. Though it didn’t look promising at first, we ended up having a lot of fun.