A handful of thoughts

I am feeling like going to Darjeeling. A couple of months ago, I was within 10 kilometres of Darjeeling but couldn’t make it to there. You know, ours is a life bound by schedules, time tables, sanctioned leaves, boss’s fury, unfinished work and so on. But my yearly pilgrimage to Darjeeling is overdue; I can’t stand it any longer.

I have been asked time over time - “what’s so special about Darjeeling?” “Why do you run to Darjeeling so often?” “Why are you always on the lookout for a reason, an excuse to go to Darjeeling?” Well, the answers to all these questions are one - you have to be there in order to understand its magic.

Its colorful shops, the colorfully dressed people, the kanchenjunga, the momos, the Keventers, the Glenary’s, the hot chocolate, the mist, the cloud, the sun, the rain, the Planter’s Club, the mall, the wrought iron benches, the crowd, the fashion, the lipstick, the straight hair, the flowers in the window sill, the chhurpi…………….the smell of coffee, the smell of cold, of booze, of the wish to come back.

The undisputed Queen of Hills, Darjeeling for me is not just a place anymore; it’s a phenomenon. I bow down to the elegance of her past glory - the grandeur of British tea planters and that of forgotten bungalows with colorful window panes and sloping roofs. The queen’s gown is now tattered, her throne decked in gaudy and tacky imitations; but the smile, oh the smile is still the same and can still launch a thousand ships. With her I can be alone with myself. Sitting next to her on a wrought iron bench in the mall I listen to her stories of lap dogs and evening balls and Saturday races in Lebong. Stories over she pauses and turns to look at the mall abuzz with tourists, tea sellers, pigeons and ponies, smiles, turns to me and says - “the more things change, the more they remain the same.” Then we get up and walk hand in hand like teenage girls down Nehru Road towards Keventers hoping to get and empty table on the terrace to sit with our hot chocolates and wait for the Kanchenjunga to come out of the clouds.