Darjeeling Diaries 1

I’m sitting in a pub (they call it a Bar-cum-Restaurant) called Shangri La in Darjeeling. It has a wooden floor, wooden furniture, a jukebox that plays anything from Reggae to Punjabi and a huge dog (a real one that almost resembles a yak!). Oh, it also has a signboard saying, ‘Recommended by Lonely Planet’. How ironic!

Sitting here, I realise how boring my life is. What am I doing here on my first day in Darjeeling sipping beer? It’s a nice and cosy place with that British sort of a feel and it’s hard to find a waterhole like this in Calcutta but at the end of the day, it’s a pub goddamnit! Shouldn’t I be out on the streets considering I’m one of those rare creatures who were born in the state of West Bengal and finally managed their first trip to Darjeeling after three decades of suffering this world?

I have a pretty solid excuse though. Quite a few of them actually. Firstly, there’s the beer. Secondly, it’s raining outside. Thirdly, this place has been recommended by Lonely Planet. I realise I’m the only one to be blamed for this. I realise what a boring person I am.

And why pray am I writing about it? It’s pretty simple. I obviously harbour this secret wish that someday someone will read about it. So, what it means is that while I keep bragging about how boring I am, I want people to appreciate all about it by reading this. Amazing!

I have been to hill stations before. I have been to Shimla, Kulu, Manali, Chamba, Dalhoussie, Khajiar in Himachal Pradesh. I was a part of the Amarnath Yatra starting from Pehelgam in Kashmir and ending at the Holy Cave, almost 4000 meters above sea-level via Chandanwari-Sheshnag-Panchtarani as a 10-year old. I have been to Bomdila and Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh as also Mount Abu in Rajasthan apart from frequent summer treks in the Western Ghats in the state of Maharashtra when I was in college. But this is my first trip to Darjeeling, the Queen of the Hills which is only 15 hours away from my home in Calcutta.

On my first trip to North Bengal, I had gone to Jaldapara Reserve Forest in Duars, about three hours from Siliguri. Darjeeling would be about the same distance from Siliguri albeit it’s a different route altogether. That was more of a jungle expedition in the summers and I was desperate for at least a glimpse of one of the handful of tigers (the official estimate was six in April 2006) in the forest.
I was briefly introduced to the beauty of North Bengal -- the lush green tea gardens and the cloud covered peaks on my way to North Khairabari from Siliguri via Chapramari. Later, after a number of unsuccessful attempts at spotting the elusive big cat (we had actually managed to record the roars of one), I had gone to see a village inhabited by a tribe named Rava.

This in comparison is more of a quiet vacation. Does that justify my presence in the pub?