diary writing for going to darjeeling
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My imaginary world of Jalpaiguri, Siliguri, and Darjeeling was created in my teen years when I started reading stories written by Samaresh Majumdar, Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay, and Rabindranath Tagore. As I grew up with Animesh from Samaresh's Uttaradhikar, my dream of visiting tea gardens of Siliguri and Darjeeling also grew with time.
To fulfill my dream, I started my journey to Darjeeling on March 20, 2018. I was excited about my trip but at the same time, I was a bit uncertain about things as I was traveling solo. I was confident enough and inwardly I felt I was daring to be me in such a “Men's World”. Reactions of people around me were, to some extent, understandable, considering the state of women here in South Asia. However, I was determined not to let gender be an obstacle to the discovery of life in my way. I flew from Dhaka to Kolkata in the afternoon, hiring a pre-paid taxi to go to Sealdah station, where I bought my train ticket and waited for a few hours. At 8:30 in the evening, I heard the whistle of Kanchan Kanya Express, my ride to New Jalpaiguri, and boarded the train. After almost a 12-hour journey, I reached New Jalpaiguri next morning, from where I boarded a shared jeep to head toward Darjeeling.
While in the jeep, tea gardens of Siliguri warmly welcomed me. The two sides of the road were filled with green, and it was a real treat to the eyes. The more our jeep climbed up toward Darjeeling the more the clouds came closer and the temperature turned colder. It felt as if I was slowly entering a cold and cloudy cave. The road trip from Siliguri to Darjeeling, with its hilly scenic beauty and tea gardens, was really mesmerizing.
After a three-hour journey, our jeep arrived in Darjeeling in the afternoon. I got off the vehicle and took in the cold, fresh air. I had booked my hotel room already on booking.com app and noted down the address of the hotel. I asked local people for directions in Bengali and English. People of Darjeeling speak mostly Nepali. Since it’s a tourist city, they are also familiar with Bengali, English and Hindi. It would be perfect for you to communicate with them if you spoke Hindi, which came as an obstacle to me as I understand Hindi but can’t speak it. I got the directions and walked to my hotel. It was a 15-minute walk, which was a bit straining as it was an uphill road.
After checking in, I rested in my room for a while and had lunch. In the late afternoon, I planned to visit the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI) and the Himalayan Zoological Park. I asked the manager, Mr Paul, a sweet-smiling gentleman, for directions. He gave me a handy map and some instructions about how to get there. Stepping out, I took a walk through Chowrasta, watching people around me and exploring myself in a new setting. The road to the HMI and Zoological Park was beautiful, a perfect setting to enjoy a lazy afternoon walk. While I was walking, I could see the clouds piling over the houses built on the slopes of the hill. I was looking at it from above. It was an amazing feeling.
At the Zoological Park, I didn’t miss the chance to look at the famous snow leopard. Then I went to the HMI and met its curator, Mr Chandranath Das, an acquaintance of one of my friends in Darjeeling, and coincidentally, a few years back he’d visited my university, Jahangirnagar University, and we both knew some of the teachers at the university.
Mr Das offered me Darjeeling tea and I enjoyed the hot tea in cold weather. He accompanied me while visiting the museum, and was effortlessly narrating the history of each element. I was listening to the histories and stories of many elements while also observing them. Three things were noteworthy in this museum. One, you could see the instruments the mountaineers used to climb the Mount Everest. Two, you could have a look at the instruments used by Tenzing Norgay from his first expedition of Everest with Edmund Hillary. And three, you could have a look at a telescope in the museum which was gifted by Hitler.