Darjeeling after the First Wave of Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic created short-term disruptions but provoked long-term changes in how the world lives. The economic and social disruption was devastating. As the world faced a global health emergency, travel and tourism industries came to a halt. The pandemic not only impacted the travel decision of tourists but also disrupted the lives of those associated with the industry. But now travellers are gaining confidence to make holiday plans. Author, Photographer and an ardent traveller Swapan K Banerjee visits Darjeeling and Puri.

- Swapan K Banerjee

MY maiden visit to Darjeeling planned diligently over a few weeks of frenzy, just after the first wave of pandemic eased a bit, started from the Gurudwara bus stop location in Kolkata, where we boarded a Volvo bus and reached Siliguri early the next morning.

The car driver who took us to Darjeeling from Siliguri was very amiable. At my prodding he talked about interesting things hardly known to the tourists travelling the place for the first time. As we stopped at the roadside breakfast corner, he gave an account of the Cheetahs coming down from the hills and temporarily taking shelter in tea gardens for giving birth to their babies. He also told us, during the journey, as the hills and the tea estates came into view, about brow-antlered deer bred in Coochbehar, who are then released in forests around Darjeeling.

As we proceeded towards Sonar Bangla Hotel where we had a prior booking, I could see the two feet gauge railway tracks running along the busy thoroughfare, flanked by rolling ranges, at places right outside the doorsteps of people's homes and shops.

"Kanchenjunga has come out of the shroud today after about two weeks", the hotelier told us just as we arrived. At the mall, the following day, we did sun-bathing sitting on the fine park benches with backrests placed on both the east and west sides giving access to the sun rising or setting. I had a leisurely walk among the rare age-old trees guarding the borders around the mall and enjoyed sipping freshly brewed Darjeeling tea. Later, we were overawed by Pine trees' supreme reign in Tukdah forest, dark and mysterious. How they all stood erect on the severely slanting slopes. Monkeys at Teesta-Point were so well-behaved. They seemed shy and accepted our little offerings after sustained coaxing.