"Kalimpong is a quiet and peaceful town nestled at a comfortable elevation of 1,250 meters, which ensures a pleasant climate round the year.The sub-division town Kalimpong was an important trading center in the earlier days, when the trade routes/silk routes between Tibet, Bhutan and Sikkim were very much active." This is how typically Kalimpong is described in most of the tourist sites. But there is a lot more than that as far as this lesser known hill station is concerned. All you need to see it, is a little heart and my point of view.Kalimpong has and always will be my place of nirvana, a place whose memories always make me smile, a place where I run to rejuvenate myself and remind myself of simpler days, days of innocence, days of mischief and unbridled fun and freedom.
It was the year 1988 when I first stepped into Kalimpong. I still clearly remember the trip. I had absolutely no idea how the climb up the hill was going to be. I had imagined it would be a straight inclined climb up to the mountain top. I remember it was a company jeep that had come to pick us up. Over enthusiastic as I was, I stuck my face to the window so that I don't miss a single moment of the climb uphill.
We left Siliguri, crossed the army cantonment (a lovely forest stretch with occasional army settlements and the road was way better than it is now) and reached Sevoke. I was still waiting for the climb uphill when I was informed that the ascent had already begun. It was a huge let down! The road wasn't even 10 degrees inclined and I had imagined a minimum 60 degree inclination.:P
After 20 minutes of serpentine roads up the mountain, my stomach felt weird and had I been a cartoon character, my face colour would have definitely cycled through 5 shades of green. Due to the pressure difference and quick ascent, my ears had already blocked and I was literally shouting. The only way out apparently was to fall asleep and thats what I did. Missed the hanging bridge of Teesta (shall talk about it later), the awesome ascent to Kalimpong. Just to get a brief idea about the steepness, the altitude changes from 90m (Teesta Bazaar) to 1250m (Kalimpong) within a 14 km ride!
When I woke, we had already reached Kalimpong and it was almost dark. We were to temporarily stay at a house which was on the main road just above Himalayan Stores. The windows in the sitting room opened up to the Main Road while the bedroom windows over looked the Mela Ground (the central ground of Kalimpong). I don't remember much about that house, except for the fact that there were huge rats (one of which bit my Dad one night :D ) and that there was a major water shortage.
I don't remember much about the night either, I was tired, bored cause there was no TV and nothing interesting happening and it was cold. But I remember the next morning, as if it was yesterday.
"Get up!", my Dad called out, "You need to see this." Now sleeping late was a habit I had caught long long back and I was in no mood to give in so fast. Finally my Mom shook me till I was wide awake.
My dad was standing next to the closed window, smiling at me. "Ever touched clouds?", he asked me and opened the window. With a gush of cool air, white clouds poured in. I ran up to the window, mesmerized, and breathed in the damp, suffocating moist air. My hands and face were damp. I could hardly see anything beyond the clouds, could roughly make out the Mela Ground below and a few dark figures running around. There wasn't a single sound outside, the cars hadn't come out on the roads yet, apart from a few ladies babbling below and the sound of children laughing at a distance.It was the beginning of my seven years in Kalimpong, years that made me the person I am today, the reason that makes me feel out of place in the fast paced life of Bombay, where I have got so engulfed in my work and myself that I have lost touch of reality. Life and relationships have become so complicated and measured that it sometimes make me feel claustrophobic, bitter and disgusted. And then I go back to those wonder years and find peace... and hope...
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