Darjeeling Diaries...

Amidst the July end 72 hour strike declared by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha to demand a separate State, the beauty of Darjeeling takes my breath away. The roads are devoid of tourists who otherwise would have hijacked the mall area, a place where you can sit at a Café Coffee Day, sipping your coffee and looking out at the mountains peeking amidst the fog. I wish I had an SLR camera to do justice to scenic beauty. If you just want to take a walk down the mall area, sit on the benches to chat while the furry street dogs and horses walk about, you might just forget there is a city bustling with activity and the honking cars that you left behind to steal some time away in the hills of Darjeeling. The small clean station of Darjeeling with it’s toy train parked thanks to the strike, cries out to be occupied by tourists. Eventhough the strike called by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha translates into shops downing shutters and offices not functional, Darjeeling won’t let you leave without an image of it’s beauty imprinted in your mind.

The GJM President Bimal Gurung resigns from post of Chief Executive of the Gorkha Territorial Administration which came into being on 18th July 2011 after a tripartite agreement was signed by the Centre, State and the GJM. The GJM say they are not happy with the functioning of the GTA with unwanted interference from the State Government and unapproachable attitude. They have gone back to a more firm demand for separate Statehood in the wake of the UPA 2 Government agreeing to separate Statehood status for Telengana, breaking away from Andhra Pradesh. GJM wants Gorkhaland to be the 30th State of the country, refusing to be sidelined anymore by the Centre and West Bengal Government. They are stepping up their peaceful agitation, asking tourists and school students to leave the hills in 2 days time. Torchlight marches will give way to more sloganeering with flags of GJM and other forms of agitation.

Many from the GJM have switched loyalties to the Trinamool Congress, the future of talks with the State and Centre now depends on their ability to convince them that they mean serious business. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is not too happy with the turn of events of Telengana and the echo of Gorkhaland growing louder. The GTA was her achievement and the Hills were smiling as she would say. But the people here say Darjeeling was a territory part of Sikkim in 1988 as per the white paper published during the Left Front Government’s rule and a realignment of territories took place. They say they speak a different language, their culture is different from the rest of West Bengal.

When I speak to one tourist from the UK who had grown up in Kalimpong not far from Darjeeling, he is saddened at not being able to visit there due to the bandh. I tell him he can come back when times are better and he replies saying “I am 73, I doubt I will be able to come back”. The tinge of disappointment, the pondering over the strike which will affect the economy of Darjeeling as the hills primarily depend on tourists makes me ponder. When will tourists be able to come back at leisure without being disappointed, to enjoy a sumptuous breakfast at Glenary’s or Keventers?

The empty hotels wear a longing look to usher in tourists into their hotel rooms and witness the scenic beauty of the mountains from their cosy rooms, like the hotel where I am staying at. Owned by a Tibetan, naming the hotel Seven Seventeen considering the numbers lucky with everyone’s birthday in her family falling on the 7th or 17th. She says the hotel owes it’s success to the patronizing guests…But when will luck favour her soon again? Ushering the tourists back without the disappointment of being sent away due to another strike, by the people hopeful of the birth of Gorkhaland.