A Cancelled Trip to Darjeeling

It all started with a setback, a trip to the mountains that got cancelled hours before we were to board the train.

I was interning at the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce and in search of respite I had planned for an impromptu trip to Darjeeling. After some time on Google, Tieedi, a beautiful forest garden was set to be my destination.

Tieedi, Forest Garden, Darjeeling
One of the costlier accommodations at Tieedi. Of course, we went for the cheaper ones!

Ayan and Saikat had agreed to accompany me. The booking went smoothly, Aashna there, had set us up for a budget accommodation. Getting confirmed train tickets in that short period of time was challenging but with some luck, all played out well.

However, two days to the trip, Ayan backed out for he had to turn up for an interview. It was sad but understandable.

But then, Saikat! My deaaar friend Saikat called the trip off just 8 hours before our boarding for reasons he knows best.

It was heartbreaking! On Saturday, September 1st, my birthday, I was about to read Ruskin Bond on a table sipping coffee before a window that extended off to paradise. Instead, I found myself at the office comparing vendor quotations and mass mailing to a 2000-odd list.

I knew that I had to plan another trip and this one couldn’t fail. I was sure that if I had to leave alone I would!

An Interesting Facebook Profile

A few months had passed and by then I had started working at The Bengal Chamber. I had applied for an internship. On my way towards the Titan office, I was swiping right on friend suggestions on Facebook. Swipe, Swipe, Swipe; Upesksha Basu – Lives in Shillong; clicked on Add as Friend in a jiffy. And boy! I was a Facebook Friend in no time! It turned out that she was a junior at my college whom I had never met.

The start was a “hi”! Then there were longer chats; by long I mean a few sentences (I can be anything but a text person) after which followed occasional phone calls.

She had pretty cheeks, an adorable jawline and a few pimples that only made her handsome. But she was much more than that. I was fond of her intellect but what kept me connected was her wonderful taste in literature. She would speak of everything from Bibhutibhusan to Sir Arthur while I attempted to convert her from Real Madrid to Barcelona (I actually bought a Barcelona kit for her!) at which I had some success; and amidst all conversation, I made a halfhearted promise of visiting her at Shillong.

Coffee with Upeksha

She was in Kolkata at that time, when we got to meet for a coffee at Coffee House at College Street (obviously). I’m generally an introvert but I did all the talking. And with her cigarette smoke, time went flying. I returned with a copy of Aranyak and she with Far from the Madding Crowd (Could I have gifted any better? Probably!).

On my way back, when in the metro, I made an attempt at reading the book. I managed to read the first few paragraphs before the words started breaking my jaw. Interestingly the author mentioned Garer Maath which I coincidentally was travelling past right then. However, my reading did not proceed further for a few weeks from that point due to my poor proficiency in reading Bengali. It was 6 years since I had attempted to read or write a complete sentence in Bengali. Clearly, I needed an English translation of the book.

Subhodeep Sadhukhan - Facebook Story - Aranyak
I posted this as a story on Facebook. Very pretentiously trying to make my Sundays look cool. They are absolutely not!

I Think She Likes Me!

Her stay in Kolkata was over and it was time for her to go back. It was only when she was on her way from Guwahati to Shillong that I realised that she perhaps had a liking for me. I had promised to call her up during her “boring” taxi ride to her university and I couldn’t keep it. She made it obvious that she was upset.

Conversations continued as she resumed her university. We’d both agree that we formed a mutual bond. It was obvious from the amount of time we started to take out for each other from how busy both of our lives were. I used to finish my lunch in 5 minutes so that I could catch her on the phone for two. She’d do the same.

The days started from morning cups of tea over Skype where I got to adore her bunny teeth, the view of the mountains over her silhouetted shoulders with her hands on the windowsill as she looked out of the window, the blue walls of her dorm and some fine art that she put up on her wall.

To be continued…

Umm okay, an interesting thing has happened. She read has this till here and has also left a comment! 🙂

I’ll continue on the next page.