Calming Kalimpong

The sizzle of the glooming, shrouding black balls of overwork, of work pressures, of social anxieties had made me completely erratic. I had to travel to some place which could offer me some peace of mind. I was listless, to the extent that to be able to read a book in the comfort of a dark room with just the rains pouring from above, in the nuke of a hillock seemed like a 'living' dream. Converting into a "tourist" from being a "traveller" or even a Mormon, closeted, seeking just a change of scene and place served more than enough for me. 

People don't realise this, but the trick to travel towards the east from Bihar is to start early. Leaving just an hour early in the morning saves around three hours in the evening. And, if you are actually diligently driving, not stopping much at every milestone you think you have achieved in this 600-kilometre drive, you save a lot of time. 

The Asian Highway, the AH-1, starts in Bihar from Muzaffarpur at a spectacular ninety degrees, laying itself out as a 2-lane wide walkway inside a huge garden with dividers and green beds exquisitely cut on a cline. The metaphorical walkways undertake the huge traffic of big trucks, containers, and of course, the passengers from mainly north-east and beyond into the Indian hinterland and out. That day, those walkways opened to the cloudy, misty environs with slight to medium drizzle and the most beautiful landscape in front. It never seemed like it was a man-made expressway. Always a manmade trail in the nature park, for the coming few hours. The ride on these roads in Bihar is completely silent, peaceful and mundane with greeneries on either side of the road. With little to no habitation (surprise! surprise!). The splash from the streams flowing into the Koshi and the Ganga, and then the Koshi herself near Narpatganj drenches the road. It seems dreary at times, and if you ever saw the sorrow brought upon by the Koshi, you feel that horror here too. 

It rained cats and dogs that day, almost the whole distance to Araria. Cars splintered gravel onto the cars behind. The glass of our car almost chinked, still unsure if it really broke. But gracefully, the journey went without hiccups both ways. You enter the Bengal territory after Araria, after narrowly crossing into the Kishenganj district. 

The target to reach Araria is 3 pm, which, if achieved, saves you hours in the upcoming hilly climb. 

This time it went up to 4.05 pm. 

After Araria, you move away from the AH-2 only to connect with it at a later point via a state highway. The highway, another 4-lane expressway, was well prepared this time in the span of around six months. It probably anticipated the rainy season this time. Freshly-laid concrete here against the pothole-filled AH2. You don't have to meet AH-2 anymore if you want to reach the hills in Bengal. But, if you are moving towards Assam you would want to continue or join onto AH-2. 

The Google Map works surprisingly well in these routes. It merges into four-laned NH327E. The last toll booth on the NH 327E was Jirangachha, a seemingly Bengali name exemplifying how Bengal was already reigning the air. This NH used to be a single road, a decade ago. But the alignment of Centre and State proved to be a blessing. The undulating pitched surface on entering Bengal, on the other hand, elucidated the discord of Centre and State. Unfair, though prevalent.  

Galgalia is the border town. One doesn't enter the bazaar, only bypasses it. 

The first town on the other side is Khorabari.

There comes a fork on the way, both leading to the same destination. Last time, we had used the left to go to Darjeeling, which, according to Google, was 35 minutes slower. This time, after much deliberation and getting over the apprehension of Google's possible attempt to screw us, we took the right to reach Bagdogra, only to find another fork. Onto the right, there was a 'no' goods vehicle entry. Our car could barely make it through, but there was a "goods" vehicle toddling down the road in front of us, to which the barricade meant nothing. So, who gives a damn, on we went! 

The road was barely illuminated. It was almost black, I distinctly remember. I compelled myself to link the region with the image of Kalimpong from what I had read from the book of Kiran Desai. I don't remember much about the book, but it was gloomy, paranoid, and too verbose for my taste to finish. From that book, I had gained a prejudiced view of the area - too poor, too discriminating, too unclassy. 

There were a lot of towns along the way with 'Khorabari' in their names. One such hamlet, or was it a bazaar or a small town, was Rupanjote Khoribari. I needed to remember that name to assure my driver, a supposedly regular visitor in the area, that we were on the right path. The road that swirled amongst the tiny hamlets with tiny settlements erupting here and there was nearly otherwise empty.

The rain started pouring down from those hanging, black clouds. The tea gardens had started appearing on my side and definitely on the other side. It grew darker. The tea gardens were barely visible to my eyes. The darkening roads were amply illuminated with the red and yellow radium torches and stickers, and the flickering roadsigns shone on the swerves. 

Entranced by the Overbridge for Jalpaiguri on the right, we took left to Bagdogra. What appeared too tall and horrifying, like a huge ship which somehow pedalled and got stuck inland, appeared very humble and docile when we took a detour from ............ onto that Overbridge to get back to our homes. Things do look formidable, almost impressive when you are left with your imagination. The driver actually very excitedly said, "It must be the one for Jalpaiguri". But, isn't Jalpaiguri an extension of Siliguri, or just another twin of the conjoined twins? And, from Bagdogra we certainly reached Siliguri.  

Back to the onward journey again and onto the 4-lane road on the left. The road sign showed Talpoo More. A township followed, which offered luxury cottages or hotel-stays within the tea gardens. Another road sign with Bhuttabari written on it, then we come to Bagdogra. No wine shop on the left and we crossed the whole Bagdogra with maybe no cut to right. 

North Bengal restaurant 

Asian Highway 01

// From after  and the height would start for to be navigated afterwards. 

After Bagdogara, there comes the SH12 with Matogara-Kurseong road on the left leading to Darjeeling ehich brought on a momentary lapse into the nostalgic memories. But we kept on. 

We crossed three bodies of water. First one felt like a stream, then came Mahananda, and finally Teesta. I hope the order is right. And then we were flowing onto Sevoke Road. Some BSF or military installations and dense forests came up on left and the dense jungles on the other side. Then we crossed Teesta. Oh, Teesta the Rage-Princess of Sikkim. A flashback of a turbulent, mysterious Sikkim trip. The one and only Coronation bridge, here we come! Oh, the nostalgia and the deja vu. The left from the Coronation Bridge onto the NH10 had landslides. So, the nature ride to Kalimpong in the dark was extended yet again by an hour or so. Almost 30-40 kilometres after we steered right on NH17.

Various hamlets crossed by us. Mongpong. Another was BRO Damdim which seemed to have a big town square. Then came Lava, Ambiok, etc. This time when the fork came up in our paths, Google Maps asked us to move into a barricade squeezed in by criss-crossed bamboo sticks. The driver, keeping his consistent personality, dreaded entering it. He was indeed tempted to see the distance was cut short by 5-10 kilometres. But, only when small vehicles with Sikkim numberplate started squeezing into the pinc, his weariness started fading. The lane was single, swervy, and only the small vehicles were plying with small traffic from the opposite side. 

There was even a steep down, because when we came to face it, it seemed as if there was no road ahead. The driver went out to check if there indeed was a road.

When we came out, Rangpo was only 5 kilometres away, the place from where I had descended to the plains while returning from Sikkim. So, I could have easily gone up to Sikkim. It was so close,  I recalled our driver from that trip telling us to take a day detour to Kalimpong from here. We had decided not to then.