Winds Of Change - Paroma Bhattacharya(Dedicated to my paternal grandfather) (story read aloud TXT) 📗

This time she passed the plantation and reached the point where she could see the famous Mirik lake. The morning mist was an all encompassing attribute to the landscape. Usually kanchenjunga is also visible but due to the mist it had gotten hidden. The lake was lined by tall dark Japanese cedars but the most attractive part was the garden on the other side. She used the foot bridge to cross the lake and then was greeted with variety of flowers for which she had waited all winter. Most of the flowers were wild but beautiful. She made her way to the Hindu temple situated just nearby. She was not very religious minded but liked offering prayers as most of them were answered .This is mostly because along with the prayers she used to work very hard towards making them true and also all her dreams were of a very humble kind. After offering her prayers she decided to head back otherwise her mothers blood pressure might shoot up. She took the shorter way home. She knew most of the roads like the back of her hand and took a lot of pleasure in observing every little thing while walking.
Lona finished her morning rituals fast with her mother on her toes.
“You keep out of danger, girl. No dancing around with your walkman on the streets of darjeeling” she said.
“Don’t worry MA, I will be extra careful. After all Shweta and Swati are also going. (She decided to do some guilt tripping) and added “It’s the last week of our vacation after that anyways there will be no time”.
“OK OK, no need to tell me that you will not find time. I will make sure u don’t have any more time for these escapades.”
Just then there was a knock on the door and Shweta and Swati showed up shouting Good Morning Aunty in unison. Shweta remarked “Are you ready to go Lona? we don’t want to be late for the show, oops”.
Mrs Roy was curious “What’s this show Lona?” she asked
“Nothing Mother just a political rally and a street drama demanding Gorkhaland” she replied.
“Is this your idea of a fun trip, I want to know exactly what happened there and more importantly you are grounded for the rest of the year. I don’t want you to be any part of these political parties. We are simple people and you can get into deep trouble. Are you understanding what I am trying to say?
“Yes mother, lets Goooooooo!, Bye MA,” she quickly retorted.

So Swati, Shweta and Lona began their trek to Darjeeling. They had to wait for the bus or the shared jeeps that used to go till Darjeeling mall road. They were so excited that they were all talking at once, their laughter resonating in the hills. A jeep finally arrived and they all got in with gusto. Lona especially liked these rides though sometimes when they were too long she was hit by the most painful migraines.
“I saw terminator II yesterday on cable, fantastic movie” said Swati. The character of Sarah Connor was especially inspiring.”
“Jimmy Connors? But he doesn’t play anymore” said Lona
“Oh Lona where is your mind, is it running away like the mist here?” asked shweta.
It was a beautiful morning, the mist was fast fading away and the rays of the sun were making everything delightful.
“Oh there’s Kanchenjunga” cried out Lona
“I saw it long back but what else is new around here!” said swati
“Don’t be such a bore Swati, it always makes my day complete seeing its beautiful snow capped peaks and sharp flanks” said shweta.
The jeep was making its climb slowly but steadily taking on passengers as it went. The girls were quiet by now not wanting to disturb the other passengers. One look down into the valley from the moving jeep would insure vertigo in the faint hearted. Mirik was at an elevation of 1768 m and was 49 kms from Darjeeling. They just passed Ghoom which was 2226m in elevation and the highest point of the Darjeeling hills region. The famous tiger hill was situated in Ghoom. One could catch a lot of tourists there with binoculars, gorging at the thrilling sites through them. After Ghoom Darjeeling was only 8 kms at a slightly lower elevation.

The girls hopped out of the jeep once they reached Darjeeling mall road. All of them were dressed in T-shirt and jeans and they looked a very hip trio. They were nicely blending with the crowd who were mostly youngsters out to have a good time. The road was lined by shopping stalls on both the sides. The stalls sold all kinds of clothes, perfumes, knick knacks etc. The girls were getting very chirpy as they strolled down the road.
“What’s the price of this one?” asked Swati to the vendor pointing to a pair of earring’s of her choice.
“Rs 20 didi” said the man.
“And this one,” asked Swati again. She really was haggling with the poor vendor.
“I think we should move on if you are not going to buy anything” whispered Shweta in her ear.
Swati paid no attention to Shweta but finally she selected a pair of studs, which she hopefully liked because she did not look too happy about her purchase.
Lona tried to hide her grin and winked at Shweta. At these moments Lona looked just like her mother with that same winsome smile.
They moved on and soon reached The Mall which was a circular open space and the main attraction of the town. It consisted of some unique shops, restaurants and hotels. Usually a band used to play at one junction but today it was replaced by a show. There was a huge crowd in front of the stage and the girls were disappointed on reaching late. They could barely see the stage from their vantage point but the voices were clear.
“We are losing our identity as Gurkhas, we should be given a separate state. Can a fox and a crow drink from the same vessel? The answer my dear friend’s is a resounding NO. The same way we cannot be governed by the state of Bengal” spoke out the man in khakhis.
Soon there was the sound of a gunshot and the man in khakhis fell to his knees. A much younger looking guy took over from there. He was wearing a saffron kurta and blue jeans. He had the most amazing voice Lona had ever heard. It was resonating from post to pillar in its quest for empathy for his cause. He was wearing black spectacles, the ones similar to her grandfathers and had a chiselled face. A dynamic Gurkha thought Lona to herself.
Gurkhas were a tribe residing in the hills of Darjeeling. Their growing population were a threat to the minority Bengalis who were living in the hills. Darjeeling was in the state of West Bengal but the Gurkhas were demanding a separate state under their leader Subhash Ghishing.
“ Friends, Gurkhas, Contrymen, lend me your ears. I come to bemoan the death of my friend Tenzing who died as you could see in appalling circumstances. And for what reason pray tell me? Freedom of Speech is an integral part of our constitution. He was not violating any law but abiding one of the facets of our constitution. In fact this man Halder violated the law by not just taking up arms but killing him for expressing his opinion. We are a great country with a diverse past and present. But if the government doesn’t value this diversity we will be losing our rich heritage soon.” Saying this he knelt beside his friend and saluted to the public.
The girls were fixated by this speech especially Lona who had started crying. The crowd started dispersing in all directions and the girls also went their way. The mood among them was sombre.
“Let’s visit the Poddars” said shweta slowly to all of them. “It might cheer us up talking to Uncle”.
Poddars was a big souvenir shop which attracted a lot of tourists because of its vast collection of antiques. “The Uncle” used to like the girls very much especially Shweta and Lona. They would point out to the new additions and how it might look better in a different position. Uncle always used to humour these girls as once they had saved his store from incurring a major Theft. It was an antique clock or more appropriately a time piece from Egypt. It was spherical in shape and could give the time of any country through its longitudinal and latitude axis. Only a seasoned time freak could get it .It was a very costly item which was getting flicked and the girls pointed it out in time. The tourist apologized for their misconduct and left quickly. Since that day Uncle was always more than happy to entertain their muses.
“Uncle, I hope you like the position of the wall hangings. They were looking dull at the sides. Now behind the counter they will catch someone’s eye soon.” said Shweta.
“Very artistic Shweta, I will remember this”
“I guess we have a long way to go now so better to push off”, said Swati.
“By the way where is Lona?” Retorted Swati
Lona was busy looking at the trinkets and pieces of jewellery. She was very fond of this type of ethnic jewellery. Dona had a dozen of such sets and she was very envious of her collection. One day she decided she will have a grandeur collection of the most beautiful trinkets.
Uncle was observing Lona deeply and decided to gift a pair of earring’s made of gun metal. The glaze on the surface of the earring was amazing and very upbeat in its concept.
“No Uncle I cannot take this gift” said Lona. My mother has given me very strict instructions not to take any gifts. But soon I will come back to you to purchase this, that’s a promise.
“Ok in that case I will reserve this for you, so that u can purchase it later., replied Uncle to Lona.
“Thank you so much uncle, I will definitely be back” smiled Lona while replying.
“So can we move now, I have some guests coming over and I have to reach home and help mother.”
“Ok you mean Hitler will be angry if you are not home soon” laughed Shweta.
So finally the girls reached the bus stand and bought the tickets to Mirik. They were tired by the outing so their chatter had receded.
Mrs Roy could see the girls embarking from the bus and was tensed all this while as to what they must have encountered in this expedition. The girls dispersed heading for their respective homes.
“Come inside immediately” shouted Mrs Roy to Lona. “What exactly happened there” asked Mrs Roy again to her.
Lona always mainatained extreme composure when she saw her mother all agitated.
“Nothing Happened Mother, we had a beautiful outing and learnt some new things” Added Lona.
This increased Mrs Roy’s curiosity and with an angry face