Gifts, goodbye, & return to hotel

Darjeeling, Nov. 17: A taste of extended hospitality is what the tourists staying at this hill station got today when around 40-50 of them were escorted from their hotels to the Darjeeling Railway Station, given packets of Darjeeling tea and khadas, bid goodbye and then allowed to troop back into their hotels. None of the visitors was, however, bidding goodbye to Darjeeling today.

Keen to avoid the fallout of the statewide bandh called by the Socialist Unity Centre of India, almost every tourist who attended the farewell function today had extended their stay by a day or two. The organisers of the event, the Darjeeling Gorkha Hotel Agents’ Association, however, had much more in mind.

Determined not to allow the bandh to ruin their `hospitality` plans, association members went around collecting the tourists from hotels neighbouring the station and pulling off the farewell show.

Never mind the zapped, not to mention the irritated, bunch of tourists who sat in the audience. All were presented silk scarves, a packet of Darjeeling tea and wished a happy journey back home. Only, these tourists did not leave station. As the show ended, they retired back to their hotel rooms.

`It was weird. We were given a farewell just because the organisers wanted to. The funniest part was we said good bye, got parting gifts and headed back for the hotel,` said one of the tourists. `It is a good thought but I guess they overdid it,` he added.

`Frankly speaking, I found the entire thing quite bizarre; to be told to attend a farewell function and then sent back to the hotel rooms. The idea was great but I basically wanted to spend a quiet time,` said another. Some, however, lauded the gesture.

Nripendra Chowdhury, a tourist from Calcutta, said: `We landed at Darjeeling four days ago and found the ambience really warm. We also enjoyed the spirit of the Darjeeling carnival. Even today, it was a nice and thoughtful of them to bid us farewell, though none of us is actually leaving the hill station today.`

On the other hand, an elated Pranay Rai, adviser to the association and the brain behind the show, gushed: `We knew it would be a success. The show could be postponed but we thought that since the Darjeeling carnival had ended yesterday, we should bid farewell to the tourists today. Since, hardly anyone was leaving station today, we thought of going ahead with the function.`

The transport unions, along with the hotel agents’ association, had arranged a welcome ceremony for the tourists on November 7, the day the carnival kicked off in Darjeeling.

Even as a group of hotel agents pledged to hold similar shows next year, much pleased with themselves, a tourist observed: `I think it would have been interesting if we were bid farewell by our hosts when we were actually leaving Darjeeling.'

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