An evening in Darjeeling with music
Posted by barunroy on May 28, 2008
DARJEELING, May 27: Evenings for tourists in Darjeeling are no longer lonely affairs ever since the hotel owners and the local civic body decided to organise cultural programmes to revive tourism in the hill town. “The tour packages are limited to just taking the tourists around for sight seeing which gets over early and the tourists are left with little to do in the evenings. The programme is meant to entertain them after that,” Mr Sangay Bhutia, president of the Darjeeling Hotel Owners’ Association, said. People in the Darjeeling hills wind up early and the town goes to sleep with the night still young leaving the place isolated. This season though, the Mall resplendent with lights and buzzing with dance and music has certainly brought to life the otherwise silent evenings of Darjeeling. The Mall (chowrasta) is now seen teeming with tourists deep into the evenings enjoying a variety of cultural dances and songs performed by local artistes. “In addition to the traditional dances of different communities we have the local bands and dancers performing both Nepali and Hindi numbers. The once-in-a-while performances by Prakriti Giri, Karma Sherpa are special treats for all,” Mr Bhutia said. Moreover the tourists, who refuse to be passive audience, are also seen dancing on the stage, which makes it all the more lively. “This is a refreshing experience as we not only enjoy but also get a glimpse of the Nepali culture,” Shubhra Tandon, a tourist from Delhi, said. For the local residents though, the experience reminds them of the annual carnival in Darjeeling. “It’s been a while since we had such programmes after the carnival. It has brought back the charm of the carnival days,” Darshana Subba, a local resident said. The political turmoil in the hills had earned the region a lot of negative publicity. “The tourist inflow has certainly increased since the programme was started. The agitation has nothing to do with tourism and the situation is completely peaceful,” Mr Bhutia said. [The Statesman]
