Writes: Sonika Uppal
With a long list of things that needed to be done, I left early for town today… armed with my to-do list, I crossed each thing off with quiet satisfaction . The weather was lovely… and every once in a while I would smile at the mountains in the distance and the thick cottony clouds that clung to them .
With no intention of walking back uphill… I was trying to hail a cab… Kalimpong has this concept of shared cabs… any cab going in the general direction of where you are going will pick all those walking in that direction… I got into one too, put on my headphones and settled with my packages between a tattooed man in shredded denims and an old gentleman who seemed to have bought greens for the next 6 months. Opposite me was a Gorkhali girl humming along with the cabs radio playing the latest Bollywood numbers . And in the front seat next to the driver was a woman with a small baby… she literally had her hands full… the woman leaned back and placed her handbag between my packages and the other vegetable packages of other people and went back to playing with her baby.
The cab stopped several times… to take people in… let people off. Not once did the lady look back to check on her handbag . Not once did anyone look at her handbag….I don’t know about any of you but coming from other parts of India… I have this zealous habit of ‘ keeping an eye on my things’ especially my wallet and handbag….
Maybe I was the only one in the cab who was keeping an eye on her potatoes and onions…. I looked around at the faces of everyone in the cab…the people of this land… this small town… almost envied them their ease and trust… their faith in their fellow humans….
A town isn’t made up of its mountains and hills and snowy peaks…it isn’t made up of vada pao or its beaches or temples or its famous dance forms… its soul and spirit comes from the those who inhabit it…. and that is what makes Kalimpong so so special…
Award winning blogger *Sonika Uppal has lived in Kalimpong for for a year. Her husband is in the army, and she is currently accompanying him in our hills for 2 years. She is a freelance writer and photographer. Her stories and articles have been published by reputed international magazines including Vogue, National Geographic, Streets of India , Artphotofeature , Artfreelance. She is a proud mom to 2 girls.
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