Month: September 2019

“Adda” at Temi Bungalow

Me and my friends were at Temi Bungalow and taintless adda followed for several hours – glided by as if time had stooped & put in a cage …

What is this adda all about

Since ages adda has been a John Hancock of Bengal – and this particular sitting around any niche or space over chai or whatever & that unending chatter on topics ranging from sun cooling to immediate demographic mismatches in a new galaxy – the range of topics never seems to stop amazing you ….

This adda is not just an evidence in its self but is obviously going from strength to strength:

There is a saying Others pass the time in idle chatter and gossip.

Perhaps not the Bengali. There is nothing idle about his chatter or gossip, which goes by the local name of ‘adda’. For the Bengali, adda is not mere “whiling” – it is a timeless passion. It is a conversation devoutly to be wished, and the Bengali spends hours at it, convinced of the profound truth that adda is not a waste of time, but rather that time is a waste of adda. What is the topic of discussion at an adda? Anything and everything, from mountains to molehills, from the sublime genius of Manikda (Satyajit Ray to you) to the stepmotherly treatment meted out to Sourav Ganguly by the raskails (rascals) who run the IPL.

As Amartya Sen has noted, all Indians are argumentative. If we weren’t, India wouldn’t be the biggest and most vocal democracy in the world, because democracy is just another word for argument. And of all us argumentative Indians.

If two, or more, people see the same thing from the same viewpoint, there’s nothing more to say. But if two, or more, people see the same thing in two, or 200, different ways, there is twice, or 200 times, more to say. Twice, or 200 times, more adda, based on the scientific principle that every assertion must have an equal and opposite reassertion.

& so flowed another adda at Bada Bungalow this week – at Temi over awesome spread of snack, food stall and that innumerable discussions on topics time immemorial with no supposition, assumption, belief, presupposition, presumption, conjecture, surmise, reckoning, calculation, prediction, forecast, projection for an output or an out come –

It’s all for the sake of happiness & nothing beyond .

Temi Bungalow in Moon Lit Night

The Beautiful moon lit night at Temi Bunglow did evoke emotions which defied words.
The sky was utter cerulean adorned with stars and from time to time the misty clouds were kissing the moon playing hide and seek.

The sense of disbelief as to how nature could be so much in its beauteous best did turn the evening into a long night of friendship bonding and fun banters that renounced life”s imprisonments.

“Laughing with moon mother,
Were we mingling with constellations or
Reflections?
Surely we were dreaming.

“The stars in the sky
Nature fireworks set to fly
The groups there bearing high

Amazing & absolute in the happiness that flowed “.

While the lookout deck at Temi necked itself into the hollows of the mountains below – the Bunglow stood in all It’s glory

—with the scattered lamps lit in its own poetry while the makeshift dancing floor had a huddle of ladies & gents doing the moves to a Spanish number. The Guitar played our favourite tunes
sporting Cliff Richard”s runes.

The Bunglow was alive with the lively chatters .
It stood as a Majestic portrait of a Sikkimese legacy ..
Watching The Night sky in the Wooden hallway
We Thought That We Saw An Angel Resting,
Lying Exhausted There In That Craft

Life of a Plucker at Temi

The best quality teas around the world are all harvested by hand to guarantee that the leaf is whole, undamaged, and that only the top two leaves and a bud are picked. On every quality tea estate there are hundreds or even thousands of tea harvesters, that we call as Tea pluckers. The pluckers have a goal each day and they are awarded a bonus if they exceed it, so there is a benefit to efficient work. So how does a typical day look like, for a tea plucker? Here’s this. A rooster wakes them up. Before leaving for work, the handful of leaves into their boiling water makes their favourite liquor. They march to pluck the leaves and to meet their coworkers with sunrise. The day passes for them with one goal in their mind, to pluck the quality leaves  and spread the flavours of tea far and wide.

The People

The people here in Temi live a simple life – they prefer being around nature and have adopted organic ways of living. Courteous, always smiling and helpful, the people of Temi have always given the tourists and travelers more than one reason to feel happy and safe.

To familiarize oneself with their lifestyle of the locals, travelers have the option of  staying with the locals. With plenty of homestays and home visits to look forward to, one can be a part of the everyday life of Temi. From farming  organic local vegetables to perfecting the art of conjuring up meals with local cheeses, breads and dumplings, one can become a “local away from home” at Temi. Do not miss the farmers’ markets around every village rich with organic produce directly sold to the consumers. Besides vegetables and fruits, you also have wine available, made out of local flowers, especially Rhododendrons.