Monday, June 8, 2009

Head to the clouds

Quite recently, one of my Belgian clients came down to Calcutta to supervise the "kick-off" of a new project named Swapmee. Its an interesting concept and the project is going to be initially in French and English and subsequently, several other European Languages. Michel my client, was in Calcutta for about a week and then we planned to make a short trip to the mountains of North Bengal. In the weekend, we did all the planning required and I did need a breather, away from all the work and pressure.

The trip lasted a bit longer than what we had planned, thanks to the incessant rain and landslides at Darjeeling. Nevertheless, the trip was a welcome change of pace from the hustle and bustle of Cal. The mountain air did both of us a world of good though we were unable to move around too much due to lack of transport and visibility. We were two different people from different countries and cultural background, but as we spoke and shared our interests and lives, we found an uncanny similarity that bonded a friendship between us. It was quite interesting to talk about normal things for a change and quite frankly I was happy not having to do too much with my Laptop for a whole week.

We finally managed to rent a car from Darjeeling to Siliguri where we parted ways. I took a bus to Cal and Michel took a train to Varanasi where he planned to stay a couple of days before going to Delhi. Though I am more of a "beach" person, I could not help but be mesmerised by the scenery at Sikkim and Darjeeling. I miss sitting at the hotel balconey and sipping red wine while taking in a view of the cloud covered peaks and enjoying the cold weather.

Au Revoir Darjeeling!!!