AN EVENING DRIVE TO - RONGTONG!
On an evening of an early spring, while we were in Siliguri merely spending the March days, we decided to go out for a quick drive amids the hills and forests of sukhna. Destination - RONGTONG! Not that it’s a tourist hot spot as such but it has a beauty of its own! A rather mesmerizing one! An easy escape for the people of Siliguri for hovering nearby and spending some good time in tranquility.
North Bengal offers a plethora of places to add on to your travel list. Out of which Rongtong is one of them. Nestled 17 kms from Siliguri and a few miles from Sukhna, this hamlet is a quaint little one which offers a great deal of picturesque views! “RONGTONG” which means paint, colours and beyond in Bengali..truly justifies its name. Different seasons offer different rendition of beauty. But out of all of them, Autumn offers a mesmerizing view. It is said that during autumn the golden brown leaves wither down to bestow the orange, brown hues of a second spring, when every leaf is a flower.
You can reach Rongtong either by road or take a joy ride by the Himalayan Railways which ply from Siliguri to Darjeeling. Both have their own charm to offer! The toy train would run down the gentle slopes of the Himalayas, piercing through the whimsical mists. It would occasionally whistle while riding alongside the abyss of the tea gardens. Then the magical ride would gradually come to a halt at this undisturbed, tiny little Himalayan station. An unusual silence accompanied by the chirruping of different birds enhances the beauty of this hill station. The slow breeze passing down the ears would definitely make you wonder about the mysteries of the Himalayas, slightly whispering into your ears that “You are free, so let us do all the worrying!”
This is a part of what I felt while I drove to Rongtong on a drowsy spring afternoon. It took us approximately half an hour to reach Rongtong from Uttorayan, Siliguri. What thrilled me the most was the railway track which accompanied us in a zigzag manner right from Sukhna forest reserve to Mahananda sanctuary till we reached Rongtong. Exactly like a meandering river it meandered, sometimes to our right then sometimes to our left and sometimes we had to cross it over. But one thing which was pretty persistent during the short drive was the golden ochre colour of the setting sun. It gleamed brightly, spreading the shades all over the clear blue sky.
We stepped out of the car to appreciate the unusual view that lay in front of our eyes! What a beauty! My mother and I walked along the railway tracks up to the station. The ticket counter was closed and no trains were expected to stop by shortly or later on. But the aura of the place was enough for us to enjoy it without the toy train. Not that this was the first toy train station that we ever visited but Rongtong has a different vibe which can only be felt once you experience it by yourself. Some untold and unsaid mystery that has been hidden and is spoken by the curling winds, sailing trees and withering leaves of that place. But definitely, nonetheless a toy train passing by would have been a cherry on the top beyond the shadow of doubt.
We strolled there for quite a while. The tea gardens which looked like green carpets peaked out from behind the roof of the railway station which definitely added to the beauty. I had my piece of joy by exploring the place and balancing out myself by walking on the railway tracks. Also, I had a quick photo shoot by sitting on the tracks. Darkness was slowly sheathing in as the sun had set for the day and it started to give us little shivers down our spines. We decided to call it a day and take a leave of Rongtong.
Before we made a start as usual I wanted to have some steaming hot momos but I was advised by my father to control my cravings till we reached Sukhna where he would treat me with good momos. None of my trips to North Bengal or Sikkim can end without a plateful of momos, which is by default mandatory for any of my outings in North Bengal. Then my new favourite place can never be an exception! Well on this note you can’t be having tall expectations from Rongtong regarding this, although it houses a few shops and tiny cafes set up by the locals on the roadside where you can stop for some quick refreshment as well, but we chose to stop at Sukhna to enjoy some tea and hot delicious momos on our way back. So we started to drive back.
Although we had left Rongtong miles back, somehow my heart was left behind. I couldn’t believe that a quaint little hamlet with just a toy train station and a few shops would woo my heart this way! With every passing minute the changing colours of Rongtong wore some unmatchable beauty! Like different colours in a palette to complete a portrait in a canvas! No wonder this place has fully justified the name kept - Rongtong! – paints, colours and beyond!
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