Transfers in tea meant a change or tweak in work environment for the husband, a different club for games, a new set of friends for us but most importantly for me, a new home. There was excitement and trepidation in equal measure about the new abode. I’m saying new but the bungalows we moved into had seen a multitude of families and bachelors make these handsome and somewhat weathered rooms into households.
The thrill of seeing an antique writing table, a new refrigerator and a well landscaped garden fully compensated for a rusted bathtub or a gloomy kitchen, the latter of which I luckily never saw much of!
There will always be a special house for all of us, for me it was the Chota bungalow in Nahortoli TE. It was a small cottage with the most charming garden which transformed from shades of green in summer to a blaze of colour in winter. This was Imaan’s first home where he had his first chaotic birthday party and like every hapless kid in tea, adults far outnumbered the children and alcohol flowed more freely than orange squash!
We spent three idyllic years in this bungalow and I would like to believe that it will always be a bit of mine.
Meet the writer: Gumi Malhotra
Hello chai people, here’s another attempt to pen down one of the million memories I carry with me. We came away twelve years ago with our hearts full ( not so much the pocket) of such nuggets. We live in Bangalore now and what started as a hobby in the gardens has become my calling. I paint pet portraits. The happiest days spent in tea were in the Jali kamra with my paints, the boys occupied with make believe cars and a steady stream of tea flowing from the kitchen. Cheers!
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Hi Gowri and Gumi - Nice little story and brings back nostalgia too. Although I never stayed at the chota bungalow at Nahortoli, I do remember passing by on many occasions. I usually stayed with Pat and Kitty Briggs at the burra bungalow, where one day I fell down the stairs from the main living area. I was most perturbed as I know that I hadn't had any excess of Carews Gin, but it was only on checking the punkah, which was swinging, and the pictures on the wall which were well in a tilt, that I realised that it had been an earth tremor/shake that had passed through the area and made me lose my balance on the stairs.
ReplyDeleteNow that is an incident to remember always!
ReplyDeleteLoved the little story. There was so much 'tea' in it that it instantly brought alive my happy years in the wilderness. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThis story brings back so many memories…
ReplyDeleteI though i was walking through those rooms!!!!
ReplyDeleteThat brought an overwhelming feeling of waliking through the Chota Bungalow
ReplyDeleteHello this is Shalini , Shalini of Camellia if any one remembers. I have fond memories of Nahartoli as we ( Rajan and Shalini Mehra) were at Nudwa for eons. A treasure full of memories awake with your nostalgia
ReplyDeleteShalini, you are never far away from my thoughts!
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