Margaret’s Hope - A Darjeeling Legend

 Hello again, dear readers! Today, I'm delighted to welcome another new writer to Indian Chai Stories. Thank you, Aditi, for telling us this lovely story of how a Darjeeling tea garden got its name. -Gowri

by Aditi Chakraborty

J.G.D. Cruickshank was the manager of Bara Ringtong Tea Estate in Darjeeling, between 1896-1927. His English family was awestruck by its picturesque setting amidst the Himalayas, little hills carpeted with tea shrubs and abundantly endowed with a variety of lichens and orchids.

His young daughter Margaret loved to walk through the tea gardens and spend her days outdoors. There was a little lake mirroring the blue sky. She loved to rest by it and watch the floating clouds and the fog descending on its waters, and she wrote her little diary.

Margaret fell in love with the estate and when she left for home in England, she left her heart in the hills and promised to return soon. The little girl died of a tropical disease on ship. Soon after, Cruickshank thought he had a vision of Margaret on the estate grounds. In memory of his daughter, he renamed the estate Margaret’s Hope.

Another version of the story that is popular with the locals goes like this. Margaret had a lung condition which worsened and she never recovered from it. One day her father told her that there was talk of laying a railway track on the hills and she requested him to make sure it would go by the estate. When she was very ill and couldn’t step outside, she would lie on her bed and look out of the large French windows hoping for the toy train to go whistling by. But she died soon after. The track ran close to the garden and the toy train did whistle by but her hope to ride a train in Darjeeling remained unfulfilled.

The other story narrated by the tea pickers is that Mr. Cruickshank had once said that he felt his dear daughter’s presence in the garden and eventually a couple of staff claimed to have seen her apparition. And the legend was born.

Today, Margaret’s Hope is owned by Goodricke group and is a much sought after tourist site. I enjoyed the trip to the plantation and like most days, when a film of mist covered the gardens, I thought of this young English girl’s spirit that haunts the green hills. I see her in my mind, sleeping, waking and walking her endless journey in the hope of finding her little dream, with passage of time forgetting the purpose of her wandering. She is like the mist on the hills, mysterious and much fabled.

Meet the writer:

 Aditi Chakraborty is a storyteller who remarkably paints a captivating narrative. Coupled with her undying passion to travel and meet new personalities, her journey of life has collectively shaped her thoughts that are often expressed vividly in her writing. Chakraborty has worked in the media, lifestyle and education industries across various cities in India and abroad. She holds a degree from FORE School of Management and Nottingham Trent University.

 

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My name is Gowri Mohanakrishnan and I'm a tea planter's wife. I started this blog in 2018 because one of the things that I wouldn't want us to lose in a fast changing world is the tea story - a story always told with great seriousness, no matter how funny - always true (always) - maybe a tall tale, maybe long, short, impossible, scary, funny or exciting but never dull. You will find yourself transported to another world!

This is the link to all the stories on this blog: https://teastorytellers.blogspot.com/ Be sure to add it to your list of favourites! Happy reading!! Cheers to the spirit of Indian tea!