Day four of the vacation began with a long drive to a monastery. After two hours of drive, they reached the place around twelve in the noon. They had a guide who took them all around while telling them the history of the place. Shrishti was enamoured by how remote the monastery was and how mountains loomed all around it. Once again, she became photographer for the day and kept taking photos from every angle. But for once, her friends and Pappa were not the models. No, she kept taking photos of the place. Her focus was on the Monastery with the mountains in the background.
After an hour of looking around, they were taken to a nearby small restaurant where they had momos and some other Darjeeling specialties. From then on, it was another long drive back home.
'Enjoyed the trip?', Raghav whispered from behind her. Megha was asleep next to Shrishti.
Shrishti nodded. 'It was fun. The view was beautiful. Very peaceful too.'
Raghav hummed before questioning, 'We will reach by Four. So there is nothing else planned by Uncle for the day. Want to have tea with me at the restaurant?'
Her eyes lit up. 'With books?'
'Of course.'
She turned and grinned at him before nodding eagerly.
An hour later, Shrishti and Raghav were seated in the restaurant, sipping on tea while reading their books. It was nice end to the day, Shrishti mused as she turned the page before grabbing the tea and taking a sip.
Next day, everyone was shocked when Pappa told them plan for the day.
'Tea estate?' Shrishti grinned excitedly.
'Toy train?', Arpit shouted at the top of his voice.
Pappa chuckled. 'Yes, we are going to tea estate first, then come back and have lunch and then leave around three for Batasia Loop. Once we reach there, we will have a short history lesson given by our guide before the train arrives. The toy train will begin at four thirty and it will last for two hours. It will go to Ghum Station and back.'
Megha and Arpit cheered loudly while Raghav smiled. Shrishti grinned brightly while she clapped with the other two.
The quintet left for to visit to a tea estate nearby. Soon they were parking the van and getting out and Shrishti's eyes widened. She had seen tea estates in movies for years. But it was something else to see it with her own eyes. There was nothing but green hills around her, all having tea plants the height that reached her hips. Her eyes lit up when she saw people still working in the gardens. Ladies were wearing the basket on their backs, picking tea leaves to throw into their baskets accurately without looking. It was just like in the movies!
They were led to a tea stall on the road. Behind the stall was a winding route down the valley. It looked steep and uneven. Their guide gave them a history lesson before taking them down the route. Pappa refrained from coming. It was too steep for him, he said. Megha eagerly followed the guide holding Arpit's hand. She was ordered not to let go as the valley was pretty steep and slipping even a single step could lead to serious injuries. Raghav followed Arpit and behind Raghav was Shrishti.
Shrishti was able to get down few steps easily but after few steps, she began to struggle to get down without having something to hold on to.
'I think I will go back.', she murmured softly. Raghav turned to look at her at that. He took one look at her struggles and placed his hand in front of her. Her eyes took in his assuring expression and she placed her hand in his. His fingers folded around her hand and the grip was loose and yet firm. With his help, she began to get down slowly. They reached the guide who was standing on a small plateau. He talked to them about the place, how many acres it was and how the first flush and second flush was actually imported and was very expensive. Shrishti was fascinated by all of it and listened to it with wide eyes. The guide went into details and Shrishti could see Megha and Arpit getting bored. But Raghav was as interested as she and both listened quietly. After having the usual tea sessions for two days, Shrishti had a special interest in it now and was now eager to try different types of tea and their various flushes to see, taste and smell and learn how different they could be.
Once the lecture was done, the guide led them around and Shrishti had to grab Raghav's hand again to avoid tumbling down due to some of the even roads.
'How are these ladies easily walking through these paths?', she asked with wonder.
'They are locals. They grew up doing this.', Raghav replied.
Soon they reached a shed where people were renting outfits. The outfits were designed just for tourists to be worn and removed easily over their clothes. They were in different colours and made out of velvet. It was clearly made for tourists as the material used by locals were not costly fabrics like velvet. But the get up seemed fascinating and Shrishti could not help but want to try it. She tugged her hand which was still in Raghav's hand.
'I want to try the outfits.', she whispered to him once he leaned towards her.
Raghav nodded just as Megha bounced over. 'Bhaiyya! I want to try those dresses and take photos. Can I?'
Arpit came up behind her, making a face. 'I am not interested.'
'Lets do it.', Raghav replied, 'We should have the full experience, now that we are here.'
Arpit made a face but gave in once Megha grabbed him by his arm and shook it while begging non stop.
They went to rent outfits and began to wear them over their clothes. They only had to remove their jackets and scarves and leave it with their guide. Once dressed up, Shrishti and Megha were given imitation jewelry to wear, the jewelry looking like the ones North Eastern girls in Indian movies wore, and off they went to the tea plantations to pose. Megha and Shrishti were given a big basket, hung from their head down their back and Shrishti was surprised by its weight. To know that the women wear such baskets on their head daily and collected tea leaves was shocking for Shrishti.
Then it was time for photo session. First all four of them took individual photos and then it was Megha and Shrishti's time to shine. Megha had chosen a pink outfit while Shrishti chose red and together they made a pretty pictures. Shrishti asked Arpit to take some photos on their phones too. The photos taken by the store would be physical ones. Shrishti wanted to post some digital ones online right away on her social media.
Then it was time for some group photos. First was the three siblings and then all four of them posed. Then it was just two brothers and then Megha ordered to have one photo with each of her brother. Then Arpit claimed to be wanting a photo with his close friend and dragged Shrishti into a photo with him. While the duo took one photo posing properly for the photographer, when it was Raghav's turn to take photos, both of them turned into goofballs making silly faces to the point that even Raghav began to chuckle. After that, somehow someway, Shrishti ended up standing next to Raghav, posing with him for a photo. It did not help that the man looked lovely in violet. Did the man have to look good in every colour? Shrishti would have been annoyed about it if she wasn't nervous to be standing so close to him. The photographer took the photo but now Arpit harassed them to stand closer to take a photo. Arpit's expression was full of mischief and Shrishti felt extra nervous at the thought that maybe Arpit knew about her crush now. Hence, in the photos, she was looking spooked. Arpit had to take many photos to get one good photo of Shrishti and Raghav.
'You took look so stiff and formal. It took me God knows how many pictures to get one right photo.', Arpit grumbled before turning to Megha and huffing. 'They are posing like those old wedding pictures of couples in arrange marriage who met each other for the first time on the wedding day!' he threw his hands up before glaring at them, 'Even if you two are going to pose like couple in arranged marriage, you two know each other already. Surely, that could translate into the pics.' He shook his head in disbelief and stormed away to the store leaving behind two red faced young adults.
Wedding pictures? Arrange marriage couples? Shrishti's face was burning and she ducked her head and made a beeline to the store with her heart beating so loud that she was sure even her Pappa on the road above could hear it.
Once in the store, they paid for the photos, gave the clothes back, wore their winter accessories back and trudged upwards. This time, Shrishti chose to take Arpit's help rather than Raghav's which led to Raghav holding Megha's hand and helping her.
Up at the road side stall, Pappa waved them over. 'They are making tea from the leaves that were harvested during first flush.' He pointed over to the two ladies making the tea for the tourists in the stall. Other than the quintet, there were other tourists too around, Shrishti noticed. Many vans were parked nearby and many tea stalls, filled with people, were on the side of the road. She had noticed many people, mainly ladies, in the cloth rental store down below choosing to rent the clothes and posing and buying photos.
Once the tea was made, it was served to everyone in the stall including the quintet. The tea was the usual strong black tea with milk in it rather than the white or herbal or green that Shrishti had been trying out for days. She tasted it and did not enjoy it. It seemed that being used to variety of teas, the usual normal tea with milk was not her cup of tea anymore, pun intended. She looked up to see Raghav giving her a knowing look. She shrugged. He grimaced before drinking the tea.
'I might end up throwing away the usual teas at my home once we go back.', Raghav commented as they walked out of the stall. Shrishti chuckled. 'I don't even drink tea at home and even I feel the same. But what will you drink for your daily tea time with no tea around?'
'The gift you bought.', he told her.
'And what will you drink once that is finished?'
'Order more.', he replied before whipping out his wallet and fishing out a business card. It was the card of the Hotel they were staying in, she noticed. He pointed at the website at the end and she realised that there were two websites, one for Hotel and other just for teas from the estate owned by the owner of the Hotel. Her eyes widened. 'When did you get this?'
'Yesterday. I came down early for dinner and asked about getting the same tea online and they gave me this card.', he tapped the card in her hand.
Her jaw dropped open and she stared at him with amusement. 'You are so sneaky!'
He shrugged playfully. 'Only for tea.'
'Only for tea? Only for books? In other words, you are sneaky when it is about something you like.', she quipped.
He nodded before he looked at her keenly. 'Something, or someone! I am sneaky when it matters to me.'
Her heart thudded at those words and at seeing the look in his eyes. It was as if the word 'someone' was directed towards her. He turned and walked away and she followed him, lost in thought.
From the tea estate, it was a short drive to the Hotel where they ate and rested till three PM when they had to leave for Batasia Loop. Every one of the four youngsters were excited for this trip. Pappa was coming with them till the Loop and then after a short history lesson there, he would leave them and go back to the Hotel. Later, he was planning to come to pick them up after the toy train ride was over.
The Batasia loop was a spiral railway line and hence, the word Loop in the name. The train travelling over it made two spiral loops downwards before heading to Ghum. The station for the train was on the upper loop. The Batasia Loop also doubled up as War Memorial. It was right in the centre of the loop and when a train made a loop around it in clock wise, it was like saluting it the way one salutes Gods by going around them in clock wise manner. Shrishti was moved by this story.
The War memorial was a large epitaph which held the names of Gorkhas who gave their life for the country since the Independence. After the short history lesson, it was time to wait for the train to come. As they stood near the station, suddenly it began to rain. Everyone ran to stand under the awning of the station and soon the small station became crowded. Shrishti was jostled around till she lost sight of Pappa and the other three. She began to panic and looked around worriedly. Just then her wrist was grabbed and tugged. She turned to see Raghav who was holding her hand. He tugged her to the back where Pappa stood with Arpit and Megha, both covering Megha from both sides.
'Thank you.', Shrishti whispered and got a nod from Raghav.
As Shrishti stood next to Raghav, waiting for the train to come, she realised, she did not mind what the future held. Because as she had seen the whole day, if she needed help, Raghav would be there whenever she needed him. Raghav would hold her hand whenever she stumbled. He would bring her back to safety if she was lost. He would be there, right beside her, teasing her, supporting her, encouraging her and even teaching her. But he would be there and that was what mattered the most to her!