Christmas week in Darjeeling coincided with the start of the "Tea and Tourism Festival". While this meant a lot of bad live music (e.g. Nepali heavy metal bands) and worse pun-filled posters (e.g. "feastiviteas"), it gave a good buzz to the town.
This helped create a Christmas atmosphere, which was especially welcome since most people in Darjeeling are Hindu or Buddhist. However, there are many Christians too, thanks to a history of Catholic missionaries (still today the best school are Catholic-run and I've met several people who have told me that they were taught by Irish priests and nuns) and a more recent wave of Protestant Evangelicals.Cath, my flatmate from Tralee, and I spent a few hours on Christmas Eve at the Edith Wilkins Street Children Foundation wrapping around 250 present for the kids, which was a great way to get into the Christmas spirit. Christmas Day itself was event-filled, fun and very memorable. I spent the morning at the EWSCF centre. Although only some of the children and staff are Christian, the big festivals from all the main religions here are celebrated at the centre. All the children and staff gathered to sing carols, perform plays, dance and eat – people in India are experts at feeding large numbers.
For lunch we joined some of our neighbours: Mike and Denna from the US; Heli from New Zealand; Mark from Canada; and Dipong and Sweta from Darjeeling.
The food was delicious, and the mulled wine, Irish coffees and general merriment continued until after midnight.My Christmas in Darjeeling is certainly one that I won’t forget.
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