The Whimsy Bookworm: A Book Blog from India

Hello Loves!  Where are the rains? It's nearly end of June and the rains are playing hard to get.  So here's a little throw back to these glorious flowers in the hills of Kurseong.  Oh God take me back to the hills.    Flowers + Mountains are a sure shot way to make me happy.  I cannot wait to go back to the hills. 

  Currently: Praying for gentle days.  Good sense.  Good news.  And goodness in this world.   In the Frame: Prayer Flags seen all over the hills. 

  Current Mood: Dreaming of the hills and running off for a holiday.  Every year (when things were good and normal) I went off on a little holiday to bring in my birthday.  Jaipur.  Ooty.  Pondicherry.  Landour.  Goa.  Aurangabad. Places I've gone for my birthday holidays in the past.  But since 2020 all of that has gone for a toss.  So today I look back on old memories and try to feel an ounce of joy.  Aaaahhh!  When will I travel again!  All of these pictures are from Kalimpong. 

 Hello Loves!  Today I am throwing it back to the time in March when I made a little day-trip to the hills. The only time I went to the hills this year. Hai what a tragedy! Hopefully 2022 has me in the hills more and longer.  I had crossed Margaret's Deck a lot of times but for one reason or another we never stopped for a cup of tea, mainly because we are either excited to just get to Darjeeling or we usually stop at the Kurseong Tourist Lodge for momos and sandwiches, so it feels a little silly to stop so soon after. But for this time we were determined to stop and see this much hyped place for ourselves.  Here are some pictures from our short stop over.  Ah! An aesthetic paradise. This view meets your eye the moment you walk in.  A little plant display.  My cup of hot chocolate. I was hoping to grab a cup of coffee but they don't serve any, which makes sense it's a tea place, they offer a variety of teas and cocoa. This is the view from the deck. Mou...

Hello Loves!  What a lovely day it's been!  Today, I left my home for the first time since October.  I dressed up. Put on Make-up.  Got in a car.  Went on a longgg drive.  & Went to the hills.  It was lovely.  Here is a little glimpse of my day..    First a glimpse of what my Sister Wore Today.  Necklace: Label Maati  Brooch: Rainbow Tales by Rhichita  Shirt: Westside  As for me, I wore alll the colours in the world.  Almost.  :)  Flower & Stone Ring: Shaya Bangles: Jaipur Street Shopping Finds  Musafir Ring: A gift from a friend for my birthday.  Brooch: Vastriyan  Dress: Okhai  Sweater: Mango  The open road is the best place to be.  We were blessed with some clouds and mist and a spattering of rain.  It was perfect.  Most people would be sad to see rainclouds come in and ruin their day trip, not me.  Rains make everything better in my world.  E...

Hello Loves!  It's been so long since I've been on the open road and and seen open blue skies. There is something magical and healing about being out in nature.  Roads leading to adventure and open spaces.  Today marks one year since I went out for fun.  I went shopping to my local mall.  Shopped.  Walked around.  Bought a few things.  Was around strangers without worrying about things.  It's been even longer since I went on holiday.  So much longer.  For now I look at old pictures and sigh deeply.    Sky. Trees. Canal. &  Water Lillies.  Trees.  Is there anything more lovely?!  I hope someday soon I'll be back here.  :) 

Open roads.  Ashoka trees, home to a lot of birds that come back home every evening.  The ceiling at the Cooch Behar Palace.  Loved the bright shades of blue used in the interiors of the palace.  The Gajoldoba Barrage.  Hello!  This first Monday of the year is rather blue.  I hope the rest of the Mondays in 2020 are brighter and happier. 

Hello!  One of my goals for this year was to go somewhere new. A place I hadn't been to before.  And I am happy to report this year I managed to go to 3 new places- Aurangabad, Kalimpong and Cooch Behar.  Cooch Behar is a town 3 hours away from my hometown, Jalpaiguri.  I had never been here before...no..wait..I did for a wedding reception when I was three, so that doesn't count.  I wanted to go see the palace where Maharani Gayatri Devi grew up.  We made a day of it and left home at around 10:30 am, a three hour drive on pleasant country roads we arrived in Cooch Behar.  This massive red and white palace greeted us as we walked in through the palace gates.  So vividly beautiful.  The palace was built in 1887 but was destroyed in an earthquake in 1897 and rebuilt later inspired by the architecture of Buckingham Palace.  Old fashioned shutter windows.  The palace...