The girl behind these inspiring late 1960's designs, Kripashna Dhamala adds her very own touch of funk to her style. By owning this challenging hippie/boho fashion, Kripashna has been a head turner of approval and disapproval in our town. Nevertheless, Twisted Tulle loves her creativity and style.

Shoot collab with Gyalshenla Kitimon from Spot the trend. Pictures by Sangam Mukhia

    A quaint little town tucked away in a valley between two hills where I grew up, where it all began. Known for it's pleasant weather, I'd say the Summer Sun can tan you pretty bad, especially when your school made ‘long march past practices’ compulsory. But as far as I can remember it hardly mattered.

       Talking about school, the Navy Blue Uniform always brought with it a humble pride. Ofcourse, there were many other uniforms that filled the town after 3pm, red sweaters, maroon cardigans, and let's not forget some grey. Tuitions, dates, or mere shopping after school, you would see them all if you managed to get the long end stools placed infront of a large glass pane, at the very entrance of 3cs.

       3Cs, a bakery situated in the midst of many clustered buildings where you were likely to end up, if you wanted a chit-chat session with your girls or simply a black forest. For Pizza with Pineapple toppings or THE ‘Megabite’, you could always run to Pizza Hut Pan, while making a stop at Gompus to pack some soft, round momos for later, i.e if the aroma of pork momos coming from New Restaurant didn’t tempt you enough. I don't want to not mention 'China Garden' here, for it's fried rice and chicken chilly always filled us when we were starving. So you see, finding an eatery was never a problem. :)

       There was no problem in finding a taxi either if you ever had to getaway from the humdrum town affairs. You obviously didn’t have to raise your hand and whistle, for the vans were always lined up and you could always choose. With the fare being pretty reasonable, you could reach anywhere in and around Kalimpong. Very few of us know where "Puje Dara" is and if suppose you don't, I'd like to let you know that the view is splendid and the place, very romantic. Consider that a dating tip if you are in Kalimpong. :) Tourist Sites like Deolo and Durpin, well the locals, the youth to be precise usually went there with their dates. Away from the hustle bustle and to avoid the ugly fate of bumping into a relative, I must say it was smart thinking. :) Once upon a time, I did too but that's a whole different story.

       Story reminds me of 'The Upasak Bookstore', where i bought my 'Barbie Comics' as a kid, also where i got my first 'Record Magazine' and not to forget every other book I ever required. I still remember a curly haired uncle behind the desk. He turned out to be a friend’s father. :)
Now, if you happened to move along that way, you might as well have climbed the tiny stairway that led you into Elida, a parlor where the ladies were usually lined up, except there was no queue.  There was Strawberry, Kanchan and the Kachar pachar, Laphing acha and then all the things 10th mile had to offer. :)

       When it comes to the things Kalimpong had to offer, it wasn't much but it defintely was more than enough. We may not have had any fancy stores or tiny mall-like complexes but we had WestSide and Shambala for fashion, and we didn't quite complain. There was Novelty Cinema for the latest movies (tickets costed 30 bucks the last time i went there), and ‘King Thai’ if you wanted to get a Cosmopolitan or a 'Blue Lagoon', or if you simply had 'alcohol motiives'.

       Now Blue Lagoon reminds me of Pudung for no specific reason. My friends would bunk school and spend all day out there. That wasn't necessary but im too lazy to backspace all of that. Pudung was the only place for swimming back then although now there are other places you can go. I visited the pool at Relli long after my school days and all I can rememeber is floating for hours with the blue sky and some cliffs watching me. I might not have expressed that very well, but it was beautiful. (Also.I've learnt how to swim now)

       This town , every alley that one took as a sort of shortcut to reach tuitions on time, every known place like 'Cool Cyber' (where we sat for hours), or 'Dharmodaya' (known for sir bikash's tuition), every winding corner has it's own story to tell. Now, some people might call it a "busty" (so I have heard) but it is a beautiful one and you can't deny that, if you have lived here for a time longer than you can remember.
It is all these little things that make it my special place. A place where i'd like to retire in, if given an assortment of places.


                                              P.S : This week was very hectic and we couldn't work on anything. When I sat down to write, Kalimpong was not in my mind but now that I'm ending this, old memories are coming back to me so I might actually text a few old friends after. Also I am deliberately not putting any pictures of Kalimpong (simply because this post was an 'on the spot' one and I don't want to google some relevant pictures). That’s twisted for you. :D

Well,I hope it reminds you of the good old days you have had years ago or maybe in the recent past.. Whatever the case, it is all about the memories. Right?