Chowrasta

Bal Krishna February 22, 2025

il dolce far niente

That’s what we did, we hung around in Chorwasta all day long, doing nothing, watch life happen. I recently realized, the Italians have philosophy and phrase for this – “Il dolce far niente – the sweetness of doing nothing.”

It could mean anything, from looking at time fly by, drinking a cup of tea, “season herdai – looking at people of opposite sex” or simply guffing. When you are devoting your time on do-nothing leisure activities, one is supposed to be experiencing “il dolce far niente.”

Editorial May 3, 2024

Cheapening Chowrasta: रोटेपिंग र डाइस लाग्नूको बेर छ

When we were young, you needed a special permit to drive from Bhanu Bhawan to the Zoo. Today, there are many “taxi stands” that have come up on the Mall Road. Who permitted those stands? So much so, even the Mahakal Mandir premise has been converted into Hotel and Taxi Stand zone. Another half has been taken over by the so called “hawkers”. Whatever little is left, is at times converted into “gundri bazar”, at times to “dog show” venue, at times to “marathon venue”, at times to “political rally venue”, at times “government program venue”…

Bal Krishna May 25, 2019

फेरी त्यो चौतारी – एक भावना

A nostalgic poem on youthful days spent in Darjeeling when days are passed doing nothing but walking up and down the roads around Chowrasta.

Bal Krishna February 9, 2019

Exquisite Awesomeness of Darjeeling and Its Hangouts

So one time when I was in class 7, on my birthday – that rare occasion when I was flush with money – I ordered a Masala Dosa in Stardust and took it to school. Imagine, instead of chocolates or toffee, I took one Masala Dosa for everyone in class. All my classmates loved it, even though we only had tiny pieces each, but for most of us, this was the first time we had Dosa in our lives, at least for me it was. So to see Stardust change hands, was literally very painful for me.