Darjeeling – the hill station all of us have heard about from childhood. Known for its tea estates. The pleasant weather. The himalayan hills and the toy trains. However we hardly know anything more.
Like, Darjeeling is in the far east corner of West Bengal. It is reached from Kolkata via a place called Siliguri. It is at an altitude of 6000 feet. It is located in the Eastern Himalayas. It has borders with four of neighboring countries Tibet, Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh. And we can see Mt. Kanchenjunga, which is India’s highest peak, on clear days!
Fast forward to Oct-2025. We are planning a visit to Darjeeling in December. We are nine of us with Nandus and Mother looking forward for the experience of Darjeeling winter. We started the travel plan. Read about it - how to prepare, how to reach, the travel options etc. And from what we read, we noticed something very strange. Something which will miss the normal eyes. But something which is the most critical in our travel plan to Darjeeling. The rail route from Kolkatta to Darjeeling goes through what is known as the “Chicken Neck of India” - a small corridor which connects mainland of India to north-eastern states. And all those who travel to north-east states have to pass through this corridor by road or by rail (flight options are there for those who can afford). This is the only way. If this is cut, they cannot reach home! Because of this reason, all through the seasons, all the trains in this route run fully-packed! And naturally, the tickets on this route are of very high demand – all 365 days! The tickets just disappear before they could even appear for booking! And it is in this grim situation, we prepare to book our train tickets to Darjeeling!
As per the plan, we did research for several days. That is when the shocking reality hit us. Within 2-3 minutes of the start time of booking, all tickets for all trains is getting disappeared. Thousands sitting in various parts of country are trying to get the reservations which are available only for hundreds. Even a single mistake during booking, or even few seconds of delay will mean, we will be out of reservation tickets. Being nine of us, missing tickets will mean collapse of our entire travel plan. Darjeeling Mail is the train we planned which starts from Kolkata in the night and reach near Darjeeling on the next day. The date we need is for 27-Dec'25 which is in the middle of holiday season! Will we be able to book it for all nine?
Finally the day arrived - 28-Oct'25. The day we have to book it. The booking starts sharp at 8 am, and by 8:03 am we will know what is destined for us! By 7:50 am, on one mobile Ajith is ready with IRCTC app and details of four of us, while on another one Thrupthi is also ready for remaining five. By 7:55 am, login to IRCTC is done. We all sat on the ground ensuring connectivity is proper and there are no disturbances. All fingers ready for action. Prayers on the lips. Clock slowly ticked. Each passing second made the situation so palpable that heartbeats could be heard in the silence. :57, :58, :59 and 8:00 am!
All focus shifted to the IRCTC app. Fingers moved swiftly. Train selected. Traveler details checked. Payment mode selected via wallet and Ajith did it! The booking is done in two minutes. Four tickets are booked now. But Thrupthi has to book for remaining five. Train and Travelers are selected. Then, suddenly there is one miss press. She has to go back to correct it. With trembling fingers, we went quickly back and corrected it somehow. All in very fast, nimble way. It is proceeding further. Hands shivering, focus back. But again another mistake. The captcha missed. Again have to go back. It is put right this time and clicked to proceed. We are at 8:02 and moving to 8:03. Payment selected via wallet again. Payment selection done. The app screen is rotating in the last step, all eyes on the screen. Will we make it? If anything breaks now, there is no chance to go back. Waiting and it is rotating, rotating, rotating and then suddenly it flashed on the screen – B O O K E D! Time is sharp 8:03 am! All done and dusted in 3 minutes. We smiled. Sigh of relief. Hands still shivering. Prayers with closed eyes. Deep within, we could feel the siren of the Train to Darjeeling waiting for us!
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