Take Four

Bollywood invaded the Himalayan Hotel in Kalimpong (boonies of North Bengal) last night. I’m thinking it’s something like if Kirsten Dunst, escorted by a matronly aunt, Colin Firth and a film crew were to settle into the condo next to mine in Park Hill. The excitement is palpable.

I was scheduled to check out today and head to Darjeeling. But this morning at breakfast Fiorenza Bortolotti, a woman in her late 50s traveling with a mysterious (to me) group of Italians, saw me typing away on my AlphaSmart Neo and approached me. “You are a journalist?” she said. “You must see the Crookety House.”

Crookety House once belonged to Russian painter Nicholas Roerich who lived and painted in the Indian Himalayas for 20 years. His wife, Helena Ivanovna Roerich was a writer who, among other things, wrote volumes about Buddhism and the principles of Agni Yoga. The mysterious Italians are part of a Trust–Community of Living Ethics–who now owns Crookety House.

I was hoping for a reason to stay one more night in Kalimpong. Most tourists spend one night–two, tops–in Kalimpong. I’ve already been here three, even though the hotel’s business manager seems quite disconcerted by my presence (“You are traveling alone, Madam?” he’s asked more than once, as if a husband might magically manifest when he isn’t watching me). But I really like it here. And now that Bollywood has arrived, a fourth night is paramount to my happiness.

I had some adjustments to make. Fortunately, India specializes in adjustments. So although one Himalayan Hotel manager said the hotel was completely booked due to the filming of “Take Five”, the other manager (the one I’ve decided thinks I should be married and traveling with a husband or a group or at least a friend, like a proper lady) found me another room, right in the middle of the Bollywood filming! And Mrs. Norbu, owner of the Dekeling Hotel in Darjeeling, was gracious enough to push my reservation back one night.

Just before breakfast I’d done my usual meditation, asking the Universe for guidance. When I told Fiorenza that everything worked out so I could spend another day in Kalimpong and therefore visit Crookety House, she said, “Nothing in India happens by accident.”

My visit to Fiorenza, her colleague Marina and Crookety House has me smiling from ear to ear. Nicholas Roerich, in addition to painting the Himalayas, wrote books about the spirituality of the mountains.

Stay tuned for more on Nicholas Roerich and the mysterious Italians who are doing amazing good works around the world. They’ve initiated the Help In Suffering Animal Project here. They teach yoga, meditation, metaphysics and esoteric psychology, among many other things.

Further proof there are no accidents. I struck up a conversation with two young German women in a cafe earlier today. One woman, Silke, 23 years old, is a violin maker staying in Kalimpong for a year as a volunteer, teaching children to play the violin and repairing instruments. At Crookety House a calendar of events listed a concert performed by child violinists. Fiorenza started to explain that a volunteer was teaching the children to play. “I know,” I said. “Silke.”

The Italians are headed to Darjeeling. They’re staying in a much tonier hotel than me there. Sigh. I hope to get to know them much better nonetheless.