Kashmir is said to have lost an entire season. He wears thick glasses tied to a rubber band around his head. On his wrinkled wrist is a Seiko watch that stopped functioning 20 years ago. The old man, however, is a living chronicle of time in the famed hill station. Now it just gets blown by the wind like bits of paper.
Most senior residents have similar stories.
In the summer of 2000, however, mercury touched a record high of 28 c. Fans running on full speed has become a common sight now in summer, as much in Darjeeling as in Gangtok, the capital of Sikkim. Barely 5-6 years ago, I used to come to office everyday in a suit and tie even in summer. It is too hot. You look outside and see what he means. Teenagers walk around in sleeveless blouses.