Father Christmas brought a record number of travellers to Darjeeling this Yuletide, a gift that surprised even the biggest optimist in the pandemic year.
Ajoy Edwards, owner of the iconic century- old Glenary’s in Darjeeling said that the rush was so great that they ran out of Christmas cakes two days ago.
“This has never happened before in our history,” he said.
Given the curbs on movement because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Glenary’s family had baked fewer cakes. “We had prepared 3,000-odd X’mas cakes unlike the usual 5,000-odd cakes in normal years,” said Edwards.
By December 23, all 3,000 Christmas cakes were sold out. Pastries and other items can be seen on the counters but not the cakes. And there won’t be any for New Year too, as “the entire process of preparing a Christmas cake takes almost a month”, Edwards said.
Seasoned businessman Edwards was way off the mark in his predictions for cakes.
The statistics from another iconic eatery in Darjeeling, Keventer’s, tells a similar tale.
“Going by our sales figures this Christmas, I can safely say that there have been an increase of more than 50 percent in tourist footfall compared to December last year,” said Rahul Jha, owner of Keventer’s.
The pandemic had not hit India last December and thus this figure has surprised everyone.
“There is a huge queue to enter Keventer’s throughout the day,” said Jha.
The scene before Glenary’s was no different on Friday.
Glenary’s might have run out cakes but not on the fun spirit of the festival week.
A piped band from Kalimpong played on the Glenary’s selfie stand with their music synchronising with the huge signage that read: HOPE.
“We all are looking ahead to the new year 2021 with a lot of hope,” said Edwards.
Apart from the band, musical shows have been lined up at Buzz, the resto-bar of the eatery throughout the week.
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