Darjeeling is the queen of hills and rhododendrons are the shining crown of this queen
Photo curtesy: Pixabay It was nearly sundown on a balmy March evening when I reached Darjeeling - the queen of hills. The soft orange glow of the setting sun bathed the majestic Himalayas. As the car meandered through the serpentine mountain road, I forgot my motion sickness and couldn't help but marvel at the vast expanse of tea gardens, ever-rising pine trees, and twinkling lights from the houses like stars have descended on the earth. While I reveled at the picturesque beauty laid out in front of me what caught my eye rapturously was a tree laden with bloody red flowers - inciting and enchanting. I just couldn't take my eyes off them dotting the road on either side welcoming you in its magnificent embrace. Have you ever felt like that? Mesmerized and oblivious to anything but that one thing that crept on you unknowingly and kept tugging your heart incessantly? This is how you feel when you lay your eyes on a guras tree for the first time. Its sinuous branches burs...
