27/06/2008 15:19. Two leaves and a bud, acres and acres of rolling hills covered with tea bushes, evergreen forest, exotic flowers, gurgling streams, waterfalls, a house on a hill top, the sunrise and, capping it all, the sound of silence.

The cool, fertile hills of the Himalayas grow some of the world’s finest and therefore, the most prized teas.

But some of the tea estates in West Bengal, particularly in Darjeeling district, and Assam are now converting their British-built old bungalows into luxury lodgings, catering to a select, but growing, band of people who wouldn’t mind paying handsomely while sipping what is called Champagne of teas (if it is Darjeeling tea) or Cognac of teas (if it is the Assam variety) amidst sylvan surrounding. Paying handsomely? Yes. Goods things in life do not always... // Sify