Mornings at Birdsong Home are for the soul. You wake up to views of the hill towns of Kurseong, Sonada and Ghum, and the winding Hill Cart Road of Darjeeling in the distance. Bluebirds flit from one branch to the other energetically, announcing the sunrise and the beginning of a new day in the hills. This is the life 64-year-old host Alka Patodia dreamed of for years when she was living in Kolkata.
About the homestay
“I always wanted a house in the hills where I could be one with nature,” Patodia, who grew up in a Darjeeling boarding school, tells me. Patodia bought the three-acre plot of land, in 2011 and built it from scratch. Initially, she built just one guest room to rent out so she could generate some income for further construction. Now, the homestay has four units for guests. Two of these buildings are completely private, with just one room each. Of the other two units, one has three bedrooms, and the other has two.
The terrace suite is an independent unit that’s perfect for families, with two bedrooms, a spacious living room, a kitchen and dining table and a large verandah. Spacious verandahs are a feature in all units and each comes with sofas and a wooden swing to enjoy the views. There are also spacious terraces on the roof that are great for stargazing. There are forests all around and hills in the distance—the Kanchenjunga is not visible from the homestay but Patodia says the trees and birds make up for that.
All rooms come with ensuite bathrooms, oil heaters and bed warmers, electric kettles, a microwave, common induction cooktops and fans. “Unfortunately, this is the first year we’ve used fans at Birdsong,” Patodia laments. “I can only hope that 10 years later, we don’t have to install air conditioners.” Mirik typically enjoys pleasant weather year-round, with temperatures dropping to -1°C in January and February. Patodia says the winter months might be uncomfortable for guests who aren’t accustomed to the cold and the chilly winds, and recommends visiting in the summer or towards the end of the year.
A highlight of the property is the large community or yoga room with windows on three sides that allow for fantastic views of the forest and the hills. Patodia uses the space to invite yoga teachers to host intimate yoga retreats for 10-12 guests. When she isn’t hosting yoga classes, the room is used for indoor games like carrom or board games and is open to guests who simply want to come in with a cup of tea and cosy up with a book.
About the host
Patodia was a Moral Science teacher at Loretta House in Kolkata for 22 years, where she oversaw a teaching program for underprivileged children. Married with two grown daughters who live abroad, she longed to move away from the city and back to the hills she grew up seeing. It took her three years to build Birdsong Home, and she even put up her Kolkata home on Airbnb to fund the dream. She splits her time between Mirik and Kolkata, where her husband is still based, and is a jovial host who is happy to chat with guests over meals.
Patodia is also on a mission to travel more. “I want to do at least two international trips and two trips in India in a year, that’s my goal,” she tells me. “My elder daughter lives in Amsterdam and my deal with her is that I’ll visit her if she takes me to a new place. This year, I travelled to Korea with my school friends and Germany with my daughter. If I don’t travel now, when will I?” Even when she’s globe-trotting, she’s available for guests through Whatsapp and is an active and involved host. When she’s away, her caretaker Mankar Suba is in charge and helps guests with their needs. Patodia lives at the homestay with her pet dog Django and cat Munnu.
The food
Suba cooks all the meals at the homestay. A Mirik local, he has an innate knowledge of the surroundings and the produce, so don’t miss the opportunity to learn about local ingredients and trees from him. Breakfast is typically a combination of one fried and one non-fried item. ���Many people don’t want to have fried food at all, and some only want to eat fried food because it's a vacation, so we do both,” Alka says. Expect chole-bhature and upma, kachori sabzi and poha, aloo paratha and dhokla, and eggs to order, along with tea and coffee.
Meals are a mix of Indian and Nepali cuisines—there’s no European food at the homestay. Though simple, all meals are packed with flavour. Try sabzis made with local ferns like mingore and munta, Nepali dal with rice, mushroom sabzis, thukpa and juicy momos. The homestay does not serve any fruits. As per Patodia, Mirik typically receives second-grade fruits from Siliguri which she does not like to offer to guests. If you bring your own fruits along, the staff is happy to cut them up for you. Guests also have the option to cook for themselves on the induction stoves, however Patodia recommends this only for quick, easy ready-to-cook meals and not elaborate ones. Don’t miss the local herbal tea served here, which is made with bay leaves, cloves, ginger and just a few specs of local hand-rolled tea.
How to spend 48 hours at Birdsong Home
For Patodia, Birdsong Home is a place for rest and relaxation. About 1.5km away from the main town of Mirik, the home is surrounded by forests and does not have restaurants or activities nearby. Instead, she recommends using nature to make your own activities. Enjoy a 1.5-hour walk to the Ranghbhang River or through the tea gardens close to the property, or take the steeper and more challenging hour-long walk to Mirik Lake and Mirik Bazaar. In the main town, Alka recommends trying Cafe by the Lake for European food and Hotel Jagjit for Indian food. Don’t miss visiting the vibrant orange orchards close to Mirik. When you’re at the homestay, look out for its many resident and visiting birds, like bluebirds, finches and robins. Last year, Patodia even spotted great hornbills at the property for the first time. Patodia plans to grow several fruit trees on the property to attract more birds. Here, doing nothing is the best way to pass your time and to make surprising discoveries about the trees, the birds and the hills.