https://indianmasterminds.com

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

This Holiday Season, Darjeeling Surprised Tourists With MELOtea

MELOtea fest is an initiative of Darjeeling SP, Praween Prakash It’s a unique blend of music and Darjeeling tea, with added attractions Rock band Parikrama performed and also judged the band competition
Indian Masterminds Stories

For Darjeeling, the last holiday season of 2023 was a rocking one, with the hills shaking to the beats of MELOtea Fest. An initiative of Darjeeling SP, Praween Prakash, a 2014-batch IPS officer of West Bengal cadre, the unique festival was a confluence of rock music, tea culture, local traditions, and marathon, brought together under one umbrella.

Held during Christmas, the time holiday makers make a beeline for the hill station, the fest centred around two local indulgences the place is famous for – music and tea.

Speaking to Indian Masterminds, Mr. Praween Prakash, outlined the fest in detail.

SP Darjeeling, Praween Prakash, IPS, performing in MELOtea

THE FESTIVAL

There was a time Darjeeling was known for rock music. Local rock bands used to belt out their own songs as well as croon the numbers of their favourite icons. The musically conscious people of the town, known for its world class boarding schools housed in beautiful colonial buildings, would have lyrics of international hits on their lips, and also in their fingertips that would bring the words to life in a guitar. However, over time, this music culture had begun to fade.

“To revive the rock music culture, we organised this fest. And, we incorporated another thing this place is famous for – Darjeeling tea – into it,” Mr. Prakash said.

That’s how the fest got its name, ‘MELOtea’, inspired by melody and tea.

Rocking the MELOtea Fest

ORGANISED BY DARJEELING POLICE

It was organised entirely by the Darjeeling Police with help from the Government of West Bengal and the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration. Besides music and tea, other local elements were also thrown in to add variety and flavours to the 3-day extravaganza, like an orange festival, traditional dress fashion show, orchid exhibition, and art and craft stalls at the popular open town square called Chowrasta.

There were also many tea promotion events, apart from the tea stalls that sold freshly brewed Darjeeling tea, that gave visitors glimpses of the tea industry and tea culture in the hilly district.

“From this year, we also included the annual Darjeeling Hill Marathon in this fest. The 10th edition of this run was held on December 24,” Mr. Prakash said.

This famous running event – the biggest in the region – attracts international runners as well, and carried a total prize money of Rs. 9.8 lakh year, this year.

The marathon focussed on de-addiction theme, this time, as we want to make the region drugs free. Hence, we gave the tagline – “Run the race, defeat the chase,” said Mr. Prakash.

Winners take it all: At MELOtea fest

MUSIC ROCKED

Before the running event, 12 bands that came from Nepal, Calcutta, Shillong, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Darjeeling performed at the fest on December 22 and 23. These bands had been selected from among 80 band entries. They are Ekagrah from Nepal, Ausomapto from Kolkata, Halo Scale from Darjeeling, ECC from Mirik, Acube from Kurseong, Hamartia from Shillong, Ambush from Assam, Mana from Sikkim, Chromatic from Darjeeling, Nchanter from Uttarakhand, Naughty Prophet from Darjeeling, and Guns from Country Side, Sikkim.

The prize money was Rs. 10 lakh. There was also a special award for the best guitarist in memory of late Sonam Sherpa, a guitarist of the famous Indian band Parikrama, who was from Kalimpong and had passed away in 2020. In fact, the Parikrama band performed in the fest and also judged the band competition, paying tribute to their former band member.

Darjeeling SP, Praween Prakash, who is a guitarist himself, also played with one of the local bands.

He summed up the fest by saying, “I wanted to launch a fest in Darjeeling on the lines of the Hornbill Festival of Nagaland. With MELOtea, our effort was to promote the culture, music, and tradition of the place. Hence, we had given the tagline- ‘tea, tunes, strings’. We just got a month’s time to organise it, so couldn’t publicize it much. But, seeing the overwhelming response, we now plan to make it an annual event.”

Traditional dress fashion show at MELOtea fest

Indian Masterminds Stories
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Related Stories
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
NEWS
UP Tourism
UP to Showcase Its Spiritual, Cultural Grandeur at PATA 2025 in Bangkok; Global Push for Tourism & Investment
Engineers India Limited EIL
Engineers India Ltd Expects 15–20% Rise in Turnover in FY26 Amid Record Order Book - Details Inside
BEL Bharat Electronics Limited
BEL and Tata Electronics Ink MoU to Boost Indigenous Semiconductor Solutions - Details Inside
Sanjay Malhotra IAS
RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra Cuts FY26 Inflation Forecast to 3.7%, Slashes Repo Rate to 5.5% - All Details Inside
ChhattisgarhGovt_resized
59 Police Officers Promoted in Chhattisgarh Police Department, Including 46 Inspectors to DSP Rank - Check Here
Hardeep S Puri: 11 Years of PM Modi
PM Modi’s 11 Years in Office: A Transformative Journey with Bold Strides in the Energy Sector
Karnataka
Karnataka ADGP Hemant Nimbalkar Transferred Amid Fallout from Bengaluru Stadium Stampede - All Details Here
RITES_green_logo
RITES and Hindustan Copper Ltd Join Hands to Strengthen Domestic & Global Mineral Supply Chain
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Videos
Monika Singh
Monika Singh’s Life Beyond the Bureaucracy | Video Interview 
IAS Tushar G Nikhare
Modernising Governance: A Digital Transformation in Gangtok
IMG-20250523-WA0036
Abhishek Singh's SECRET: Vipassana, Anthropology & Smart Answer Writing | Video Interview 
ADVERTISEMENT
UPSC Stories
Divyanshu Pal Nagar IFS
5 Years, 5 Mains, 4 Interviews: How Divyanshu Pal Nagar Stumbled in CSE, Triumphed in IFS - A Lesson for Every Aspirant
Divyanshu Pal Nagar’s inspiring five-year UPSC journey shows how perseverance, disciplined self-study,...
ANUBHAV SINGH UPSC IFS 2024
9 Years, 8 Attempts, 7 Failures: How Anubhav Singh Cracked UPSC IFS 2024 with AIR 3 Against All Odds | Exclusive
Anubhav Singh’s inspiring journey to UPSC IFS Rank 3 showcases relentless perseverance, strategic preparation,...
Jogender Sihag
“I Cleared UPSC, But My Grandfather isn’t Here to Hear it,” Jogender Sihag, AIR 521, UPSC CSE 2024
"Life is short; make the most of it, whether in civil service or any other field. Just have a clear vision...
Social Media
Tiger jump Sundarban
Stunning Viral Video Shows Royal Bengal Tiger Making Spectacular 30-Foot Leap Across River in Sunderbans - See It Here
Retired Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Susanta Nanda shared the clip online, which quickly went...
shubham kumar ias marriage
IAS Topper Weds BPSC Topper: Shubham Kumar Marries IRS Officer Priyangi Mehta in Patna; Wedding Video Goes Viral
Topper Couple Alert: Shubham Kumar, Priyangi Mehta’s Wedding Grabs Spotlight in Bihar
parveen kaswan elephant
Elephant Outsmarts Electric Fence! IFS Parveen Kaswan Shares Incredible Video!
In the now-viral 51-second clip, the intelligent giant approaches a wooden pole supporting high-voltage...
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Latest
UP Tourism
UP to Showcase Its Spiritual, Cultural Grandeur at PATA 2025 in Bangkok; Global Push for Tourism & Investment
Engineers India Limited EIL
Engineers India Ltd Expects 15–20% Rise in Turnover in FY26 Amid Record Order Book - Details Inside
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Videos
Monika Singh
IAS Tushar G Nikhare
IMG-20250523-WA0036
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT