A corner of Bengal that supports European teams

DARJEELING: What Brazil and Argentina is to Kolkata, England, France, Portugal and now Croatia are to Darjeeling.
Unlike Kolkata where neighbourhoods are either awash with colours of Brazil or Argentina with countless admirers of the Latin American artistry and flair, Darjeeling has a splash of red, white, blue, yellow and even orange in flags of various European soccer giants.There are even flags of Brazil and Argentina in the mix.
So when Brazil exited the World Cup on Friday night, some fans were crestfallen. But before they went to bed, many switched allegiance to Croatia like supporters of Germany, Spain and Belgium had done when the sides lost earlier in the tournament.
"I did support Brazil. But now that it will not play a part anymore, I will support Croatia. They were tactically superb in the match," recounted restaurateur Kunal Singh.
While Kolkata was more anxious about the possible clash between Argentina and Brazil in the semi-final than about the Brazil-Croatia match, tension was palpable among youths in Darjeeling about the quarter final clash between England and France, which England lost. The latter has traditionally enjoyed support in the town but France has backing from the young generation.
Tourists, who were in two minds on whether to visit the hill station or stay back to watch the World Cup are glad they have travelled. "Walking down Chowrasta, it feels as though one is in a European country," said Santosh Agarwal, who is in Darjeeling on holiday.
The famous promenade that has the famous restaurants Glenary's and Keventer's wears a festive look with colourful flags of different countries strung up.
Santanu Sarkar, who is in Darjeeling to soak in World Cup spirit, said there won't be another place in India that celebrates it with as much enthusiasm.