Proud to be a Sikkimese: Sikkim Travel, Culture & Local Heritage

 1.  I could not watch Rahul Gandhi because of my umbrella 2.   My anecdotes with NB Bhandari 3.   Be our guest; return as a friend!! 4.  Anecdote: Scissor inside a bamboo root 5.  Me, my Dhaba and his world of Wynberg – Allen School 6.  SIBA NARAYAN PRADHAN: LEGACY OF THE GRAND OLD MAN OF RONGLI 7.  Reminisce of a war hero 8.  Rifleman Padam Singh Gurung : (Born 22.12.1913 - Death 11.07. 2012) 9.  When the Alwynian met after 41 years in Sikkim - i 10.  When the Alwynian met after 41 years in Sikkim - ii 11.  Rs. 95,000 worth 16 pumpkin seed

Anecdote :  When I last heard a scissor, not of proper use, was thrown at the bushes at Shantinagar just near to my home some 19-20 years back and when in 2015 people were digging the field for the construction of the new building they found it and gave it to me. Over the years the roots of bamboo growing nearby had gone through the scissor. Thus making an amazing story to be re-told. INTERESTING MATERIAL FOR MY MUSEUM!!

Dear Bebay SO SWEET,  and I HATE YOU!!  These were the first two sentences I heard from you, and believe me, I told myself I love you. Over the years, I have wondered days and nights about what the first sentences you would toss at me would be. I am not amazed or surprised by your 'I hate you’ phrase; I can see through your outlook behind those straightforward expressions you had picked it up. I always talk to myself when it comes to you? Read my lines I do talk to myself; well most of the time. Life is always full of paradoxes, and we all need to admit those facts. I cannot reshuffle those bygone moments that you and I missed. The moment we lost will always haunt us, and I do feel it is the same with me. I do not have anything to add to that unhappiness; it was my loss, too. I am equally affected by it to date. But if truth prevails, I am sure it is near you. Do look at your surroundings to find the truth that you, too, need to know. The sounds of a clap don't c...

  I still remember RB Subba, Hon’ble Minister for Human Resource Development Department of Sikkim, during his recently concluded Teacher’s Day speech at Chintan Bhawan, Gangtok said, “…..this year is a sad one as one of my teachers passed away who had taught me at my elementary classes. A teacher with whom I fought against and defeated in his last political battle. He was none other than NB Bhandari, former Chief Minister of Sikkim”.  Nar Bahadhur Bhandari, three times Chief Minister of Sikkim, passed away two days before my 39th birthday day in New Delhi (July 16, 2017) after a prolonged illness. I was in shock, like most of the Sikkimese and Nepali-speaking population, that just a few weeks back, a letter written by Mr. Bhandari to Bhim Rawat, President of the Press Club of Sikkim, had surfaced on Social Media regarding his words on the ongoing Gorkhaland issue. He would come back to support the movement of the Gorkhaland.  Returning to my childhood, I don’t r...

Nirmal Mangar, my good journalist friend shares his anecdotes meeting with Prime Minister Modi. He was among the Sikkim Journalist Team that got an opportunity to witness the proceedings of parliament at New Delhi last year.  Nirmal Mangar in his facebook status writes.... " It was last monsoon, I got an opportunity to meet the man of India in Parliament House, I felt pompous and happy to thank him on mentioning Sikkim's organic mission in both the parliaments ( of India and Nepal) also not to forget his Germany visit. I still have a strong memory of him telling ' Main January mein Sikkim aunga (I will come to Sikkim on January) and will declare your state as the first in the country to adopt organic farming ' Finally, the great moment has arrived." Truely a great moment has arrived, we all Sikkimese is awaiting this big moment when PM Modi will declare Sikkim as the fully Organic State.

I am a proud Sikkimese, and whenever someone points a finger at my Sikkim, it obviously hurts me. Being blessed to be born in this serene land of Sikkim makes me more attached to nature and its surroundings. For the last seven years, I have been blogging about Sikkim and sharing my knowledge with the world. From my side, I am promoting my state and proving a point that a name called 'Sikkim’ exists around the globe. Sikkim is a small and young state….once an independent kingdom that became part of a mighty Indian Union. For the last ten years, we (on our own) have been emerging…well, growing in different sectors like tourism, education, and others. Our state's growth in the last decade can be compared with any place in the world. We were in high spirits when the global travel guide Lonely Planet named our state the "best region to visit in 2014.” It was, in fact, a matter of pride for us. A few days back, a writer published an article titled ‘North Bengal, Sikkim; Manas N...

This was an interesting read about our Agya Danny I came across today. In this piece of page from an old Hindi film magazine, an anecdote is mentioned about Danny Denzongpa in which it writes that once Danny was traveling in a plane and while getting accustomed with an Oxford return Indian who pretended not to know him. Danny had introduced him to be from Kathmandu and made Yak Cheese that was exported worldwide.  The person seated beside him had his jaw slumped and Danny continued to tell the man more about Cheese until the person had enough of his foolishness and fell at Danny’s feet and told that he knew that, he was talking to no other than “Danny”. Danny denies and continues his word and says….he looks like him (Danny) and he had been told by people before! Agya you are simply amazing......always love you!!

I was going through an article from the book "The British, The Bandits And The Bordermen," and there is something I could not stop myself from sharing with my readers. It is an interesting anecdote; it could have been more serious then, but I could not let off my smile from it while reading it now. The book is more of a biographical account of Border Security Force's founder-director general, K F Rustamji.  The book is based on more than 3,500 pages of Rustamji's diaries, and the articles present first-person accounts of some of the tumultuous developments, such as the partition, Chinese aggression, and the Indo-Pak war. One of the articles writes about a unique gift Jawaharlal Nehru received on his 70th birthday from Madhya Pradesh Police. The gift was nothing more than news " of the death of the dreaded dacoit Gabbar Singh, who went on to achieve cult status post-Sholay." Rustamji writes, "Gabbar Singh and his gang had been killed in a bold encount...

The stage was set for the Yuvraj of Indian Politics at Palzor Stadium, Gangtok. Like many others, I was in a queue at the stadium's entrance gate under the scorching summer sun. With crowds rushing up like ants, the scenario everywhere was much different from what  usually happens in Sikkim politics.  I could hear national integration songs being scored up loudly on microphones as if I was about to witness a National festival, much like Independence Day or Republic Day. Among the crowd, I was holding a small handbag with an umbrella inside, as rainfall is unpredictable in this part of the region these days. Congress supporters of all ages from every corner of the state had gathered. With all the hushing and pushing, I made my way to the security personnel who were checking every individual entering the stadium. I had my bag in front of me, and as I was ready to open the zip of my bag, I was told to keep aside the bag before entering the stadium. I showed them it was only an um...

BY SHITAL PRADHAN I feel very strange; the way the world is rolling on and on each step surprises are following up. In my three decades....well, well, well when I write on the historic perspective it does not mean that I am sort of an old man with spectacles and being with books and materials of the past. I am asked how old am I, well I am much younger than I look I just reached 30 this July and I enjoy life as any other normal youth does...it is just that passion on Sikkim, I am more involved over it...Nevertheless, I enjoy what I do and that is the secret of my living. A person without a goal is much like a snake without its venom. I do not know whether my saying fits here. Ya coming to what I am writing this time. Internet today is something like we cannot imagine life without it. Much like some decades back it was mobile than television and similarly, it was radio and so on. When I look back at my old photo albums I have few or say around 7-8 photographs in black and white w...