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

AN ENVELOPE   A PIECE OF PAPER   LIST OF ADDRESSES INSIDE THE ENVELOPE I was part of a successful newspaper at Gangtok; the weekly newspaper “Weekend Review” was then considered the third party in Sikkim after the Sikkim Democratic Front led by Pawan Chamling and Congress led by N B. Bhandari, former Chief Minister of Sikkim. I had just completed my graduation when I got a chance to join the big-wig WR team. It took me a week to decide, and I was a news reporter. Even then, my primary concern was looking for Sikkim's old history. The new job was interesting, challenging, and more of an adventure. I never knew what I would do the next day or where I would be.  I was only told to file a report to the newspaper office at Gangtok every Thursday. I was associated with the WR team for more than two years till our editor was replaced, and I found it uncomfortable to work with the new editor. His lack of journalism ethics made me leave WR. Within the fol...

This article, published in the "Now" weekly newspaper from Gangtok, is a memorable one for me. It was 2003, and I was working as a reporter in Weekend Review, a reputed weekly newspaper from Gangtok. In one of the assignments, I visited Kopchay, a small hamlet, on the way to Rongli, where a man was supposedly reincarnated as Lord Vishnu's avatar and performed miracles, curing illness beyond medical limitations. I was at Kopchay by 10 am that day, and looking at the queue with around a couple of thousand followers, I thought I couldn't chat with the person. Yet I went to the registration counter and took out my journalist Identity Card, and immediately I found myself just at the door of the so-called " Kopchay-Baba ". As I was about to enter the closed door from inside, a person from behind took my camera and my handbag, I was led to enter the room with an empty hand. As I entered the room, I could see the man in jagged and torn trousers with a stinkin...