A HOLIDAY IN SIKKIM

Gangtok

The capital of Sikkim is around 120 km from Bagdogra, a good 4 hour drive. By itself, Gangtok is a very interesting place with a number of places to visit in the city itself or close by. But more about this later. First I will cover our excursions well out of Gangtok.

Yumthang Valley

The Yumthang valley (Sikkims Vally of flowers) lies 140 km to the North of Gangtok. Lachung(12000 ft) is the town which provides the base for exploring this valley. We started early and were rewarded by the beauty of the surroundings. 

 

The drive along the Teesta river is very scenic withplenty of waterfalls on the way. This part of India is really beautiful, quite untouched and the roads are quite good. The Gorkha Land agitation ensured no tourists and minimal traffic, so we made good time.

Like all good tourists, we did not miss any photo opportunity and this was the first of many.

This particular waterfall, an hours drive from Gangtok was truly spectacular. On the right, Mayanak & Dhruv pose with Kajala. This place is probably worth visiting in itself.

 

A short drive later, we stopped for breakfast at an Army establishment. As expected, it was spotlessly clean and served a great breakfast. We rested for a while and drank in the view. You can see the Teesta river meeandering through the mountainside and the rope bridge from the photos.

Four wheel drives are the recommended mode of transport in Sikkim, especially in the rains. There is a very real chance of getting bogged down…which is what happened to us.

Dhruv, Mayank & I importantly inspect the landslide. However, with the border roads close at hand, we managed to get out of this quite quickly. I still remember the dismay on the driver’s face as the BRO bulldozer yanked his new car…

Hats of to the Border Roads….as we noticed throughout our visit, they work round the clock in some very inhospitable terrain.. so that civilians like us can have a good time. This should also help me score some valuable brownie points with my father-in-law.

 

It took us another two hours to enter Yumthang Valley. The entire stretch of road is flanked by beautiful flowers. While this is not the best season for the visit, we are not complaining.

Here is a close shot of the flowers, and Kajala posing at one of our many halts. Now, at the valley of flowers a family photo next to the Teesta and the male madhwals.

It was a lot colder now, posing for a photo with chattering teeth is quite tough. You can see the bed of yellow flowers against the sandy backdrop. For me, a yellow flower is a yellow flower but Kajala was quite excited…her botanical instincts coming to the fore. She took a lot of close up shots of the flowers.

Here is a solo shot of Dhruv standing tall, and one with Kajala, not much height difference now. Also, notice his color, this is not his natural color, like me he just tans quickly….

And when you get tired of posing, this is what happens, and Kajala & I cross the bridge from the Sulfur springs. We had an interesting whiskey & lunch under the umbrellas, I will post that later.

 

 

Lachen

We left for Lachen at 5 am next morning, with the intention of visiting Gurudongmar Lake & Chopta valley. We had been warned about the effects of high altitude, but Mr. tendulkar did not listen…the result of playing cricket at 12000 ft showed up early during the day. I stayed back with Dhruv as Chinmay, Kajala & Dhruv soldiered on…

Actually I was not feeling too god myself, for some strange reason booze, cigarettes and blood pressure do not mix well at high altitudes.

Here we have Dhruv on oxygen and another photo of him sleeping like a baby.

Now we have photos of Chinmay, Kajala and Mayank in a barren but beautiful backdrop, and one of kajala & mayank and one with the shepherds and yaks.

Sometime after this Mayank puked and collapsed. Thank God for the oxygen cylinder loaned by the doctor. Though he recovered quickly (blaming the Frooti for his throwing up), the trip to the lake was aborted, just 1/2 hour from the destination. So near and yet so far….but an interesting two days all the sale. We got back late evening to Gangtok, quite tired — we had been on the road for 13 hours today.

We stayed back in Gangtok for two days to recoup and then started our second excursion to Tsomgo Lake & Nathu La pass.

Tsomgo Lake & Nathu La Pass

We started early yet again, with Reena joined us for this trip. The sacred Tsomgo Lake lies 40 km from Gangtok, on the Gangtok Nathu La highway.At a height of 3780 meters, this lake is frozen until mid-April.

These are two pictures with the lake in the background. In case you are interested, the dog is an Apso called “Phooki”. She is available for adoption, and currently lives with Chinmay at his unit.

The historic Nathu La Pass is another 1.5-hour drivefrom Tsomgo Lake. At a height of 14,200 ft, it borders China and serves as a trade route between India and China. Remember this was the old Silk Route! There was a major difference in the quality of roads on both sides of the border, I also got a “China Mobile” signal on my cell phone, but no Vodafone, Airtel or BSNL. I guess India has some catching up to do.

The Chinese post is located a few feet from the barbed wire, which signifies the border. Note the two Chinese soldiers uncomfortably cooped inside.

 

It took all of Chinmay’s charm to get them to pose! Check out the glee on Dhurv’s face as he shakes hand with the Chinese Jawan.

It is Kajala’s turn next, and then a family shot.

The Chinese officer also joins the photo shoot. This next picture is a classic and my favorite. Two officers of opposing armies, standing shoulder to shoulder with the fence separating them…awesome.

Truly a “Hindi-Cheeni Bhai-Bhai” moment.

Notice the woman on the side, she was very upset at not being allowed to take pictures, while we were happily clicking away…more awesome!

Not to be outdone, the Chinese officer takes our picture as well.

Then all of us pose in front of a commemorative stone, marking Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru’s visit to Nathula by vehicle on 1-09-1958, and patriotism in us (well most of us) in front of the National Flag.

Two more updates remain, the rest of the Nathu La trip and then Gangtok proper. Please post you comments on the blog itself.

 

 

 

 

 

Who killed Aarushi Talwar?

The tragic Arushi murder was most happening event to hit our sleepy colony for years.

All the major India news networks covered this tragic event. Therefore, we had EEZEE TV, /VD TV, Till Today (Hindi channel), and NBI Dead etc., blocking our roads and occupying our parking spaces. Their media vans were everywhere, with their satellite dishes fouling the branches and their Indica’s strutting around with “PRESS” importantly stuck on their backsides.

There was Breaking News, ‘Father kills daughter’, ‘Father and mother kill daughter’, ‘Mother kills daughter’ and ‘Someone kills Aarushi’ and एक्सक्लूसिव ब्रेकिंग न्यूज़ , ‘आरूशी को किसने मारा, ‘आरुशी का कातिल कौन’ and ‘पापा ने आरुशी को मारा ‘ with the background score of some old Hindi movie. This event spawned programs titled ‘सनसनी ख़बर ‘, turned TV reporters into detectives and TV anchors into idiots.

Our neighbors were on TV, with even a ‘Social Worker’ from the colony directing a vituperative blast on Dr. Rajesh Talwar ‘live from Bangalore’. He had probably extracted the wrong tooth!

This event gave a new lease of life to retired police officials and out-of-work psychologists; as they propounded their own half-baked theories to a receptive audience. Each day the theories got more outlandish, exceeding only by the contradictory statements of the police. As Dharmender said in Sholay ‘Isme action hain, drama hain, tragedy hain’

It also gave the proverbial minute of fame to a few Senior UP police officials, as they dissected the character of the deceased girl and her family. Thankfully, Mayawati had them transferred and they are now directing bullock carts in some remote village. And we can’t really blame the police for bungling up… by and large poorly trained, even more poorly paid, where is the motivation?

However, what do we do about the reputed,upright TV channels…with their educated, smart but mindless anchors and asinine reporters? Should they be allowed to get away scot-free after such character assassination? One news channel first got an SMS poll ‘who killed Aarushi’. I understand that they make a lot of money on such polls. Then after the father was released, they got out another poll ‘Was the media fair to the Talwars’? Even someone as stupid as them can answer this!

Another picture that flashes through my mind is of reporters of news channels weeping outside the Talwars residence. For a moment, I thought they were sharing the Talwars grief. No, not to be, the reason — Nupur Talwar gave an exclusive interview to only one news channels, effectively robbing them out of breaking news!

So, who killed Aarushi Talwar?

As of a few days the IBC, India’s Premier Investigative agency (God help us!) has conceded that Dr. Rajesh Talwar has not killed his daughter. As far as I am concerned their chief contribution has been cleaning the drains in the colony in an effort to locate the murder weapon…this was something the NOIDA authority had not done for years!

We may never know who killed Aarushi…but one thing is sure… the media has surely killed her spirit and her reputation, as well as that of her family and friends.

PS
In my own small way, I tried to help Aarushi’s cause trying to run over a cameraman as he strolled across the road, mike in hand. However, he deftly got out of the way. Guess he is used to this!

The Indian Middle Class

The Indian middle class is the most pampered section of Indian society. Numbering 250 million and growing, it is like a raging fire, consuming all in its path.

I remember a program, featured recently on popular news channel, XYZ TV. The subject was the hardships faced by typical middle class families in India. I wonder whether you saw it. It was between the Breaking News “Dog killed while crossing road at Bulandshahar” and Breaking News “Thief steals waste paper basket in NOIDA”. The timing was just before the Finance Ministers budget speech of 2008.Well, in case you missed it, here it is.

“Middle class” families were being asked for the one request they would like to make to the finance minister, a request that would make their lives easier.

The camera pans into one such middle class Indian household. It shows a beautiful, independent two-storey house with a well-manicured lawn. A gardener appears busy, weeding the flowerbeds. Two gleaming cars, a SUV and a Sedan, greet you in the drive way.

Inside there is a cozy domestic scene, two school going children tapping furiously on their IBM ThinkPad’s, ignoring the Nintendo DS Lite lying on the side table. The grandmother is knitting quietly on the IKEA sofa, while watching the latest soaps on the family’s Sony 40” Flat Panel LCD TV. The Microsoft Xbox 360 can be seen on the lower half of the TV cabinet, just next to the Bose 6.1 Home Theatre System.

The mother emerges from her large modular kitchen, having instructed her two maidservants, and settles down in the sitting room. The family pug jumps up from the plush carpet and snuggles comfortably on her lap.

Meanwhile, the father is seen to be struggling, filling his income tax return forms with his Mont Blanc pen (It was earlier called the “SARAL” form, what a misnomer!).

Papers are strewn all over his large computer table, as he struggles to find all his supporting documents. First, he looks behind the HP Color printer, nope not there, and then behind the HP scanner, no not there either, then struggles to check behind his Samsung 19” flat screen monitor, yes, got it! Finally, he is ready and faces the camera.

His request to the finance minister, and I quote…

Dear Chidambram Sahib, We are middle class people. We are spending INR 5000/-(€ 90) per month on each child’s education. (This comes to a modest INR 120000/- € 2200 per year for two children). My request to you is to allow this entire amount as a deduction from salary, while computing tax. I hope you will entertain our request.

Mr. Chidambaram did not heed his request. If only he had removed his Gucci sunglasses and been more discreet with his Rolex before facing the camera…

Nursery School Admissions

This piece is for all parents who have small children and are striving for admissions to “reputed” schools. The admission procedures is as follows

a) First a “short list” is prepared based on an “interaction” (supreme court ruling prohibits interviews)
b) Final interview of parents and child determine whether the child gets admission.

We did the “Interaction” recently, and this is what it is.

Parents and their wards were taken into separate classrooms. The children had it easy, they were asked about colors, numbers and other not too difficult questions.

Meanwhile, we were required to fill a four page form with essay / multiple option questions. Insiders tell me that this form largely determines if your child makes the grade. This is a sampling of the form

Section 1

Q1 Do you think your child is ready for school. State three reasons why?

Correct Answer

a) My child in inquisitive and wants to learn

b) His mental faculties have developed to a point and require more than what we can give at home.

C) He has become independent and likes interacting with children his age

Incorrect Answer

a) He is terribly naughty, wants constant attention, is always breaking things etc., we want someone else to handle him.

b) Every child goes to school at age 4

Q2 Is it “Nature” or “nurture” that determines the child’s future. Comment.

Correct Answer

Nurturing refers to bringing up the child with a solid culture & value system. Nurturing shapes the child’s personality and predicts his future.

Incorrect Answer

Everyone knows that nature determines a child future. Our child was born naughty and thick-skinned and generally a pain. No amount of “nurturing” will change them and no one (including your school) can change him.

Q3 is your child creative. How will you enhance your child’s creativity?

Correct Answer
Yes, all children are naturally creative. We can enhance our child’s creativity

By providing the right environment, where they are encouraged to express themselves

By exposing them to right stimuli like toys (clay, puzzles) etc., computers, nature walks etc.

By encouraging all their efforts

Incorrect Answer

I smack my child every time he is creative

a) Write / draws /paints on walls

b) Makes hole in the sofa with a pencil, (driving a car, with the pencil as the gear!)

Q4 You cannot protect your child for life. How would you prepare him for life?

Correct Answer

By providing a strong culture and value system thereby producing a confident well rounded personality.

By arming them with a good education

Make them physically and mentally strong to face the challenges of life

Incorrect Answer

We will save enough money so that we can put him through a good college!

 

Section 2 We know that children are imaginative. Are parents also imaginative? Please write 4 lines, to check your imagination

(Kajala, my wife, did this section, I have very little imagination, hence only summary available)

Q 1 you have heard of the story of the 3 pigs and the wolf…use your imagination on how the story could end differently

The pigs and the wolf would become friends, and the wolf would build a strong house for the pigs. In the evening, they would all eat soup together from a common cauldron.

Q2 Invent a holiday of your choice. What would be the different activities / rituals associated with

it?

The holiday would be called “Good Citizens Day”, (this is really good, Kajala has outdone herself…). We would begin by invoking all the Gods, clean the neighbourhood, weed the park and while weeding the park also help out elders, and distribute sweets and play with street children. (Quite a working holiday!)

Q3 5 years down the line there would be a new craze sweeping the world. What would it be?

“Environment” we would clean the neighbourhood again and generally be green.

Note: We last cleaned the neighbourhood 5 years ago so it requires cleaning.

 

Our son got admission, so we know our answers were suitable…