In search

International Mountain Day is being celebrated the world over today especially by the Darjeeling Himalayan Initiative (DHI) and The Integrated Mountain Initiative (IMI). This year's theme is 'Biodiversity of Sikkim Himalaya' and a broad range of issues was discussed by the expert panelists.  The major question or questions were "How do we mainstream/ bring discussion on Biodiversity in our day to day lives? Where and when did our disconnect with nature happen?" The panelists provided really great insights on the role of education, media, and social media in bringing back this connection. I think there is no easy and quick answers to these really difficult questions. Maybe there is a greater need for reflection and analysis. That wedge of disconnect with nature is growing into a gorge. Who is to be blamed? What is to be blamed? Or is blaming enough? Are there any solutions and would they work? The disconnect is there in how we live, what we eat and what we grow...

Today it was a foggy and rainy day outside...such a day when  difficult to get out of bed and face the world.  But the begonias on my window cheered me up and promised me better days. She (the begonias) seemed to say that its okay to bloom on a gloomy day to imagine you are flying when the strong wind ruffles your petals And keep your calm until the turmoil settles...

Pity that I take so many photographs only to store them on my hard drive. Here's a little attempt to share the beauty on the other end of the lens.  This one is from a trip to Rimbick where we had gone to conduct a farmers training. Initially we were planning a night halt at Sandakphu but the villagers strongly adivised against it as the trek is nearly 6 hours long that too for experienced trekkers. On the other hand the local villagers reach Sandakphu in 4 hours and reach return back in 3 hours or so. Finally we decided to go for a trek towards Jarayo Pokhari (Deer Lake)  on the way to Sandakphu, a two hour trek from Rimbick Bazar, but then again we only made it half way up to the monastery.  The village around the Monastery is called Maney Dara and name of the monastery is Mahendra Samten Monastery which was built around 1917. The main monastery itself is new but the stone structures and relics around it are old and beautiful. A beautiful stupa stands atop the hill

A porter at Judge Bazar Darjeeling Porter, Coolie, Dai! We call them by different names. Without them, nothing will move...literally. Consumer goods from LPG (cooking gas cylinders), food items to construction materials; anything that needs loading, unloading and transporting-you name it! These Dai's or Coolies as we call them they are the ones who do the backbreaking work of lugging goods from one place to another with their Namlo. (Namlo is a sturdy string/harness used to carry things) They are people who have migrated from Nepal and its common to see both men and women working as porters in Darjeeling. Most of them are poor, often falling below the poverty line and it is only some who have gone on to make a fortune.  Most of them confess that they have vast agricultural lands back at home. Isn't it sad that they who have acres and acres of agricultural land should now live as BPL (Below the Poverty Line) people? Many welfare and social organisations in Darjeeling

It is said that patterns duplicate and replicate in this universe from the micro to the macro level. It is interesting to notice the beautiful patterns and juxtapositions of various plants together. The most interesting things to watch are the symbiotic relationships in nature. There is a lot we can learn from nature, however we have stopped looking at it closely, our connections with nature has completely stopped.  Go out, take a walk, make that connection and feel the change. For once shut down that computer and mobile phone and listen to the birds sing.  This post is part of ‘ Blogchatter’s CauseAChatter ' A Symbiotic Relationship [click on image to enlarge view] Trekking Trail at Lamahatta, Singrimtam Darjeeling [click on image to enlarge view] [Click on image to enlarge view] [Click on image to enlarge view] [Click on image to enlarge view] [Click on image to enlarge view] [Click on image to enlarge view] [Click on image to enlarge view

Soaking the Sun [click on image to enlarge view] Point of View [click on image to enlarge view] Enjoying the warmth of the fire [click on image to enlarge view] Taking a nap in the corner of a busy street [click on image to enlarge view] Graceful yet ferocious. Lazy but faster than the blink of an eye Selfish and diplomatic at the same time Survivors in the true sense of the world Hunters of the concrete jungle CATS!

Google+ Reflecting the first rays of the sun-Morning Click on image to enlarge view Enveloped in Fog - Daytime Click on image to enlarge view The lights are on- Dusk Click on image to enlarge view Darjeeling is this beautiful land that lies on lap of Mount Kanchenjunga. It's the land of the two river goddesses the Teesta and the Rungeet. It's the land of the clouds, mountains, ravines and forests. This is the view from my home, where one can get a partial view of the Kanchenjunga. The land plays hide and seek behind the clouds and seems to change in the blink of an eye. A bright sunny day gets enveloped in fog by noon and ends in rain. People mostly grumble on the finicky nature, but in reality it's the most beautiful and amazing natural phenomenon-the water cycle!  Yesterday I was chatting with my Dad enjoying this view from my verandah. He recalled how the landscape was covered with forests with only a few houses dotting the hills. Even I remem

I am just a shadow, a shadow of your imagination!  I just happened to be passing by... I am just a shadow that emerged under the glare of the light, I just happened to be passing by...

Flying away into the sunset. .. This is evidence of how each year trees are being cut to make space for human settlements. The last of the birds leave their habitat to search for better homes. I remember how we used to play in the jungles. Today very small patches are left of our playground and the homes of the birds and the squirrels. The face of the hill has now been plastered with concrete buildings. There's a small patch of jungle in front of my house that is thriving with birds, squirrels and insects. We throw leftover rice and roti into the jungle which creates a lot of activity within the bushes. It's a magnificent ecosystem! One that lends freshness and beauty to our home, one that doesn't need or depends on us. My wife and I contemplate if this jungle will remain till the next ten years. We have less hope of this jungle surviving. Deep inside my heart I wish to buy this patch of land, so that I can preserve it for my son and for our retirement days! I gue

Waiting Not wanting, just waiting Eerie silence, the calm before the storm perhaps? When and why? Who knows? There are the ones who speak And there are those who don't, Words, sentences language... Can't you you understand what I am trying to say? No you don't understand, it's my silence that speaks... Waiting..?

Making the Jump, Girl power! Boys don't seem to be too good at it Failing Miserably! It's seldom we see children playing out on the streets. Most of the children stay indoors watching TV or playing video games! It was heartening to see children come out on the streets to play macchakara ( literal translation would be fish bone, but it could mean something else) , a game very few children play or know about these days. First multiple rubber bands have to be woven into a string which takes a lot of time too and is so much fun because it involves group work. Girls always beat us to it. So the game is played on the string made of rubber band and combines heights and styles of jumping.Two of the opposite team members act as posts while the other team jumps on the strings. Some jumps involve dexterity of jumping and holding down the strings by the sole of the feet.I don't exactly know if this game is intrinsic to Darjeeling but I remember girls always beating us bo

A kid feeding his dog Was passing through when I took this picture; memories of my childhood came flooding back to me. I used to play in a similar enclosure in my house while my mom went about her work. My thoughts continued around the dogs that I used to play with.My love and fondness for dogs, that's the only thing that hasn't changed about me in spite of these years. Thought about Henry, Jango, Likhuri, Spy but most of all Magdalene, the dogs I used to play with, and wondered how and where they are? According to Buddhism it's said that amongst the many lives, we are born as dogs finally before we are born as humans. I wonder if  they are walking amidst us as humans. Each of the dogs has his own tale, and hopefully I will write about them soon. The circle of life...

It's yet another cold winter in Darjeeling, the schools are closing and there is a cold sting  and excitement in the air. The anxiety of the final exam results is relieved by the holidays and games. While the old huddle indoors seeking warmth of quilts and heaters the children are out playing their  favourite outdoor games. The badminton, chungi, mascol (marbles), bicycles are out and it's heartening to see these kids play a few of those games that have been played by generations of children who have grown up in these hills.   For a person who has grown up in this place one cannot but help feel nostalgic about their own childhood and playing these games in winter, a period which is continues to be supremely the best period of the year.  However it's also sad that the numbers of children who come out to play are very less compared to those times when hardly any kid stayed indoors. On a random guess, hardly 10% children come out to play on the streets.  Play stations, Nintend