SIKKIM – Requiem for a Himalayan Kingdom ~ Andrew Duff

A book review

Sikkim was an independent small nation in the Himalayas, like a fairy-tale kingdom with a king and an American queen. Sikkim is now an associate state of India, lying in the northeast India, bordered with China in the north, Bhutan in the east and Nepal in the west. The author, Andrew Duff in his book ‘Sikkim: A requiem for a Himalayan Kingdom’ describes vividly the true story of this tiny country, which was annexed by India in 1975, despite being survived throughout the reign of the British Empire in India.

King Thondup Namgyal mostly referred as ‘Chogyal of Sikkim’ was the 12^th and the last Chogyal of the Kingdom of Sikkim and his beautiful American Queen Hope Cooke the last queen of Sikkim. Chogyal Thondup’s like for alcohol was well known among his people. Andrew Duff through his extensively researched book goes into the details of the situation and annexation of Sikkim. Sikkim being faced threats from China after the annexation of Tibet by the Chinese, the Chogyal Thondup developed good relation with Indira Gandhi, then the prime minister of India and signed a treaty between the two countries. Sikkim then had been the protectorate of India, especially with the dealings of foreign affairs.

The book points out the troubles and efforts the Chogyal has put to ensure Sikkim’s identity as an independent and sovereign country reaching out internationally. Thondup through his various connections with India, US embassy and other countries had always tried to be a member of the United Nations, unfortunately Sikkim has not been able to obtain a membership in the United Nations. Thondup wanted the similar status of Bhutan as an independent country, since Bhutan had already became a member of the United Nations.

Due to geopolitical problems and the pressure from China in the north, India was concerned about the situation of Sikkim, since China seemed interested in Sikkim and other parts of country. India gradually got involved in the internal politics of Sikkim and constitutional democracy was enforced, in which the Kazi and Kazini, pro-Indian politicians gradually was gaining political power with the backup from India. Despite having treaty between the India and Sikkim, Indian involvement in Sikkim kept on increasing with the appointment of a political officer and increasing the presence of Indian military. Thondup’s power kept on diminishing and his hope for an independent nation seemed to fade away and in addition his wife the queen Hope Cooke has returned to New York. Hope Cooke also did try to help Thondup to strengthen the status of Sikkim, she also founded the Friends of Sikkim in America and also consulted many officials from the United Nations for the membership but in vain.

Soon, Sikkim got gradually flooded with immigration of Nepalese and Indian population, which made Thondup even more worried that his ethnic might turn into a minority. With the constitutional democracy in place, Kazi and the Indian appointed political officer with the help of India conducted election in Sikkim to merge Sikkim with India as an associate state. This book describes in great detail of the status of the Chogyal and the electoral processes. Majority of votes favored Sikkim to be an associate state of India and the position of Chogyal was eventually removed. Thousands of Indian military were present in Sikkim, public demonstrations were evident and the Chogyal’s palace was also surrounded the Indian armies. In 1975, Sikkim became the 22^nd state of India despite having strong opposition from China.

This book reminds me of how fragile the smaller countries are especially when its neighbors are large and powerful. As a Bhutanese, I am very much thankful to our brave and farsighted kings.

Framed Himalaya: Lachen Valley

A wonderful coffee-table book, Framed Himalaya: Lachen Valley by Tenzing Ingty, Barkha Subbha, Samar Momin and Dharmendra Lamsel, is a photo documentary of an unexplored and mystical part of the world, Lachen Valley in the north of Sikkim, India.

Authors are a group of young researchers enthusiastically exploring the unexplored. The book describes everything from culture, tradition, landscape, plants, amphibians, animals to land degradation. It contains perfectly aimed angles and high resolution photographs, of which some of it includes rare pictures of plants and landscapes.

A worth reading, exquisite and profound book. It shows us high biodiversity within a small patch of valley and portrays a true treasure trove. It reminds us how vulnerable they are, the culture and tradition of the people known as Dokpas and Lachenpas, landscapes and biodiversity. They are degrading and in a sense changing due to various factors such as human-induced activities or climate change. Hence, the book reminds ourselves the treasure hidden in the fragile Himalayas and its significance. What I like the most besides the content, is the presentation of the book, I must say it’s professional. This book is one of the first kind from Lachen. 

The book is available on Amazon/FramedHimalaya

Enjoy the book! 

Lady's Slipper Orchid

Lady's Slipper Orchid (Paphiopedilum insigne) Soft focus

Lady's Slipper Orchid (Paphiopedilum fairrieanum) Soft focus

Through the Sikkim

The new Buddha Statue

Path to Buddha-hood

Sikkim Tea garden

Monks in Rumtek, Sikkim

lol  (Gangtok)

Guru Padmasambhava

Samdruptse, Sikkim (29/11/13)

Journey to Dehradun

Train journey was a kind of problem for me and my friend, since we haven’t traveled by a train before. Only both of us were leaving for Dehradun with some maps and addresses. We were not so confident but still then we thought we can do it. The journey started from New Allipur Duar Railway station in North Bengal.

          By August 2006, A education consultancy in Bhutan had booked train tickets for us. We were shocked to see the train, so dirty and people sitting everywhere they like, I thought that issuing sit numbers were just for fun. We sat so compact and we could hardly move. We couldn’t imagine consultancy would book such a train for two of us. For us at that time, finding the right train and right sit number so tough. After seeing such a train couldn’t bear a lot surprises rendered upon us by the consultancy. Whatever we thought, it was two days journey to New Delhi and from there we got to catch a bus to Dehradun.

          Train started to move so slowly and gently, I wondered what the next is. It was the food and toilet the next time. Whatever the case is, we had the food and used the toilet. Then the business of the Chaiwalas, Badamwalas, Hermaphrodites, water boys and so on started their business inside the train making a whole lot of noises. My friend and I haven’t talked much; we were kept dump by all those surroundings. We saw huge rats moving on the railway tracks. We saw good trains moving and wondered what if we had booked the sits in that train by ourselves. The train we were moving had only Sleeper Class. Yeah, the weather was hot, it was August.

          By looking at the condition of the train, I thought smoking was okay. So I smoked and paid Rs.400 fine. I told that I was from Sikkim to police officers and I didn’t smoke until I reached New Delhi.

          At night one of us used to stay awake as told by our friends and parents. The passengers without sits, they sleep on the floor and some tend to adjust with stranger passenger. Sense of humor and way they talk seems interesting if we share our sits with them. We got a drunkard in our compartment; he was helpful to let our time pass away with so much fun. He was an ex-army man in Darjeeling. He praised Darjeeling with each and every word possible and there was another guy trying to act like he is from New Delhi speaking Hindi accent of Delhi, he is from North East India though.

          The journey was so noisy, the weather was hot, there were people sleeping on the floor, food was horrible and so on accompanied us all throughout the night. In the day time just the floor was empty and the sits packed. Yeah, we saw the lights of New Delhi. We reached Delhi at night the next day; the train was seven hours late.

          We were looking for Bhutan Embassy in Delhi. We got into an Auto Rickshaw; the driver said that he knows Bhutan Embassy, actually he didn't. He took us around and round, he was searching for Bhutan Embassy so we gave him the address.  We didn’t know that he taking us for a small tour, he was showing all those India Gate, Red Fort, etc., so we insisted him to take us where we are supposed to go. Finally we reached the same spot from where got into the same Auto Rickshaw. We didn’t say anything. He straightly took us to Bhutan Embassy which was so near. Seeing Bhutan Embassy, we got so relieved. We paid huge amount to Auto Rickshaw driver as he demanded.

          To our surprise, we were not allowed to enter the Embassy. We had to explain to the security guard that our relative live inside the embassy, he is out of station right, and his room is left open for us and so on. So finally, the guard let us in. I wondered what if we don’t have someone known inside the Embassy.

          The next day we got to catch bus to Dehradun, although there was train going to Dehradun we preferred travelling by bus. The ticket counter was charging so much from us. They were charging us Rs.700 each for a ticket. By then we knew these people very well, we asked one of their customer and he replied Rs.350 for a ticket to Dehradun. The bus took seven hours to reach Dehradun. We reached at night again and paid higher amount to Auto Rickshaw driver as he demanded and finally managed to reach the college.

          Dehradun is surrounded by small hills all around and is large valley having a preserved environment. It is the state capital of Uttarakhand, the state which is renowned for tourist destination.

PS: No proof read   (2006)