Pahadi Coincidences - 1

The long awaited summer break finally opened its doors to me on 26th April 2025. I was a bit excited as I could be back in Sikkim again and could escape the heat of the plains. I was a bit miffed though as it would be just me and dad this time going to Sikkim while my grandfather is bedridden. The biggest paradox was that we were going to my maternal grandfather's place while he lies bedridden in Coimbatore and my mom has stayed back to look after him.

We set off on the trip on the 2nd of May and on the 3rd of May, we headed to Sikkim. My dad planned to go to Yuksom, the first capital of Sikkim and stay in a homestay over there and relax ourselves, then moving on towards Temi, a picturesque village with tea gardens and then moving on to Gangtok. Both of us had an earnest desire to hike and Yuksom seemed quite a nice place for day hikes. We had been there twice before and were quite accustomed with the village. Moreover, we know the owners of the homestay as we had stayed at their place before as well. So, on a cloudy afternoon on the 3rd of May, 2025 with the sun occasionally peeking from behind the clouds, we reached Ejam Residency, the homestay, where we had planned on staying till the 9th of May. The same evening, a group of eight people from Singapore checked into the homestay as well. We were told by our host that a cultural program from the Yuksom school would be organized for the Singaporean group on the 7th of May, and she urged us to attend it as well.

Days went by and we hiked 8 kms almost everyday to Dubdi monastery, the oldest Buddhist monastery in Sikkim. We were even lucky to attend a Puja there and as luck would have it, on a rainy day, while walking, we were offered shelter by a Lama who was quite amicable. Well, that it is precisely not the subject of this blogpost. Eventually, the 7th of May dawned on us and we decided to take a day trip to Pelling, a town about a couple of hours drive away from Yuksom.

Dubdi monastery, Yuksom

Pelling was a special place for us as my grandfather had been commissioned by the queen of erstwhile Kingdom of Sikkim, in the late 1960s and early 1970s to implement modern education systems through the Teacher's Training Institute. Furthermore, I wanted to check-out the Pemyangtse monastery in Pelling as my grandfather had witnessed the creation of Santoperi, a statue depicting of the abode of Guru Padmasambhava, the Guru who brought Buddhism to Sikkim. Well, by 4:30 in the evening, we were back in Yuksom. That is when things got interesting. In the lawn in front of the homestay, school students had assembled for the performance along with two young teachers who I suspected were in their twenties. Chairs had been arranged for all the guests staying and one of the Directors of the Department of Education under the Government of Sikkim also joined in.

As the kids danced, I had a nice chat with one of the Singaporean guests and also with the director. About an hour later, a snack break was decided upon and my social awkwardness jumped right into the fray. One of helpers at the homestay was also a teacher at the school and she urged me to join the other kids and talk with them. I went towards them with my social awkwardness growing as I took each step and just casually stood beside one of the teachers. The kids in the meanwhile began asking the Singaporeans a series of questions. As snacks were being passed on, the young teacher whom I stood next to past me the bowl of Khabse (Tibetan crackers) and I politely declined in Nepali as I wasn't hungry.

She was surprised as to how I spoke Nepali. She was stunned and remarked that I didn't look Nepali, but could've been a Nepali Brahmin but otherwise, I looked quite Marathi. I gave a slight laugh and said that I was neither as I'm Bengali. Then I told her about my grandfather who came to Sikkim and loved the place so much that he eventually settled and became Sikkimese by heart. As a result, Gangtok is my hometown. She listened intently and asked me where were all the places my grandfather had been posted in Sikkim. I told her about how he worked for creating infrastructure at the Pelling Senior Secondary School and then later he was the Director of the Textbook section at the Department of Education under the Government of Sikkim. She asked his name and I said Hriday Ranjan Bhattacharyya or H.R Bhattacharyya for short.

She let a gasp out and her mouth opened out wide as she was amused. She said that she was a teacher of the Limbu language and that in the reference books which they had in their M.A course, they had to learn the history of Limbu language in Sikkim. The fact which she mentioned next transported me directly to cloud nine. She told that in their reference books, it is mentioned that H.R Bhattacharyya, a Bengali from Assam had been commissioned by the Queen of Sikkim to modernize the Pelling school and later on was a Director in the Education Department and had a very pivotal contribution in the 1980s in making the Limbu language one of the official languages of Sikkim. The evening rolled on with karaoke of Nepali folk songs and the formation of an unforeseen friendship.

My grandfather was one of the countable Bengalis in Sikkim so when she mentioned it, I was more than certain that it was him after all. Most people of the Chogyal's (king's) generation in Sikkim are long gone and very few remain to this day. Most of my grandfather's colleagues and the government officials of yesteryears have passed away and only the subsequent generation would remember them. This teacher was twenty-four so she was essentially a gen-z, from my generation. It startled me that she knew about my grandfather who is a nonagenarian right now. Another bewilderment which could be added to this is that we have no connections in Yuksom. I have found people identifying me by grandfather's name in Gangtok earlier and that felt quite normal because he continued working as the editor of Sikkim Express (one of the most read newspapers in Sikkim) after retirement. I felt a tinge of sadness as well as he was quite senile and bedridden right now. I wish he would know that he is still remembered in Sikkim.

Some Sikkimese landscapes

Click on the arrow mark to see all the photos.

As the rain tumbled down that night, I began to ruminate on the bewildering surprise which of the past evening. I believe that the specialty of the mountains is that unexpected connections can be forged and at the most unexpected of times under the most unexpected circumstances. In the mountains where life is tough but society is simple, the tapestry of human relations intertwine all of us together and somehow, two complete strangers can find a common connection and develop a warm friendship. I then pondered if this was why my grandfather left his life in Kolkata, when it was a bustling city in 1959 to move to Sikkim when even electricity was a rarity except in Gangtok. I had heard previously from a retired government officer owes a lot to him for the development of school education in Sikkim. My grandfather used to casually brush it off as an exaggeration and stated that many people have contributed their fair share. Now, I wondered that even with electricity, internet and motorable roads (fairly good in some parts while damaged in others but still motorable), we complain of tough life. He moved there sixty six years ago and even trekked to multiple villages as roads weren't there and gave up a fairly comfortable life as an artist in a Swedish studio in Kolkata. It wouldn't have been possible if not for the sheer love of the mountains and the Sikkimese people. This could also be why we pine for our Sikkimese getaway each year.

Another interesting coincidence is there as well which would be mentioned in the next post.

*Pahadi in this context refers to person of the mountains