A Lucky Escape!

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Yours truly is thanking his stars! Lucky escape yesterday or should I say providential. As soon as the blast happened in Guwahati yesterday, we rushed to the spot like most of us do. In television it's about getting the pictures. Especially in times like these when things move pretty fast including the traces of incident. The Panbazaar blast was a classic example how dangerous things can get even after a blast. There could be a second blast. There was a timer device hidden in the rubble that went off when security personnel and bomb squads rushed to the spot... We were a little late to reach... ....

Solving the Chinese puzzle

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Notwithstanding the euphoria over the thaw in Sino-Indian ties, marked among other things by the prospective opening up of the Nathula trade route, trade diplomacy has not been without its share of complications in Sikkim as well as the country at large. Speculation is rife on whether and when the narrow corridor that connects Tibet and Sikkim should be made accessible. Then there is also the issue as to what should be the volume of traffic - cargo and human - from both sides. Sikkim seems to be divided over claims of affluence that Nathula is expected to generate once route is thrown open. While hopes of prosperity are high in border towns such as Siliguri and Gangtok, slated to emerge as flash points in the anticipated trade boom, scepticism prevails in several quarters over the volume of actual trade possible and the feasibility of such claims....

simply Gangabardhan!

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If you have ever lived in the times of of che bandana.. guitar chai and waited for the revolution you may like him.I never lived in such times but liked him still. I met him in Sikkim He has weaved his life around these things.. not a worry about anything...I wrote a peice on him for the newspaper i worked for..here is a bit of that..he sings damn well.... and goes around singing.... Ganga Bardhan's nickname - "Bob Marley of Nepal" - could equally refer to his musical leanings or his looks. For the singer, in his early fifties, does bear a resemblance to the legendary Rastafarian - complete with dreadlocks and an unkempt beard. Currently in Sikkim to hunt for visuals for his upcoming album on Sikkim, the singer from eastern Nepal is not new to the region. Starting out almost 30 years ago from....

To Machang Lalung with love....

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Machang Lalung is a rich man now. He lives in a remote village of Assam and is a celebrity in his own way. For the uninitiated let me elaborate. Lalung has spent half a century in the jail for a crime that should have probably got him a year behind the bars. But once in, he was forgotten by all, the judiciary, the jail. He ended up waiting for a trial for around fifty years till somebody discovered him. He is back in his home now and when I met him a month ago, I found him almost senile. Years of living amidst criminals and the mentally deranged had done this to him. But he is rich. The Supreme Court has today awarded compensation of three lakh rupees and has directed the state to look after his medical expenses. Good for Lalung. Three lakh will....

Alive and punching in the land of Bahadurs!

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Alive and punching in the land of Bahadurs! I write this piece with much apprehension. If Prashant Pakhrin happens to see the title of this blog he will want to punch me. Two things that make him want to punch people is the 'bahadur' tag and any comment that remotely relates to physical attributes. He is almost 5 feet 1 inch tall. He would squint every time he laughed. (Most of 'us' are small time sadists, count me in). I met Prashant in Delhi again last year. I could see that he had pushed himself hard. He rode a 350 CC Enfield and nothing less.. "Alright, I can see that you are doing very well Paku (that's his nick)" I told him. It takes a lot to make it big in cities for small town guys like us, I beamed. And then the....