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The rhododendrons have just started to bloom along the roads, layering up ribbon by ribbon above the Teesta, a trickle of white surf far below. I shut my eyes, long accustomed to many hill roads, to feel Nature seep in through my other senses. The cold mountain air flies past my face, I smell the wet earth as wavy hills cast shadows on my eyelids, now balming them heavy, now fluttering them in the sun. At each sharp bend, fern leaves tickle my face. Somewhere, two birds chatter, their tweets eager, excited, somewhat agitated. Are they complaining about our rumbling car that’s breaking the absolute silence of the surroundings? I realise they have a right to complain for here on the road to Rumtek, they say you can even hear rain drops splash on the earth!
So I still keep my eyes wide shut, scenting my way past tea bushes, listening to the gurgling waters of the many streams that are too eager to toss their fate into the turbulent Teesta. Life’s little things always get subsumed by greatness.
Crossing these parts, the sound of silence takes you to a calm you probably haven’t felt in years. My driver, Dambar, has trouble reading my face, probably wondering if there was really a big deal in his everyday run of things. But then he is a practising Buddhist who has fathomed the depth of happiness through the complex web of life. As for me, I am still trapped and hoping the Buddha will enlighten and rescue me.
Fluttering prayer flags are a constant companion in faith; locals believe they spread goodness near and far. Hamlet after hamlet carries on the good work, putting up welcome arches in the Buddha’s land, passing on the baton of peace, as if in a relay race. We reach Ravangla (or Rabangla), a small town on a ridge between the Meanam and Tendong Hills. The whole town seems to have just woken up from under the covers of a great white mist which still blankets the surrounding villages of Yangang, Tinkitam, Kewzing, Barfung and Bakhim. Nature does have the magnanimity to envelope you in its embrace. You just need to surrender.
The day gets cheery when a small burst of rain clears the air and opens up a breath-taking vista of the Sikkimese Himalayas with Mt Narsing, Jopuno, Kabur and Maenam towering above us. This is south Sikkim at its best with snow peaks, waterfalls, hot springs, forests, rice fields and monasteries surrounding the traveller, the sylvan setting of a pastoral paradise.
After a short break at Rabangla, I head towards Yuksam, the first capital of Sikkim under the Chogyal kingdom. At the far western corner of the state, this is the famous gateway to Shangri-La or Ney-Pemathang. This is also the way to the Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve, leading to the Khangchendzonga National Park, a bio-diversity hotspot.
Light fades away as we pass the cascading Fambrong waterfall into the little town of Yuksam. This is road’s end. For all journeys hereon shall be on foot. My friend, on whose invitation I am here, describes Yuksam as the Namche Bazar of India. Just like its Nepalese counterpart, it’s the last halt for climbers and trekkers who have their sights set on Khangchendzonga and the many peaks around it.
Yuksam is also a key to Buddhist thought. The holy guide book (Neysol) describes the whole region below Khangchendzonga as containing hidden treasures, which will be revealed in course of time by enlightened lamas. As such, Yuksam is considered the Lhakhang or altar for offerings to the deities of Khangchendzonga. Locals believe that if the land and water here ever come to be desecrated, it will no longer be possible to perform any form of meaningful Buddhist rituals. And they would be condemned. Forever. The masters had the wisdom. And they wove it with ritualistic philosophy to ensure that simpletons not only understood the worth of their blessed land but kept it so. Nobody may understand Nature to be the great treasure of the Gods but the hope for something remarkably spectacular would save the forests. And the hills. And the streams. Creation itself.
The seven holy lakes surrounding Khangchendzonga — Khecheopalri, Katok Tso, Bar Cho Marpu, Phu cho Karpu, Ka Bur La Tso, Sume Ten Tso and Dafuk Yum Tso — are considered as sacred offering bowls to the Khangchendzonga deities. Every highland and dale, every river, stream, cave, tree, even a berry, is believed to be guarded by the deities. The Sikkimese hold them in high regard and the monks propitiate them in their morning rituals.
True, a largescale human invasion in the holy land of Yuksam would destroy it. Any major disruption of the river system would disturb the ruling deities of the 109 hidden lakes here, leading to serious calamity. Conservation is vitally important for human welfare.
I avoid the hotels and choose to stay at a village home. For what better way to understand a
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