I term myself ‘lucky’ to have the same school bunch as my group even after 6 years of having done with schooling, though we tend to get busy dealing with our own lives we make sure the get-together we have should be one which will have its sweet memories for years to come. Similarly this time we planned a trek, some adventure, yeah! Being born in the hills, adventure is an inherent character trait of ours. Trek was decided, this was easy everyone agreed to it but the main problem that arose was deciding the place. Finally after about a month-long debate, over the place and the condition required, the place decided was Sandakpu, which was the nearest and the easiest of all the other options. The date to the Trek decided was 16^th November to 20^th November. Six of us were all set to leave everything behind and ‘live the moment’, six days of pure adventure and nature at its best! The blog rather than providing a detailed guide is more of a narration of how the first trek to Sandakpu feels like.

Day 1

16th of November 6:30 am, Darjeeling Taxi stand was the rendezvous. All with a rucksack and a sleeping bag, unanimously agreed on the condition of not taking a guide, it would be just us. A taxi from Darjeeling to Maneybhanjyang, 26 km away and the gateway to the trek were booked. Maneybhanjyang, a small town called for a tea break and a final check on the requirements for the trek, we were set for the journey, I was the most enthusiastic of the lot, as I had been waiting for this moment for a long time. It was at 9:00 am our trek uphill started, first two kilometres till Chitrey was steep and we were slower than expected, trying to find a shortcut gave us the chills of being lost on the very first day of the trek, after which we kept ourselves to the main road. Gairibas 20 km from Maneybhanjyang at a height of 8600ft was our first day’s destination. Several areas were selected for our photo-shoot, something we failed to notice at first was too many stoppages makes you more tired, and leave you with a greater distance to cover on the latter half of the day, when you are actually tired. Driven by hunger and with nearly a quarter of the total photos of the entire trek we reached Meghma, which is just 9 km away from Maneybhanjyang, it was 1:00 p.m. and decided a halt for lunch at the place, without any hesitation we devoured through the toothsome feast as we had a greater distance to cover, the owner of the shop was kind enough to guide us regarding the shortcut leading to our first day’s destination. The time, as it passed by triggered a decrease in temperature, the condition was such I had three layers of clothing and a rucksack weighing 8 kilograms, was sweating from inside yet it was cold, keeping that aside, trekking through rocky roads, with few scattered houses on the scene, seldom barking of dogs and the pure and organic music of nature soothing to the soul was the tranquilizer, the feeling of ‘mental high’. However, something that bothered was how much more for the destination to arrive as we just had a few hours of sunlight left. What we had feared was to walk in the dark with no house on the scene and here we were living our fears. The clock had struck 6:30 pm when a light brighter than our flashlights at a distance appeared on the scene, it was a dwelling, our destination Gairibas. The first house itself that we enquired had a dorm on offer and the booking of 6 beds were done straight away at a price of 250 per bed. To be honest, the place that we booked was not that great considering the food and the service provided, would have gone for other better option,  but everything was compensated by the quality of sleep. The first day to the trek made me look forward to days that would come.

Day 2

The sun was out, embellishing the marvellous scene, it could not get any better. We stared with some fresh apples that we had carried along, noodles, and butter toast which we ordered there itself, a perfect morning.

We left the place at 8:45 am, the destination to reach was Sandakpu the booking for the night had already been made at a cost of 200 per bed. The distance to cover however was just 12 km, but the climb from 8600 ft. to 11,929 ft. made it challenging. The route was steep, and the addition of heavy rucksack made the climb tougher. Kalipokhari fell on the way demanding us to stop and admire the lake, we took a break as it was already 11:30 am the decision made was to start after lunch. Lying there in the grass observing the clouds, as we waited for the lunch to be prepared made me realize I had never been so close to the clouds, it felt like I can almost extend my arm and get hold of those white ‘cotton candies’ that were just floating above me, at that moment all I could wish for was the time to stop, I would have happily embraced that feeling forever. There is something about nature that I have experienced, the more you lean towards it the more it calls for you. Though we were hungry the call for the lunch was an interruption. Lunch on offer was noodles and Yak meat, since being a vegetarian I stuck to the noodles. 6 km more of a climb to go and with every decreasing kilometre milestone, the sense of achievement was getting stronger. Resting in some places, capturing our moment together and feeding ourselves with protein bar we continued towards our destination. The clock had struck 5:00 when finally, we stepped our foot in Sandakpu. The feeling can’t be jotted down, yet giving it a try, it felt like I Just scored the only goal, on the 90^th minute of a football final, leading my team to victory, something out of this world. Sandakpu the place has half of its area falling in Nepal and the other half in India, the National flag of both countries stand tall at the respective parts, since the place is such, we had the experience of dining in Nepal, and resting in our room in India. A game of UNO, in our room, concluded our second day.

Day 3

Cracking of the dawn shading its path rich golden with the entire Himalayan range to be seen as simply a treat. After watching nature’s time-lapse, the toughest job was to freshen up, as the water was just above the freezing point. The Day had to be started early as we had to cover a distance of 21 Km towards Phalut. Unfortunately, two of our friends could not proceed with the trek any further, due to a sprained foot, and a bad cold caught, emerging into a snag. Reduced to four an unenthusiastic act of helping them back to Darjeeling in a taxi from Sandakpu had to be performed. We however continued, Phalut awaited us with a room booked, here again, we paid an amount of 200 per bed. We started towards our destination at 9:30 am. Sandakpu the particular area, can be sketched as a bit commercialized one holding few shops, therefore the scenic beauty, what we actually seek is towards Phalut, everyone thinking of this trek make sure Sandakpu to Phalut is included as well. The advantage for the day is the route, which was not steep allowing us to cover a greater distance at a lesser time. We walked through the path, appreciating what the place had on offer, not a single human soul was seen for the first 8 km. We took a couple of breaks, our body started  demanding proper lunch, after about 15 km with no sign of shop visible, a break was taken to have what we had brought with us, nuts, chocolate, protein bar, the weather too was not in our favour, there was a rapid drop in the temperature, a thick mist had us covered blocking the visibility of even the route in front of us, let go of the view, it was freezing and we were left with the only thought of  reaching Phalut, the sooner the better. I still can frame it, none of us uttered a word for a few kilometres, waking like a robot just programmed to reach Phalut, and the first question asked was how much more to go? The daylight started to cease topped with the mist getting denser, our flashlights had given up on trying to cut through. Hands and the exposed part of the face were freezing, yet on the inside, I was sweating, due to the layers of clothes I wore and the rucksack I carried. It was unexpected, but candle lights just in front of us, and here it was Phalut, which has just one guest house and no electricity. It was 5:30 pm, the first thing we did was went to our room and threw our rucksack after which we changed and drove ourselves towards the kitchen basking us to the firewood that was lit and the best thing, our food would be prepared in that firewood. Sharing the guesthouse was a couple from Mumbai and a group of friends from Kolkata. The day though totally different from the other days was concluded in a similar way, a good cosy sleep.

Day 4

The day was to be spent travelling towards Gorkhey which was the final destination where we would spend the night. The distance to say was 15 km, but since it was downhill we felt no pressure at all. After devouring ourselves on chapatti and ‘alu dum’ we bid farewell to the people and started at 9:15 am, the trek downhill was easy and flawless, and with no breaks at all, the destination was reached at 12:30 am. The view was somewhat hypnotic, hence I fell in love with the place, we booked a homestay, which consisted of two double rooms, at the rate of 600 per room. Into our rooms we went to freshen up and change since we had the entire afternoon, we decided to rest for a while after our lunch. It was late afternoon, and we started to explore the surrounding. The homestay was a beautiful one with a big lawn, outdoor sitting, and a place for a bonfire as well, the hosts were equally good. The dinner was a leisurely one with much chitchat and laughter. Since it was our last night together, we decided to sleep a bit late, being close to nature and away from technology, surely fixes our biological clock, sleep and wake up cycle is set perfectly. The sleep was just awesome.

Day 5

Honestly, I was happy the trek went on good, yet sad it was the day the trek would conclude. I wanted it to go on for a few more days. We started at 8:30 am towards Sirikhola, from where we would take a cab back home. The route was again a climb but was not steep. We took no breaks, and the destination was reached as early as 11:30 am, the site of proper road, car, and network in our phone, was some different feeling at the moment. Waiting for the cab called for a snack break. If given a chance of revisiting the place? Any given day would be a big YES!

NoteFew things to keep in mind for all the first time travelers are as follows:-

• Try to make the baggage light.
• Try not to take frequent breaks.
• Take an extra set of warm inners especially during winters, no matter how cold it is you will sweat.
• Snacks are available till Sandakpu but will be expensive.v  There will be no proper network throughout the trek.
• Book the place beforehand for Sandakpu and Phalut at least.
• Plan your trek properly.
• For all non-local tourists, taking a guide is compulsory.
• Carry a garbage bag along, as frequent snack break tend to litter the place.v  Enjoy your trip to the fullest.

This post was originally posted here.

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As the title indicates, Appa dwells on the role of fathers, how they bring up their kids becomes a deciding factor in their children’s life. Some audience craves conflict and drama, while others seek inspirational uplift. However, this movie (Appa) is a balanced mixture of both drama and inspirational based films. It’s a decent addition to the Kollywood movies that abruptly ends where the first-act break typically occurs. (since for once, those tiresome cliche’s don’t seem to apply.) Instead, this movie’s message is all about inspiration and forgiveness, which should satisfy a decent contingent of the movie-going public grateful for a wholesome story.

Appa is a dramatic story on the surface. The concept of the time is so rigidly ingrained—from daily routines to monthly bills to milestone birthdays, that even suggesting it might not exist can be disorienting. The songs, not any song but the ‘Appa’ has the best selling songs in the movie with the starting song bring filmed at Sandhakphu. The solo instrumentation creates a sense of shared intimacy as if each plucked string could impact a treasured memory. The protagonist of the movie sings of the beautiful mountains, mists, and other symbols of nature’s persistence. As he works his ways through, he finds the motivation to persists himself.

Another song is a masterpiece from Anmol Gurung “Amala ” had the enigmatic of beautiful scenes. Viewers say this is the most picturesque songs ever made. The tracks disappear abruptly, retreating into the mouth of those deep mountains and valleys. The sounds of dissolution are everywhere on “Sajha pare pachi” in the fragments of words dissolving at the song’s perimeter and the acoustic thrums of guitar dissipating and jamming. It’s wistful, memorable hook, journeying through a series of doorways to someone forever on the other side who has the ability to make some memories down the lane. The song collapses with an angelic voice of Anmol Gurung.

Appa has touched many hearts all around Nepal and in many parts of India. The movie is also planning to hit international roads. The movie shows the value of “Fathers” The movie also portrays a major scene with the sequence in which the protagonist of the movie( Appa) hands over a bundle of hard-earned money to buy a guitar for the kids and immediately after a scene has been followed by where the son shatters/breaks a piggybank to host a party for a girl. This scene was very impactful to the audience as it vividly shows the contrast, the technique of Juxtaposing different images.

As from the starting of the story when “Birkhey” is woken by the Father. He realizes his faults as a human and that his reaction and response to them are merely the faults of his own. The back of the story also shows that the son Siddharth has an open look at his dad. His heart crushes him as he reminds him not only of his past life but also he felt ashamed and poor and at thinking he had a dad who was somehow lesser than others. The scene serves as both a reminder of those anger and the purpose of forgiveness that brings them both back together. The words don’t do the effects justice but the ending scene shows the regrets of the son and the father. The movie ends with a very heartbreaking scene when the father departs with his son.

Writes – Puravi Gurung, Salesian College Sonada – Mass communication Dept.

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In its very first edition, Darjeeling witnessing the presence of 150 riders of national and international repute from all over India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh. Among those who participated, the oldest was a 72-yr-old Anup Kumar Tokdar. The bikers took a 68-km long route from HMI, Darjeeling, to Air Force Station, Bagora via Chatakpur and back. Passing though the heart of Sinchel Wildlife Sanctuary, this route is gorgeous, but at the same time its very challenging.

In the 1st edition of the Tenzing Norgay Mountain Bike Challenge, women from Nepal dominated the show by winning all the top-three places. In the men category too Nepali rider finished 3rd.

Winners – Women Category

• Usha Khanal from Nepal – 1st
• Nirjala Tamrakar from Nepal – 2nd
• Sunee Dolma Shrestha from Nepal – 3rd

Winners – Men Category

• Devendra Thakur from Himachal – 1st
• Vittale Bhosale from Maharashtra – 2nd
• Laxman Mall from Nepal – 3rd

“This is for the first time that this Mountain Biking Challenge is being organised. Over 150 participants from Nepal and other neighbouring countries participated along with the India. In future, we want to make this into an annual calendar event,” said Group Captain Jai Kishan, Principal, HMI.

People from all walks of life paid respect to the memorial of Tenzing Norgay in the HMI premises, the spot where he was cremated.

A first day cover of Tenzing Norgay with a special cancellation was launched to mark the day by the Indian Postal Department and the Alpine Philatelic and Numismatic Society, Darjeeling.

[Pics and inputs via: Pankaj Subba]

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That gives your soul, the much needed healing

Schools start and kids in new dresses

Hopes of a great year ahead and new successes

Trees turn green, and Gurans deep red

With a new vigour we all march ahead…

So here is a call to those who are away

For your well-being we do here pray

May you get to come home and be with us again

Stay happy, stay classy and stay naught dear friend

Ghar aau hai chitto!!

SPRING

Darjeeling is one of the most blessed of lands, and the earlier we realize it, the better we can take care of it. Some of our readers had asked us to share pics of Lali Gurans and Chanp fuleko, sometime back… so here we are presenting some gorgeous pics of our natural heritage.

Enjoy the pics… share them… show the world how beautiful Darjeeling actually is… and while you are doing that, please do thank Mr. Binod Pradhan and Ms. Rashila Rai who took these gorgeous pics.

We do not watermark the pics we share, as we believe that it ruins the beauty of the picture… but we have a request… if you do share these pics in your Pages, please do not forget to acknowledge Mr. Binod Pradhan and Ms. Rashila Rai, and if you are feeling generous then TheDC as well… that way we can continue to share the pics without water marking them

Pictures by: 
Mr. Binod Pradhan – Lecturer of English at Southfield College, and is an avid photographer. He also writes for TheDC

Rashila Rai is passionate about photography. She did her schooling from St Teresa’s, Darjeeling andgraduation from St. Joshep’s College in Botany. She has a MSc degree in biochemistry and physiology from Darjeeling Govt College. She is currently preparing for civil services.

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Looking at how gorgeous and marvellous the pictures are, we thought that they deserved to be viewed by a larger audience. Thus, we will be compiling the featured pics over the week and posting them every Sunday on our website and Facebook page.

We hope you enjoy these pics and keep supporting us with ever beautiful inputs over Instagram, by tagging us in your pics that are of or related to us, our place and our people.

You can tag us @thedarjchron on instagram, DM us your pic and use #thedarjchron #thedarjeelingchronicle with your uploads.

Here are our featured pics for this past week

Featured Pic no 1: Darjeeling Hills on a sunny day “wide and majestic view of the hills and the mighty Kanchenjunga” by @subham_basu

Featured Pic no 2: Sea of Clouds and the sunset “A rare treat of mellowly clouds floating under your feet at Singalila , with a horizon painted with the sunset; the sun just refusing to go down” by @debasish_32

Featured pic no 3: The iconic Capital Hall clock tower “Landmark of Darjeeling – the Clock Tower” By @the_himalayan_diaries_

Featured pic no 4: Toy train and the snowy road “Here’s our own little majestic toy train, going down amidst the snow… The ship cruises on the sea of ice” by @arkajit_paul

Featured pic no 5: Sketch of the Capital Tower “A meticulous sketch representation of the Capital Clock tower where the heart of Darjeeling lies” by @la_ayush

Featured pic no 6: Toy train and the Snowfall “A magnificent view of the toy train at Ghoom Railway Station, on the night of the snowfall” – by Wangdi

Featured pic no 7: Coffee at Glenary’s “How would you like your coffee? Regular or mountain?” – by @theorangeepistles

Featured pic no 8: Kurseong Tower “There are more beautiful ways to play hide and seek…
This tall guy is unable to hide himself though” – By @perfectly_mr_imperfect

Featured pic no 9: A morning in the hills “Perks of being a morning person. Beautiful golden rays of early morning sun. Wouldn’t you rather wake up to this morning glow instead of the incessantly screaming alarm clock?” – by @hiimanshu.d

Featured pic no 10: Autumn Flowers “A subtle blend of winter and spring. Somewhere in Darjeeling” – by @indian_diary

Featured pic no 11: Sketch of a Gorkha Woman “An out of the world sketch representation of a Gorkha woman in traditional attire” – by @zigme_dorjay_tamang

Please do let us know, which one among these are your favourite. We look forward to your comments, and your amazing pics.  

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Isn’t our beautiful hills simply so very gorgeous.

Its a sea of white

The roads are slippery

Its cold but nice

Our beautiful hills

Our gorgeous mountains

Jai Sinchel ko Singha Devi Maa

Its beautiful up top here

Darjeeling Snow: Our Guardian, looking out for us

For video, please visit:

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Not many are as lucky though, for more often than not, the sights are lost to fog and clouds. We the locals believe, the Mountains decide to show themselves to only those who are truly deserving.

Here’s Rajat Thakuri sharing his happiness with all of you.

For more, pics, please visit: Darjeeling

Tiger Hill: Where the sun chooses to rise

Tiger Hill – The peace here is of another kind

Tiger Hill: The most beautiful face of Kanchenjunga is seen from here

Tiger Hill: When even clouds need to rest, they come here

Tiger Hill – The peace here is of another kind

Tiger Hill – God’s Abode

Tiger Hill Darjeeling – Gorgeously glamorous

Tiger Hill : Defines our beloved hills

Tiger Hill: Where the peaks are golden

Tiger Hill and the Dazzling Darjeeling town

Tiger Hill : Mountains, mean heaven here

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Showing that women rockers in India have arrived, two female rockers walked home away with the top individual prizes while the champions had two powerful female performers.

 

Perfect Strangers (Bangalore), with two female on the front – bassist Shalini Mohan and lead vocalist Raphael Emileenaa- combining elements of pop, melodic and hard rock – trounced the competition, The band won a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh.

 

The ‘Best Drummer’ was also picked by a female drummer from Darjeeling – Mingma Lhamu Tamang of Vishnu .

Mingma Lhamu Tamang – best drummer at Hornbill International Rock Contest, 2018

In the individual category, Nash Longkumer (UDX) collected the ‘Best Guitarist’ title while Shalini Mohan playing for ‘Perfect Strangers’ took home the ‘Best Bassist’ honour.

 

Lewang Dorjee of Meraki (Darjeeling) was declared the ‘Best Vocalist’. We had featured his latest song Runaway on our platform recently.

You can watch it here

 The individual category carries a cash prize of Rs 25000 along with other music accessories.

 

MERAKI – performing at the Hornbill International Rock Contest, 2018

Nagaland’s UDX was declared the 1st Runners Up with a cash prize of Rs 6 lakh. It was a triple-bill for the local band as it was declared the ‘Most Promising Naga Band’ and the ‘Best Guitarist’ for UDX’s Nash Longkumer, carrying a cash prize of Rs 25000 along with other goodies.

 

Ambush, the energetic crew from Dimapur’s neighbours Diphu (Assam) was declared the 2nd Runners Up, with the cash prize of Rs 3.5 lakh.

 

The Chief Minister of Nagaland Neiphiu Rio, who gave away the top prize to the winners, informed the audience that Hornbill International Music Festival will be ‘bigger and better’ from next year.

The winners with Nagaland CM Neiphiu Rio

 

The finale had two bands from Jharkhand and Nagaland, and one band each from Delhi, Darjeeling, Sikkim and Bangalore, and Assam. Lewang Dorjee of Meraki (Darjeeling) was declared the ‘Best Vocalist’

Leewang Dorjay Lama – Best Vocalist, Hornbill International Rock Festival

 

The judges for the HIRC 2018 were Derek Julien, Derek Julien, iconic guitarist of Waterfront, one of India’s greatest rock bands; Among Jamir, who plays for Bollywood music director Pritam and himself a contender on the first Hornbill National Rock Contest; and Sonam Sherpa, lead guitarist of renowned band Parikrama since 1991.

 

A total of 24 bands, including five from Nagaland, competed at the HIRC. The other contesting bands were from Karnataka, Delhi, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Assam, Sikkim, Darjeeling, Mizoram and Meghalaya.

 

Nine finalist Moongphali (Delhi); Vikrit (Ranchi, Jharkhand), UDX (Dimapur, Nagaland), Vishnu (West Bengal), Her Illegal Practice (Sikkim), Highway 69 (Ranchi, Jharkhand) Perfect Strangers (Bangalore) Since 90’s (Dimapur, Nagaland), and Ambush (Diphu, Assam) competed for the coveted title.

 

Arguably the biggest domestic rock fest and indisputably the highest prize money rock contest in India, the HIRC has become a big draw since its introduction in 2006 as Hornbill National Rock Contest.

Winners at Hornbill International Rock Contest

[TheDC News Desk, We are most grateful to Mr. Aashwin Pradhan for providing us the video footage and pics of Leewang posted here]

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The unknown soldier tweets under the handle: @Bohemian_6 and all the rights to these pics we have shared today, remain with him.

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Darjeeling hills are gorgeous in Monsoon.

Streak of orange in the sea of blue, simply breathtaking

A rare sight in monsoon, Kanchenjunga in her full glory

It’s like the Gods decided to pain clouds here

Beautifully natural, and naturally beautiful

And of course, the fresh greens, reminding us – thing will change for the better

Pic Essay: Mansa Thulung Bhutia

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