Sohini Devaraya

Manevanjan, Lamaidura, Jaubari, Mabu, Mayamajua, Guruwalevanjam. Names of several carefully nurtured villages in the hills of Ilam district in Nepal. Chintafur can be seen in all these villages starting from Manevanjan. Of course Think There is another way to go. Siliguri can be reached by car from Mayamajua via Pashupatinagar. I went back that way. Of the many villages, Mayamajua and Gurwalevanjam attracted the most attention. After a long journey, Mayakhola fell at the entrance of Mayamajua on a tired afternoon. ‘Open,’ meaning river. Perolei quite a large field. Football was being played on the field at Seven Lines Defense. Tensions are high. The only school in the area at one end of the field. Due to the holiday season, the students could not be seen. Sitting in front of the school house watching the football match, Mayamajua reached the village homestay in the evening. Somehow I ate a little and fell asleep.

The small window glass of the wooden house informed that it was dawn in Mayamajua. No, it wasn’t morning yet. The green hills in the distance seem to want to welcome the golden morning with outstretched hands. Thirty minutes later, I put on my jacket, melted my shoes, opened the door and stood on the verandah. Suzymama is peeking behind the green hills. This is exactly the kind of sun I used to draw between two hills in my drawing book. Little by little in the sweet light of morning Fog Cutting. However, it is still too late to cover this village in the sun. I stood for a while. The greenery all around, the small wooden houses scattered here and there, the many colorful flowering plants planted in the ground in a black grow bag in front of the house, the bells tied around the necks of cattle heard from afar seemed to numb the mind. This lazy cloudy mind of mine seemed to see very hard working people going to cut wood and graze animals on their backs, to drive someone or a car. Someone left their children and their mother at home and moved to a distant city.

The British Residency in Lucknow bears witness to the armed revolt against the monarchy
The girls are handling all the work inside and outside the house by clenching their teeth. Yeah Al that sounds pretty crap to me, Looks like BT aint for me either. As I was thinking, a piece of sunshine came in my face and I realized that it had taken some time. Where the wooden porch bends to the left, there are a few steps to go down the handless staircase. At the end of it is a wooden bathroom on the left side. After many days I put water on my neck and head. Cold water particles seem to flow down the spine! There is a market next to the house. The beautiful mothers and daughters-in-law of the hills are sitting with their babies in their pockets. Colorful winter dress. A girl named Mishki Puchke had a conversation with Mishki. After playing with him for a while, I set off on the way to Gurwalevanjam.

Gurwale cannot be seen from a distance, it is always covered with clouds. So I did not understand when I arrived, did I arrive or not! I stood on the edge of the ditch with my bag for a while. I asked someone who came forward from the clouds and found out that this is the village of Gurwale. Even though it was half past two in the afternoon, it seemed that it was just dawn. I looked at the cloud-covered mountain gurwal like a white muslin sari. This spring he is ashamed of the red sixteen! The whole village is covered with red gourds (rhododendrons). A really flower fire! In the village of Gurwale there are only six wooden houses, twenty-five inhabitants, including young and old, and five dogs, two pigs, a few cows, a pair of roosters, a dozen chickens and a handful of their cubs. Little by little I removed the sheet of clouds and reached the wooden house waiting for us.

Chintafu is only 3 km from Gurwalevanjam. In the clear sky Kanchenjunga I woke up very early in the morning to see my family and went out with a torch in my hand. The light shone in the sky on the way to reach Chintafu Top. A white, red, and pink rhododendron forest surrounded Chintafu on the horizon. Along the line of light, Kumbhakarna-Kanchenjunga-Pandim came out from behind the clouds one by one and raised their heads. Every step made it clear that very few people have set foot on this path. It was six-thirty when I reached the top of the hill with the footstool, overcoming the ups and downs, and climbing the algae hill. Sunrise on the right and huge Kanchenjunga peak in front. To the northwest are the summits of Everest, Makalu and Lotus. They are standing with a one-sided smile! It was as if all the fatigue of the body seemed to disappear just by looking at Kanchenjunga’s terribly beautiful form with amazement in both eyes.

Chintafu is not as popular as conventional trek routes. There are no roads in many places as people do not come here in groups at different times of the year. The tourism industry has not developed well. Of course, that is the great achievement here. On the day when the road will be paved, the air will be polluted by the black smoke of cars, the slope of frequent tourist gatherings will come down, on that day Chintafu will begin to grow long in the clutches of pollution.

Author Sohini Debra is currently associated with an NGO. The main subject of his writing is mainly travel story. However, a lot has been written on fairy tales, science and social issues. This time Sohini shared her personal travel experience with Digital.