A Volunteer s Diary: Sikkim 2018 (abridged)

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David Underwood
5 years ago
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1 A Volunteer s Diary: Sikkim 2018 (abridged) Hi Folks, Well here we are again back in India, in my favorite state Sikkim. I am here for another eight-week stint with the Sikkim Anti-Rabies Animal Health (SARAH) Program. I left Australia last Saturday (third of March) and arrived here in Deorali, Sunday evening. A direct flight, Melbourne to Delhi (12 hours), overnight stay and then a two-hour flight from Delhi to Bagdogra in West Bengal. This is the closest airport to Sikkim at the moment. A new airport is being built in South Sikkim, due to open this year, but they have been saying that for many years now! I was collected by Arjun Chettri and driven across the border into Sikkim and then up, up into the mountains to Deorali (a suburb of Gangtok, the capital) where SARAH is located and we have a volunteer s house. It was about a sixhour drive this year, as the political party in power the Peoples Democratic Front, was celebrating the twenty-sixth anniversary of their formation. There was a big concert in progress in South Sikkim near Rangpo and traffic was bumper to bumper for about ten kilometers. Arjun and his company have been delivering volunteers and tourists to Gangtok all the time that I have been coming here, ten years now! At the border at Rangpo, we have to stop to apply for an Inner line permit, which all foreigners need to have to visit the state. It is a nuisance, takes time and only lasts fifteen days, when a renewal is needed. Sikkim is a very sensitive state, being on the China / Tibet border We stopped along the way for refreshments. Here is Arjun, on the left with one of his driver mates. He is drinking a cup of the standard Chai lovely sweet, white tea, ten rupees per cup (20 cents Australian). Always good! I might say, I have never been able to get any good coffee in Sikkim. I live on Nescafe, which is readily available in many grocers shops. 1

2 And you can see the smart new vehicle we travel in, parked outside the afternoon tea stop. Here is a view from inside the restaurant / hotel. Green and pink seems to be the standard colour scheme in many cafes in Sikkim. 2

Out the window that you can see at the back of the shop is a steep drop to the Teesta

Look at the cat on the hot tin roof and also a view further up the river.

metres deep Here is a nearby shop very typical of Sikkimese general stores.

You tear off the packet you want, eat the contents and then throw the plastic wrapper

3 Out the window that you can see at the back of the shop is a steep drop to the Teesta river which flows alongside the road. Look at the cat on the hot tin roof and also a view further up the river. Pretty dry at the moment, but during monsoon time, later in the year it would be many metres deep Here is a nearby shop very typical of Sikkimese general stores. Note the long strings of packets of crisps and salty, spicy treats hanging in the window. You tear off the packet you want, eat the contents and then throw the plastic wrapper away (Not if I can help it!!). Not sure what the very tattered material sign above the shop was supposed to be advertising. Also, you can see the view out the back of the shop. 3

Readers from last year may remember that just prior to my departure we swapped residences, from a third floor flat in Deorali School Rd to a small house down near the clinic on the same Government

It is about three hundred metres from the clinic, but unlike the flat where we walked uphill (I counted about 210 steps); we now walk around the mountain and only climb about 10 steps.

4 Readers from last year may remember that just prior to my departure we swapped residences, from a third floor flat in Deorali School Rd to a small house down near the clinic on the same Government Veterinary Precinct. It is about three hundred metres from the clinic, but unlike the flat where we walked uphill (I counted about 210 steps); we now walk around the mountain and only climb about 10 steps. Gangtok and in fact all of Sikkim is very steep, so stairs are everywhere. It keeps myself and the locals very fit but can be pretty tiring. I recently was reading a book Land Where I Flee by Prajwal Parajuly. It is about an extended Sikkimese family who have left Sikkim to live in far flung countries. They are returning to celebrate grandmas 84 th birthday. There is a lovely paragraph I found to describe the stairs! Gangtok is a city of stairs. It also had streets with crater-sized pot-holes, dirt trails and a slowly widening two lane highway, but the city was infested with stairs. People preferred stairs to roads. Stairs often took you to the same places roads did. Stairs created short cuts. Stairs saved time. Stairs saved you from traffic. Stairs could easily be built. Stairs were often makeshift. Stairs were economical. Stairs could cut through terrain where laying roads proved challenging because of widths and slopes. Stairs were ideal for a city situated on a hill top with so many inclines and declines. Stairs were perpetually wet, perhaps because a maze of leaking water pipes often substituted for balustrades. Stairs flourished. So here are some examples from around Deorali and also out in the country. The first shot shows the SARAH staff carrying supplies uphill to the country school where we were conducting a field camp last year. 4

It s hard enough walking these stairs, let alone carting baskets of goods,

a series of leaking water pipes running alongside, as described in the

5 It s hard enough walking these stairs, let alone carting baskets of goods, bottles of Portagas, furniture, building supplies etc on your back, like these poor porters! The second shot below shows one of the passageways up to our old flat, with a series of leaking water pipes running alongside, as described in the passage from the book. And this is the short side alley that leads to the stairs to our original flat. These pipes were perpetually leaking. 5

6 Here is the new house and the stunning views across the valley from out in front! The clinic which is about 300 metres to the right of the bottom picture has similar views. 6

7 Now for our new readers and anyone who may have forgotten, here are the maps to show you where the state of Sikkim is situated, in the Himalaya of North-East India. 7

This first week in Sikkim, we are working in the clinic in Deorali. Two other groups are out on field camps. Dr Tenzing is in West Sikkim and Dr Manuka at Namchi in the south.

In the last few years, we have found it more and more difficult to find intact street dogs within a twenty or thirty-kilometer radius of Gangtok.

8 This first week in Sikkim, we are working in the clinic in Deorali. Two other groups are out on field camps. Dr Tenzing is in West Sikkim and Dr Manuka at Namchi in the south. Both these Vets are Sikkimese and employed on a permanent basis by SARAH. In the last few years, we have found it more and more difficult to find intact street dogs within a twenty or thirty-kilometer radius of Gangtok. This was a good thing, as it meant we were succeeding in our mission to desex at least eighty percent of dogs to achieve a stable population. But you can t rest on your laurels! We have discovered a large new population of dogs about five kilometres south of Gangtok. We are not sure what has happened, but it has coincided with the opening of a new factory, which employs around 2,000 people. We suspect more food is available and the dogs find their way there. The catchers have had a number of visits and are working away at them. We have been dealing with 20 to 30 dogs a day this first week of my stay. It is also good that we have plenty of dogs, because we are training ten Vet Interns for two weeks and it is great for them to watch us at work and then to try surgery themselves. In the Indian Universities, very little practical training happens. The students know all the theory, but most have never picked up a scalpel. The two weeks they get with us is therefore so important. We try very hard!! Here we can see them in action. We try and get them to do everything, making up surgical kits, autoclaving, preparing for surgery, giving anaesthetics, antibiotics and rabies vaccine. Even the cleaning as you can see. It is all part of veterinary work. 8

Unfortunately, Bucchu s family live in Pachyong, about an hour s drive south of here, so he is away from them most of the time.

9 The young man in the pink shirt is Bucchu. He is one of the best Paravets working here. I have known him for ten years. Watched with interest as his life has unfolded, girlfriend, marriage and birth of his son, who would now be four or five years old. Unfortunately, Bucchu s family live in Pachyong, about an hour s drive south of here, so he is away from them most of the time. Actually, the name Bucchu means Little male piglet Here are some of the potential new generation of Vet s that Dr Alan really hopes will eventually take over most of the work that he is now doing. With twenty million dogs in India needing desexing, we need all hands-on deck! 9

It winds its way downhill through a busy residential area and is always an interesting walk, with lots to see and children happy to talk to us.

10 Here is one of the lucky patients recovering from his surgery. One afternoon Charleyne and I went for a walk after work. (I will tell you more about Charleyne in the next newsletter. A very smart energetic Vet Nurse from Australia). We went downhill on one of the smaller roads that runs from the main centre of Deorali. It winds its way downhill through a busy residential area and is always an interesting walk, with lots to see and children happy to talk to us. We also go past the closest shop that sells alcohol, but that has nothing to do with this walk!! This is a typical entrance way to a house. The doors are open at the moment, but they have this curtain up during the day. The little dog is one of the most common pet dogs here. I think it is called a Tibetan Terrier. The doorway is only a metre or two from the street. The tri-coloured flag is for the Sikkimese Democratic Front, which we talked about before. Some company must have made many millions from their manufacture, because we see them everywhere! 10

This little waiting shelter has been built by the local Lion s Club. The elderly street dog is very appreciative. And further downhill, on a bend in the road is this lovely Buddhist Temple.

I have been a number of times before, at various times of the year. Charleyne tried to go last weekend but the road was closed due to snow and bad weather.

11 This little waiting shelter has been built by the local Lion s Club. The elderly street dog is very appreciative. And further downhill, on a bend in the road is this lovely Buddhist Temple. So that s probably enough for now. This weekend we are hopefully going to Lake Tsomgo in the east of the state and quite high in the mountains near the Tibet / Bhutan borders. I have been a number of times before, at various times of the year. Charleyne tried to go last weekend but the road was closed due to snow and bad weather. Maybe next newsletter there will be some gorgeous photos to show you! I end with this quote from James A Mitchener: If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home Cheers, Dr Alan. 11

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