Paradise Forgotten

The photographs pasted here show an insulted heritage of old Sikkim. It is a bridge located at Ranipool in the east district of Sikkim. It is barren today to look at and describes its pathetic condition from its superficial look itself. Indeed, we have forgotten to pay honour to the traditional heritage of ours and speak in big words about our present development and civilization. The desolate looking bridge which has been the subject of utter dismay today was once the lifeline of Sikkim. Transportation and communication of every means were possible from Gangtok to other parts only over this bridge. Constructed in the times of British Rule in India, it was certainly the witness of the then scenario which was gradually moving towards the modern day civilization. But, the ignoring attitude of the policies of our present day system has let it go for its untimely demise. What can be more pathetic than this that we are not serious enough to preserve our old prosperity and claim ourselves to be the most brilliant creature? If we happen to move on to the cities like London, Paris and Rome and even to our own Kolkata, we can see how old tradition and heritage is preserved. The example of the train looking vehicle plying on the streets of Kolkata with hardly one or two passengers is enough to make a distinction between our indifferent attitude towards heritage and their keen interest in those things.

Now, some questions come to our mind.

Why are we not paying proper heed to our heritage? Why can’t we preserve and rejuvenate these legendary belongings? Why do we disregard the values of these memorable evidences? Who can answer?

This ,again is a question!!!

The Bridge over the Rungeet- The Life-line of Sikkim and neighbouring British Provinces.

This photograph of the old bridge has been shared with me by my student Dweep Subba of B. A. IIIrd Semester (Eng. Hons). The Picture was taken by Das Studio, Darjeeling in the 1880's. The bridge was a life line towards Sikkim during those days. It is to be noted here that Colmon Macauley has also talked about the existence of a similar kind of bridge over River Rungeet between the Kingdom of Sikkim and British province of Darjeeling while he was going to Tibet for a trade mission. Probably this might be the bridge which Macauley had crossed while heading towards Sikkim in the 80's of the 19th century. The bridge was made up of bamboos. It became the main way of transportation of the British when they caught hold of the politics of Sikkim. Probably, via this way only the British came to Sikkim to stabilise the political upheavels poised by the then Sikkimese monarchy. This bridge played a vital role in the treaty of 1861 between Government of Sikkim and British India if it is the same bridge which has been referred upon. In the photograph, we can see a couple of Britishers along with one or two local who might have been the porters to carry their loads towards Sikkim. Certainly, the bridge bears a historical value in the context of Independent Sikkim and its relation with the British India. Das Studio, Darjeeling obviously deserves special sense of gratitude for having preserved such an important photograph and we are greatly indebted to the owners.