RELLI   RIVER   VALLEY …

J S Simick

This valley breathes my past,

and I am not the last

of many sons

who sit like this

and feel the heart of fathers past.

This river knows it all,

has seen it all.

I just sit

I just fit

into what is mine.

And rain or shine

this river is mine,

this land is mine

and this rock here ,

suits me fine…

///

Photo taken at Relli khola

VISITING MY OLD SCHOOL IN KALIMPONG

Dr Graham’s Homes – a  homecoming  

J S Simick

The figures in number sixteen had reversed. A sixteen year old boy had once sat on a dark stone slab of the cemetery overlooking Ronaldshay Park, pondering the future. He was finishing school and venturing out into the big, bad, beautiful world! On the very stone slab I now sat. The scene was the same. Only I was not 16 but 61 years. And I had come back from the big, bad beautiful world.

I was back in Dr Graham’s Homes in Kalimpong, Darjeeling district, the place where I grew up. The huge purple bougainvillea below the Workshop was missing but a tree with thick green foliage welcomed me back, as if recognizing me. The beautifully carved rocks of the Homes cemetery still beckoned passers-by to sit and rest awhile. What was mentioned only by a few but enjoyed by all was the comforting warmth of the stone slabs on our posteriors, when we sat there on sunny days !

The steeply turning roads in the Homes compound were broad and imposing, now it looked so small. The Main Office, with the blurred silhouette of the Principal through the curtains, had so often hushed the loud squeals of laughter of passing girls. The wafting smell of browning bread from the Bakery made us close our eyes and inhale deeply !

The MacCleod Swimming Pool reminded me, of wet swimming trunks beneath school trousers, and the joke about the water being aabs wet! The rough stone steps leading up to the School in front of Wollesley  had had blooming red poinsettias, among the green straw fields. I knew every step and could race down the slope even on a moonless Friday night after the black and white film of English classics.

 

Biology field work amidst the big oak, and acorn trees; the coil of white rope in my belt in the Scout Den; the somersault in the parallel bars in the Gym; the Tarzan jungle shacks in the slope below Jubilee House: memories came flooding, vivid and colorful. My friends, Ringay, the two Peters (all three of them no more) Gehendra, Pradip, Praful, were there again, and we would enter the classroom again just now! The wooden desks now looked so crude and primitive, with holes to keep ink pots! What I had lived, half a century back, was in front of me -   touchable, smellable ! It was yesterday once more.

Standing on the edge of the school ground, I realized why Dr Graham’s Homes, Kalimpong was so well-liked. The climate was cool and the air pure. A huge expanse of the Himalayan mountain range was visible, and so close, I felt like hopping onto one of the ridges.  And today Mount Kanchenjunga had shed her veil of clouds, and was preening herself in the bright sunshine.

Words from a song came to my mind - “give me another chance I wanna grow up once again...”

 I will surely grow up once again, in this very place, through my grandchild!

///

J S Simick, 28 November 2012

KALIMPONG SIXTIES - YESTERDAY ONCE MORE

KALIMPONG  –  YESTERDAY  ONCE  MORE  !

-         J S Simick, 11 Feb 2017

Those were the days in Kalimpong

when we could walk,

when we could talk,

and laze away our moments waiting

for the newspapers at Himalayan Store .

Repeated rounds of Main Road,

‘half glass’ tea  and singara

at Dipali and Narayan Das,

were just excuses to prolong the hope

of saying a shy Hi to someone special !

The “bioscopes”  in Kanchan and Novelty

put dreams in us of the big world across Teesta Bridge!

The ‘coming’ posters of great movies -

Magnificent Seven, Great Escape, Guns of Navarone,

Sound of Music, even Maiti Ghar

were stared at with eager eyes.

Melville de Mello,and Binaca Hit Parade,

Listener’s Choice and Radio Ceylon

brought ears closer to whining and whistling radios.

The not so frequent black-white photos

 were paint-brushed into colorful life

at Gopal, Om and SKG studios !

Guitar strings from Premalaya produced music notes

of  Beatles, Carpenters, Jim Reeves,Tom Jones,

emulated enthusiastically from 45s and LP Records,

and Panasonic Audiocassettes.

Those tunes and words still haunt us now.

Packed Dharma Hall in Kumudini, evoked new emotions

with Gopal Yonjan, Aruna Lama, Amber Gurung at the mike!

“Baishaki ban ma..” and “Nau laakhey taara”

showed us our very own roots !

And how,

the young and old,

the near and distant,

the good, the bad and the ugly,

immersed themselves in the mad, chaotic happiness

of  Pandrah August !

Hum Jaayega and Kira Kanchha,  seem so much taller,

now that the laughter they evoked,

is heard no more ..

The great bell of Macfarlane Church

surveyed the town from its lofty perch,

and its regular Sunday chimes

put the thought of God,

into the the minds of even

the not so holy.

And Relli river, dear old Relli

your memories of sunny, joyful picnics flow much farther

than the Teesta - Rungeet you embrace !

You have outlived Graham, Sutherland, and Tibet trade.

Great local souls, who grew up with you,

have peacefully closed their eyes in your lap!

Even as you lean easily on Kanchenjunga

and continue your endless journey of time,

here’s  something which many have said,

and still do –

Kalimpong  I love you!

                           ///

Picture showing  Kalimpong town from 8^th Mile

Photo credit : Google Images