I came home to spend some time with Famsie who's visiting with kids from NZ and ofcourse to meet up with dear parents-but strangely enough it has been a defining time indeed.
Extension from one of our ancestral property lies a government settlement where the entire health department of the head-quarters stood.It's a hillock that consists of hospital quarters,the hospital,offices,etc.It also holds some very intricate precious memories of our growing up years.As a kid we were pampered to the dozen by the people who lived on the hillock.There were kindly doctors,heavenly nurses who ruled the hospital with an iron-grip but were one of the most kindest souls I have happened to meet in my short lifetime.It was a typical country hospital where everyone knew each other and the doctors made home visits even for slight ailments.The quarter also housed one of our doctor uncles,a colourful charecter who did fox-trots with his wife and entertained us to no end.They have both passed away since.Their youngest child was my kindred soul then.
That hill held people who were truly the salt of Mangan.With time most of them passed away ,some got transferred .Two years back the whole health zing-bang moved to a place further away leaving the place occupied but devoid the soul.Even in the new area,it never quite bounced back to it's earlier zing.
A week back, my brother told me that an eight storied multiplex worth thirty-three crores was coming up in the place.It didn't really strike me till I saw hordes of people infest the place like ants on the hill with cement mixers,photographers,plumbers and just men at work.My older sibling called up from Gangtok and put forth a request that we take a photograph of tbe place before they got down to work .
Suddenly in my mind's eye,I saw my sibling all of twelve years old bouncing down the hill ,just back from her boarding school in Kalimpong and me with my group of friends cheering her on from our lawns even as she crossed the landmark,the orange tree...
Wow!it hadn't struck me then but now it did!I was just in time to see the last fragments of an era...that is passing by-it hurts!!
Extension from one of our ancestral property lies a government settlement where the entire health department of the head-quarters stood.It's a hillock that consists of hospital quarters,the hospital,offices,etc.It also holds some very intricate precious memories of our growing up years.As a kid we were pampered to the dozen by the people who lived on the hillock.There were kindly doctors,heavenly nurses who ruled the hospital with an iron-grip but were one of the most kindest souls I have happened to meet in my short lifetime.It was a typical country hospital where everyone knew each other and the doctors made home visits even for slight ailments.The quarter also housed one of our doctor uncles,a colourful charecter who did fox-trots with his wife and entertained us to no end.They have both passed away since.Their youngest child was my kindred soul then.
That hill held people who were truly the salt of Mangan.With time most of them passed away ,some got transferred .Two years back the whole health zing-bang moved to a place further away leaving the place occupied but devoid the soul.Even in the new area,it never quite bounced back to it's earlier zing.
A week back, my brother told me that an eight storied multiplex worth thirty-three crores was coming up in the place.It didn't really strike me till I saw hordes of people infest the place like ants on the hill with cement mixers,photographers,plumbers and just men at work.My older sibling called up from Gangtok and put forth a request that we take a photograph of tbe place before they got down to work .
Suddenly in my mind's eye,I saw my sibling all of twelve years old bouncing down the hill ,just back from her boarding school in Kalimpong and me with my group of friends cheering her on from our lawns even as she crossed the landmark,the orange tree...
Wow!it hadn't struck me then but now it did!I was just in time to see the last fragments of an era...that is passing by-it hurts!!
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