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Unique Story Of Baba Mandir – Sikkim

August 15, 2022 No Comments

Many interesting places in India have only developed from human beliefs and myths. Later people’s faith and respect turned that place into a unique one. Baba Mandir in Sikkim, India is such that kind of unique place. People believe that Baba Harbhajan Singh died while on duty. And his demise does not stop him from doing his duties. Until Harbhajan Singh’s retirement age, the Indian army sent his salary to his family every month. Every year his belongings are sent to his family in Punjab when Army officers are on holiday. His life story motivated us. Indian Government establishes a temple in his honor in Sikkim. This temple is called Baba Mandir.

Also Read: The African Village In India

Sikkim

If you can’t find peace in any place, head to Sikkim. It’s the place where you will truly believe in the goodness of nature and humanity. The state of Sikkim, nestled in the North-Eastern part of India, isn’t exactly on the tourist radar. But it should be. The state has so much to offer to visitors. You will fall short of words to describe its natural beauty.

Also Read: I Met Little Goddess During My Travel

Baba Harbhajan Singh -Hero of the Indian Army

Sikkim Baba Mandir — Baba Harbhajan Singh

The temple of Baba Harbhajan Singh of East Sikkim has been built through various mysteries and stories.
Baba Harbhajan Singh is revered as the “Hero of Nathula” by soldiers of the Indian army. He was born on 30th August 1946 in Punjab, Harbhajan joined the Indian Army at the age of 20. On 4th October 1968, while escorting a mule column from his battalion headquarters at Tukla to Deng Chukla, he slipped and fell into a fast-flowing stream and got drowned. The army searched for his body for three days but didn’t find it. Believed that one of his Sepoy friends was informed in his dream about the exact location of his body with his wish to be cremated there with full military honors. Later a memorial was built at the cremating spot which came to be known as Baba Mandir.

Also Read: Humankind Is 7% Happier Than Those Who Do Not Travel

Beliefs And Myths About Baba Mandir

• The people of Sikkim and Indian Army officers still believe that even after the death of Baba Harbhajan Singh, his soul is still working in the border areas.
• Any army official not maintaining clean and disciplined attire is punished with a slap by Baba himself. This shows how disciplined he was all his life.
• It is also believed that water kept at the Baba Harbhajan shrine becomes capable of curing ailing persons. Devotees, therefore, leave bottles of water in the name of ailing people and then give this blessed water to the sick.
• There is a belief in the army that Baba will warn them of an impending attack at least three days in advance.

Also Read: Unique Story- Of 7 Indian Villages

In Honor Of Baba Harbhajan Singh

• Every year on 11 September, a jeep departs with his personal belongings to the nearest railway station, New Jalpaiguri, from where it is then sent by train to the village of Kuka, in the Kapurthala district of Punjab. A small sum of money is contributed by soldiers posted in Nathula to be sent to his mother each month.
• The Army is on high alert when Baba is on leave.
• During flag meetings between the two nations at Nathu La, even the Chinese Army set a chair aside to honor him.

The End Story

Captain Harbhajan Singh retired from the army a few years back. Indian army hadn’t promoted him from Sepoy to captain. One important thing is that his family never received a salary every month from the Indian Army directly. But the soldiers there created a fund in his honor which raises money for his family. In 2005, he was scheduled to retire.

Also Read: 5 India’s Most Ancient City

Trending

Unique Story- Of 7 Indian Villages

August 8, 2022 No Comments

Many places around the world are famous over the globe for their unique story, culture, and tradition. India is a land of stories, so the variety of colorful cultures and traditions also surprise people all over the world. And all these stories and traditions are found mainly in Indian villages. The moral of the story is, that the village is the soul of India. The economic system of India depends maximum on the villages. Each village has different storytelling, which makes that village, unique in India.

The villages in India that I am referring to here have retained their unique traditions over the years.

Also Read: I Met Little Goddess During My Travel

1: Mattur, Karnataka (The Sanskrit Village)

The Mattur is famous in India as Sanskrit Village. Karnataka’s, Mattur is a quaint village located 300 km from Bangalore. It’s a rare village in India because Sanskrit spoke a regional language considered Sanskrit as Dev Bhasha (The language of the gods in ancient India). And it is said that many regional languages are born from this Sanskrit language. At this modern time, Sanskrit is becoming a dead language in India. But about 5000 inhabitants of this Mattur village still speak Sanskrit for generations. The village inhabited by people from the Brahmin community for the past 600 years. The villagers know Kannada and Tamil, but they prefer the ancient Sanskrit language in their lives. Keeping a very old language alive is truly a unique story.

2: Shetphal, Maharashtra ( The Village Of Snakes)

The people of this village worship snakes. Shetphal is a remort village in Maharashtra located 200 km from Pune, in the Sholapur district. A unique tradition in this village is where the snakes, mainly Cobra, roam around freely. These poisonous snakes can see in every household in this village. There is a separate place for this snake in every villager’s house. The inhabitants of this village believe a strong story, that worshipping these snakes makes them happy and prosperous in life. So no one from the children to the elders of this village is afraid of these poisonous snakes. They respect this cobra snake. The short story is snakes have also merged with these people. And this snake never bites any resident of this village.

3: Barwaan Kala, Bihar ( The Village Of Bachelors)

The Village of Bachelor earned the title for this Barwaan Kala village in Bihar. The sad story is, that no one has been married in this village for the last 50 years. The reason is mainly the lack of infrastructure and amenities that no father wants to marry his daughter to anyone in this village. In 2017, the first marriage took place in this village after a decade. That became possible only when the groom, with the help of the villagers, built about a 6 km stretch of road, cutting through the hills and forest. But at this moment, the situation in this village has changed a lot. Indian Village is gradually becoming modern and along with it the perception of people is also changing. So people are now coming out of the old tradition and thinking in a new way.

Also Read: The African Village In India

4: Shani Shingnagpur, Maharastthra ( TheStory Of Doorless Village)

The unique heritage of this village in Maharashtra creates a powerful story of this village.

Shani Nagpur is a small village in Maharashtra. People in this village live the same life as other villages in Maharashtra. But the unique story is that there is no door in the house of the residents of this village. Shani Shingnagpur is famous in India as a Doorless Village. Here villagers avoid their security because of their undying faith in Lord Shani, the god of Saturn, this God is considered the Guardian of the village. Needless to say that villagers are never feeling unsafe. Anyone can walk into your home or shop in this village, as there are no doors and no locks. Moral of the story no one will steal. If someone does, they will suffer from Sade-Sati, a period of seven years of bad luck as they believed.

5: Jambur, Gujarat ( The African Village In India)

Jambur is a tiny village near Gir, in the heart of Gujarat. It is 24 km south of Sasan Gir. This village is famous as an African village in India. The short story is, that the people who live here are of African descent, but they speak Gujarati and Hindi languages regularly. The locals also call this village Siddhi village. These People are known as Habshis too. They are the direct descendants of the Bantu tribe of the African Great Lake region. According to history, most of the Siddhi People were brought as slaves by the Portuguese from Southeast Africa to give the Nawab of Junagadh as Present. Now they maintain a free unique balance of Indian culture and African tradition in their simple life.

6: Hiware Bazar, Maharashtra (The Village Of Millionaires)

Hiware Bazar, a village of Maharastra, creates a unique story. This village is registered as one of the rich villages in India. There are no poor farmers in this Maharashtrian village. Out of 235 families, 60 families are millionaires. The credit for the success of this wealth goes to the Popatrao Baguji Power (village head), who has forever changed the socio-economic structure of the village. The moral of the story people of Hiware Bazar village believe in hard work. This is also a motivational story.

Also Read: Humankind Is 7% Happier Than Those Who Do Not Travel

7: Mawlynnong, Meghalaya ( The Story Of Cleanest Village In Asia)

Mawlynnong, 78 km from Shillong, is the cleanest village in Asia. Cleanliness is the lifestyle of this village. Mawlynnang is called God’s Garden. In 2003, Discover India named it The cleanest village in Asia. Also, this village shows a highly progressive scenario for women, ranging from a 100 percent literacy rate. They never use plastic bags and stay away from smoking. This is the real story of an Indian village.

Also Read: 10 Amazing Things To Do In-Home When You Can’t Travel

People

A Mother’s Story -Who Stands For Her Rights

July 13, 2022 No Comments

One of the great things about travel is that it gives you the eye and time to find out good stories and good kind people all over. Do you remember the Vicks advertisement – Mother, daughter, hostel? No problem, if you don’t, I will help you to remember the heart-touching story. And this love story proves that love has saved humankind.

Today I am sharing with you Gauri’s story. Gauri Sawant adopted a little girl named Gayatri in 2008 when she was just 5 years old after Gayatri’s mother died of AIDS. She is a good human being and a courageous mother who also works as a social activist. Gauri Sawant born Ganesh Sawant adopted her daughter even though it is illegal for transgender people to adopt children. Yes, You read it right, she is transgender. She is beyond your rules, my rules, society’s rules, except love.

Gauri says “Motherhood is beyond gender. Motherhood is a behavior”

Also Read: Humankind Is 7% Happier Than Those Who Do Not Travel

The Story Of The Motherhood

Gauri Sawant is a transgender activist from Mumbai. She is the director of Sakshi Char Chowghi which helps transgender and HIV/AIDS patients. She has started an old age home for transgender people called Nani ka Ghar, meaning Grandmother’s Home, where old transgender people will take care of sex workers’ children.

Sawant, left her family at an early age to come to Bombay. While working at an NGO, Gauri came across her daughter, Gayatri. Gayatri had been orphaned in 2001 when her mother died.

The child’s grandmother was going to sell her into slavery when Gauri met her. She decided to adopt her, and since then the two have shared a very close mother-daughter bond. Gauri is the first transgender woman to have made her way into motherhood. According to her, “There’s no gender in being a mother”. Gayatri is now studying to be a doctor and lives in a hostel. Gauri’s inspiring story came to the forefront when Vicks portrayed her journey with Gayatri in an ad that has since its release been watched 1 crore times. She was featured in that Ad by Vicks too.

Also Read: My Favorite Best Travel Documentaries

Breaking Orthodox Tradition

Gauri breaks orthodox traditions and stereotypes prevented in her country. She is full of life, confident, and above all very loving human being. Her house is full of colleagues who adore her, and whom she has made feel safe. It is not easy to be a Gauri Sawant. I mean, having such a broad mind, modern thoughts, and a simplistic approach to life is tough. We can only talk about it and claim to have all these. But that’s what society needs more, that’s what Gayatris need more. She challenged the norm that parenting is only for married couples or male/ female genders. May she inspire her story and make more humans like her.

Also Read: Stay Healthy While You Travel

Travel

My Travel Cool Photos

January 23, 2022 No Comments

My Travel Cool Photos mean capturing my moments. Photo images are incredibly important because they not only allow us to capture specific moments over time. Cool photos are for future generations and enable us to recreate wonderful memories or experiences over and over again. I have captured many such moments in my travel experiences. Through these cool photos, I still do time travel to all my old travel places.

50 Rupees Selfie

I met him near Changu lake Sikkim along with his yak. This little yak master has two giant yaks. The kid had something very attractive, called attitude. “Can I click a picture?” I waited for his consent, but he did not say no nor said yes but kept looking at me. I slowly took out my camera and clicked two pictures. He looked at the camera without shifting his gaze or position. “Do you want a ride? 100 bucks for 10 minutes”. he said. I said, “I don’t ride animals.” But before I could complete my sentences, he uttered, “50 rupees then for clicking pictures”. This photo is one of my favorite photos from the Cool Photos collection.

Also, Read The Little Yak Master Did Not Give A Damn

Happy Holiday

Sometimes a small word becomes the reason for your happiness. And one such is “Holiday”. And if that holiday destination is Goa, then the happiness increases a lot more. This picture was taken on a day when I had the happiest and most exciting day on my birthday. This happiness I still remember.

Also, Read The Holiday

Today Is My Day

I believe and I feel sometimes a day is designed just for me. This picture is very close to my heart. This one day I just did nothing. On this day in Himachal Pradesh, I canceled all my plans of going out. I sat on the roof of my hostel with Bagiraa ( the hostel dog). The joy of doing nothing, makes me think again and again when I see this picture. I miss that day.

Also, Read Tell Yourself- TODAY IS MY DAY

Take A Selfie

Nagaland people are very photogenic. As I was walking around the Hornbill Festival in 2018, suddenly some Naga people came to me and said let’s take a selfie. And this is the selfie. Also many more cool photos I have with them. After clicking, I transferred this picture to everyone through WhatsApp while enjoying drinking naga bamboo tea with them. This photograph really touched my heart.

Also, Read 5 Reason To Visit Nagaland

Cheers

“Drink heavily with locals whenever possible” This caption is perfect for this picture. This photo was taken during the Hornbill Festival in Nagaland. Suddenly connecting with new people and becoming friends with them. That day is still very special to me. And this picture still doesn’t let me miss my excitement of that day.

Hello Human

In Hampi, we met a cute monkey. He very quietly came and sat on my neck, took pictures, and left. Honestly, This is the story of these cool photos.

The Poser

On the way to Sikkim Nathula Pass, our car stopped for a tea break. My friend clicked some pictures of me at that time. Suddenly the dog came in front of the camera and sat on my lap. And in that picture, that moment has been captured. I just love the picture.

The Goddess

In the Sonajhuri forest( Shantiniketan) I met the little goddess. She is an artist. She roam around in God’s outfit, and makeup and blessed everyone. I requested her to stay with me for the rest of the day. It is hard to find God and when the almighty is seen then who wants to leave her. By the way, her name is Pinky.

Also, Read When I met little Goddess In Shantiniketan

Art Of Joy

Sometimes your locality restores surprises for you. You just need an open eye and mind to see those. This wall graffiti near my home (Kolkata) surprised me with joy. Sitting on a cycle and playing with an art dog makes me feel silly. This photo always reminds me to keep alive my inner child.

I have many such cool photos with short stories. In my next blog, I would post some more for you guys.

Please let me know in the comment box which one you like most.