Nature and people stories from India

So finally we reached Bagdogra airport in Siliguri on 8th April. Our driver had arrived at Siliguri on the previous night itself and had reached the airport well 2 hrs in advance before our flight. That certainly was not a sign of coldness towards Indians. We met him at the airport and we started off for Ravangla, a distance of approx 5 hrs. Siliguri has changed a lot in 2 yrs and the traffic worse than a metro city. It took about 2 hrs to reach Sevoke, which was just a 30 min drive 2 yrs ago. Those 2 hrs gave us ample time to interact with the driver. He was a smart, young and we found him amiable. He was a local of Sikkim (Ravangla to be precise) and seemed to be a pleasant and cheerful person. By the time we reached Sevoke, we were sure we would like to have him drive us for any futire visits to Sikkim and he readily agreed as well. He said he can also get the permits done for us from Gangtok should we want to travel to North or East Sikkim. If there was any truth about the Sikkim...

Sikkim- as a school kid this was just one of the names of the 22 states in India (back then). Schooling during our times was boring- learning by rote, no computers or internet, no field trips, no activity based learning, no videos or graphics. Rote wasn't certainly my cup of tea as by temperament, i hate boundaries. So geography was my most hated subject- there was no logic to use and facts were facts and you could do nothing but learn by rote. So i excelled in languages and science where i could use my thoughts, logic and expression and geography felt like a jail. Thankfully, after schooling geography exited my life. The many years were spent completely focused on professional studies - yes, i was too boringly studious. When i now look back, i feel stupid about myself for having missed out on the best years of my life. Who said academic excellence is the key to success? Rather, what is the definition of success And which is the right one? Then somewhere in early 2000s...