started capturing the beautiful nuanc-
es of this festival, making my descent
to Gangtok exciting and worth the
while.
The Chhath Puja is dedicated to
the Sun god and his sister in order to
thank them for bestowing the boun-
ties of life on earth and to request the
granting of certain wishes. Chhath
does not involve any idol worship.
This festival is observed by the Nepal-
ese and the Indians, along with their
diaspora.
The rituals of the festival are rigor-
ous and are observed over a period of
four days. They include holy bathing,
fasting and abstaining from drinking
water, standing in water for long pe-
riods of time, and offering prayers to
the rising and setting sun.
One unique ritual is they do not
wear stitched clothes for these ritu-
als. Men wear ‘dhoti’ which is a gar-
ment consisting of a piece of material
tied around the waist and extending
to cover most of the legs traditional-
ly this is only worn by men. Women
wear ‘sarees’, a garment consisting of
a length of cotton or silk elaborately
draped around the body, this is tradi-
tional clothing throughout South Asia.
Although the traditional dress is not
followed as strictly in the modern day
but the intent, faith and trust is still
the same.
The Sun is necessary for the life of
every creature on the earth and this
festival is a way to pay tribute to it.
The click of my camera captured the
serene view of people praying to the
rising and setting sun along with the
powerful message that all humans are
equal according to the Sun, irrespec-
tive of caste, creed, gender, and social
status. The few moments that I spent
capturing the pictures was not just as
a photographer, this experience also
left an everlasting impression on me
as a human being, giving me a reality
check of who I was. The whole scene
comprising of the holy music, the
river banks lit with coloured lights,
TRAVERSE 111
decorated with flowers and people im-
mersed in water praying to the Sun,
left me with a memory of a lifetime.
I had now crossed over the state
border from West Bengal to Sikkim.
Sikkim is the first 100% percent or-
ganic state in India. Since 2016 all
the farming in Sikkim has been done
without the use of any synthetic fertil-
izers or pesticides. Agriculture here
is an environmentally friendly activi-
ty. Moving towards a healthy lifestyle
with organic products replacing tra-
ditionally grown food products seems
to be a growing trend among young
adults across modern society. Sikkim,
as a state, has already taken the first
major step.
I reached Gangtok late evening and
booked myself into a hotel, parked my
bike in the garage and headed straight
for a warm shower, healthy dinner
and cozy bed!
The uniqueness of Gangtok was the
first thing that hit me next morning.
A full view of the Himalayas from al-