LET US RENEW OUR BONDING: 
Over the years and since its formal formation in 1984 the Sikkim Hermonites Association has been a nucleus for the fulfilment of our motto: 'closeness for life' for all Hermonites. 
Those of us who are aware Sikkim Hermonites played a crucial and leading role in the successful celebrations of the school's 100th anniversary in November 1995.

Even as we continue our cherished tradition of preserving our closeness, friendship and camaraderie we meet again on March 14, 2014, just three days after our beloved alma mater's 121st Birthday, to welcome Lucinda Gibbs (Cindy is St. Paul's former Rector Mr. Gibbs' daughter), Pradip Verma (SC 1971) and Mr. Mapley's daughter, Margaret Mapley. They now live in Ireland and UK. The venue is our favourite haunt - Hotel Tashi Delek, located in the heart of the town.

During the reunion we would like to nominate Uttam Pradhan as the next President of Sikkim Hermonites. Uttam has been ably assisting our President Karma Bhutia for a long time and many of us feel that Karma needs a break and Uttam needs a 'promotion'! Both have recently retired from government service.

Karma has done a lot for the Hermonites in general and Sikkim Hermonites in particular. He has provided us sound and effective leadership over the years and we are thankful to him and his family.
Hopefully, the younger Hermonites will combine their strength with the older lot and take us to greater heights. We would like to urge all of them to join us at the reunion dinner on March 14.
You may brings your own booze and there will be some singing session as well!
Cheers!!

Birthday message for MH: ‘RIDE THROUGH THE STORM’

In his last message to me and my situation, Rev. David G. Stewart, our beloved Principal who passed away in December 2014, advised me:  “Ride Through The Storm.”

I believe that his advice is not only applicable to me but also to our beloved alma mater, which is passing through perhaps the worst period ever since its birth on March 11, 1895.

So, my fellow Hermonites, and to our beloved MH:  no matter what you are facing and the situation you are in just remember what Mr. Stewart said, “Ride through the storm.”

Mrs. Welthy Honsinger Fisher, wife of one of our Founders, Bishop Frederick Bohn Fisher, during her Speech Day address in MH in mid-’60s reminded us: “It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.”

MH’s history right from the very beginning was a tough one. Just a few years after it began in a cottage near Chowrasta in Darjeeling on March 11, 1895 a number of its students died when the school building collapsed in the 1898’s disastrous earthquake. The school was then called ‘Arcadia’.

But our Founder Miss Emma Knowles did not give up. With God on her side and with a firm determination to continue her mission she began the Queen’s Hill School just above the railway station in Darjeeling.

By 1920s the school was growing and expanding and needed a bigger place. Miss Knowles, assisted by Miss CJ Stahl, shifted the school to the present location. In 1929 the school was renamed Mount Hermon School.

Mt. Hermon went through a difficult phase after the 1935 earthquake and during the IInd World War. But somehow MH pulled through and it was Rev. Stewart (Principal 1953-1963), who made MH one of the top boarding schools in India.

Mr. GA Murray, Rev. JA Johnston and later Mr. Jeff Gardner, assisted by loyal, able and dedicated staff, kept MH’s flag flying high.

Hermonites all over the world know that our school is passing through a tough time. When the going gets tough the tough gets going. MH was born tough. On its 121^st birthday let us all wish her the very best and remind her to “Ride through the storm.”

Hail Mt. Hermon!

March 11, 2016

"ULTIMATELY TRUTH WILL PREVAIL," said Union Minister Harsh Vardhan while speaking at a function of the Indian Federation of Working Journalists (IFWJ) in New Delhi recently. 
I took the opportunity to present my book, "The Lone Warrior: Exiled In My Homeland", to the Minister and Union Minister Dr. Mahesh Sharma. 
The Federation has sought Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh's "personal intervention" on the issue regarding demolition of my press-cum-residential building in Gangtok.
In a letter to the Home Minister, the Federation said,"We..appeal to the Union Government to give justice" and ensure "speedy resolution" on the matter.
"Mr. Kazi is well known for his fight for Press Freedom" and "independent stand" in "his career spanning 33 years in the Press," the letter said.
In my appeal to the Sikkim Government, I had said, "There have been many judgements in the case but justice has been denied."