Near Hungri Monastery, Kanchi sits in her kitchen, boiling a packet of instant noodles. Her children, home from school in the city, have brought several packets with them. She cooks the noodles, tastes a little while stirring, and quietly admits, "I cannot blame them. Those flavours are very good". After they return to school, she sometimes buys a few packets for herself from the local markets, even as she warns them, "These foods will upset your stomach". This small moment c

Ajay Immanuel Gonji Introduction In the summer of 2025, my colleagues and I conducted fieldwork in the Yuksam district of western Sikkim, India. Chiefly, the inhabitants of our study site were engaged in farming, agro-pastoralism, and eco-tourism. We asked our interviewees questions about the nature of their relationship with the land, its living beings, its seasons, and the changes they have observed in recent years. Using a multimethod approach – primarily involving semi-