"Didi, Mummy said we need to put the gobar to dry in the sun." Tashi called out, suddenly appearing at my door. Soon we were dragging five boris (sacks) of gobar (dung) from the cowshed. He and his father had gone to the jungle (grassland pastures) of Tashigong the day before to bring them back. Although from Kibber, Tashi explained that the Tashigong side of the jungle has more gobar at this time of year, though they go to the Kibber jungle too. Livestock grazing in the hig

The Search After a three-hour drive and another hour of walking, we were told that if we wanted to meet the herders, we would probably need to rent a vehicle, as they were quite far away. After a quick packet of Wai-Wai noodles, we rushed to the next village to look for one. Our race was against the sun. Once the sun set, we were told, the herders would pack up. As luck would have it, we found the herders on our way to the village at Rhunghtum. They were camping there. The th

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-