Nepal, April 25 -- China watchers in North Block or Langley would probably be nonplussed by a book on China and India that focuses, not on the great arid scapes of Galwan or the high reaches above Tawang, but upon a mofussil town stretched along a ridge that points northwards towards the Chumbi Valley which itself swings southwards like a giant axe-head menacing the Indian chicken's neck.

Last month, Kalimpong mourned the passing of its famous citizen, Gyalo Thondup, elder brother of the Dalai Lama. Thondup memorably transcribed The Noodle Maker of Kalimpong after living there with his Chinese wife Di Kyi Dolkar (nee Zhu Dan) since the 1950s.

What was more captivating about his life and times there was the historic location of Kalimpong...