Dehradun, Aug. 9 -- Author's Collection

The two of us stood breathless at Nathu La. At 14,150 feet, this border outpost on the Roof of the World is where two nations face each other, eyeball-to-eyeball. Inched along a road carved out of the mountain face to a rusty barbed-wire that marks the Line of Control. Beyond, covered in indigo hues lies the sprawl of the Tibetan plateau.

We gasp for air.

Comes another sledgehammer blow - sucking the very breath of life out of us. We gasp again but this time though, it's on reading the history of what happens when a small kingdom hangs on to the hem of three bigger neighbours. This is also a cautionary tale for the ruling elite who believe that tilling of their traditional agricultural land is be...