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GANGTOK WEDNESDAY, Oct 09-15, 2002 Vol 1 No 18 � Rs. 5

“Sikkim will decidehow naughty

”the humour getsAN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH CHELSEA PLUMLEY ON pg 7

HOMEWARD BOUND

BIRKA BDR

KARKI

PREPARES

FOR DASAIN

The 15 days of Dasain could arguably be the most im-portant fortnight on the calendar of any Nepali. Theseare the 15 days every Nepali sets aside for family andthat special day of Tika when parents bless their chil-dren with a generous streak of vermillion and ricegrains.We all know that. We also know that at least Gangtokwill empty into the busties and neighbouring regions ofKalimpong and Darjeeling as everyone heads for theirMool Ghar to be with the brood. While most of us un-dertake the relatively comfortable journey of a coupleof hours ride at most, the Namleys at times trek twodays from the last outpost back home to their respec-tive villages. Their journey makes Dasain even moreeventful. NOW! chats up Birka Bahadur Karki, a Namleyfrom Nepal and tries to understand what Dasain meansfor him. Birka Dai is frank and forthcoming. Dasainmeans everything to him...

TURN TO pg 12 FOR DETAILS

Dear Readers...

Happy Dasain. And on that

happy note, we would like to

inform you that there will be

no edition of NOW! next week

owing to the festive occasion

of Dasain. We shall, however,

return to the newsstands the

following week, on Wednes-

day October 23, 2002. If

Dasain favours us well, we

might have some surprises for

you, so wish us luck even as

we join is conveying our best

wishes to all for Durga Puja and

Dasain...

the NOW! team

TURN TO pg 8 FOR DETAILS

THE MURDER

rajdhaniIN

AND AFTER

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GANGTOK: Although there wereno ugly confrontations, the 72-hrbandh called by the Kalimpong unitof GNLF starting on the evening ofOctober 3, managed to throw ve-hicular traffic between Sikkim andSiliguri off gear. Although DGP,Sikkim Police, RK Handa, con-vinced GNLF’s Kalimpong chief,Dawa Pakhrin to allow Sikkim ve-hicles to ply on National Highway31-A, there were incidents when thesame were turned back.

Some vehicles did manage toreach Siliguri on the night of Octo-ber 4 following the parleys betweenthe DGP and Mr. Pakhrin. The nextday, however, while some vehiclesmade it through, others were not aslucky and were turned back from twopoints - Kali Jhora and Labar Bhotay.

On October 6, the day of the slainGNLF leader’s funeral, there was ve-hicular movement on the highway butSNT buses and trucks and other pas-senger service vehicles did not ply inorder to avoid any untoward incidentsgiven the emotional procession theywould have crossed at Labar Bhoteynear Melli, the cremation spot forKalimpong’s Hindus.

Traffic on the highway returnedto normal on October 7`.

CONFUSING

BANDH

GANGTOK: Every year, asGangtok prepares for the DurgaPuja, in one corner of the town, agroup of artisans work tirelesslyround the clock to erect the onlyBengali pandal in the State.

While many local Durga Pujapandals are coming up in the town,this particular pandal is an excep-tion. It is one of the oldest and theonly pandal set up by the Bengalicommunity based in Gangtok.

The pandal is set up by theSarbajanin Durga Puja Committee(SDPC) and is in its 29th Durga Pujaof uninterrupted display. The elabo-rately done-up pandal, constructedat the Community Hall premiseshere adds the Bangla flavour to Sik-kim’s celebration of Dasain.

The construction of the pandalhas already begun and will be readyjust in time for Maha Shasthi onOctober 11. The chief artisan isDipendra Nath Burman of the JaiGuru Decorators in Siliguri, whohave been involved in the construc-tion of Sikkim’s Bengali pandal forthe past 14 years. He is being assistedby 8 people. Mr. Burman overseesevery detail, from the pillars to thearches and the Bengali “cultural”

items on the stage. The Pujas areconducted by Bengali priests.

The Durga Puja celebrations hereat the SDPC pandal commence onMaha Shasthi on October 11, with thekalprambha initiation in the morningand bodhan (invocation) in theevening. Pujas will be held throughthe Maha Saptami, the Maha Ashtamiand the Maha Navami.

On Dashami, the Dashami Pujais held in the morning, followed bythe Sindur Khela (a symbolic ritualwhere married women smear sinduron each other’s forehead), whichgives a first-hand glimpse of theBengali culture here in the State.

The State’s lone Rajya SabhaMP, PT Gyamtso, is the honorarypresident of the SDPC.

THE BANGLA FLAVOUROF SIKKIM’S DASAIN

a NOW REPORT

WORK IN PROGRESS: Artisans race to complete Sikkim’s only BengaliDurga Puja pandal at Community Hall, Gangtok. a NOW! pic

MELLI: On September 24 angrycustomers gathered outside MelliTelephone Exchange. The publicwas reportedly furious with poortelecom facilities there. When theAE (T) of BSNL reached the spot,the crowd got even more agitatedand demanded the that GM (T) bepresent. Matters cooled down onlywhen telecom services were re-stored.

Violence seems to come eas-ily to Melli as a residentChandra Bahadur Rai realisedto his peril. Official sources re-veal that on October 2, Kulmanand Kailash Rai of Bikmat, en-tered Mr. Rai’s house andstarted beating him up.

The attack proved fatal andthe victim succumbed to his in-juries the next day. What hasbaffled the cops here is thatthere was no apparent reasonto prompt the attack.

The accused tried to flee thearea, but were nabbed the nextday from the Maupur area.

MELLI’S

RAGE

CLAIMS ONEa NOW REPORT

3NOW!09-15 Oct, 2002 UP-FRONT

Eight Years of Pro-Poor Governance

The Sikkim Democratic Front Government completes 8 years

in governance on October 11, 2002. During these eventful years

the present ruling Government spared no effort to bring about

an all-round political, social and economic development of

Sikkim laying particular emphasis on improving the lot of the

underprivileged and vulnerable sections of our society by

initiating a number of poverty alleviation and welfare schemes.

In fact, the Chief Minister of Sikkim, Pawan Chamling, has said

that his government’s dream is to see that every citizen of his

state gets a roof over his or her head, a square meal and basic

amenities like education, health including social justice without

any fear of favour. Chamling admits that the path is difficult and

work is hard but adds that we should be determined to march

on, hand in hand, with the rest of the country, and make Sikkim

a peaceful, poverty and illiteracy free and model state in the

country.

It is indeed a matter of great satisfaction for the SDF government

that it has succeeded in achieving these cherished objectives in

the last eight years. True to its promise and people’s aspirations,

this government has been able to bring about the much-needed

fundamental shift in the style of governance during this period.

The SDF government has taken multifarious measures to restore

the faith of the Sikkimese people in the democratic governance.

It has brought development process back on rails with its pro-

poor schemes and successfully covered vast multitudes of our

society with the development process.

Issued by

Department of Information & Public RelationsGovernment of SikkimRelease Order No: 184/IPR/2002-2003

BEFORE THE LD. OATH COMMISSIONER

EAST SIKKIM AT GANGTOK

AFFIDAVIT

Whereas I, Miss Tenzing Kipa Bhutia,

daughter of Mr. Chotim Norbu Bhutia, age

about 32 years, by faith - Buddhist, by occu-

pation - Government Employee, resident of

Singtam P.O. and P.S. Singtam, East Sikkim,

do hereby solemnly affirm and declare as un-

der:-

My correct and full name is MISS TENZING

KIPA BHUTIA as recorded in my Schedule

Tribe Certificate and other document, but I am

also known as MISS TENZING KIPA as re-

corded in my Academic Certificate, but both

the names are of the same person i.e. My-

self.

Both the names i.e. MR. CHOTIM NORBU

BHUTIA as recorded in my Schedule Tribe

Certificate and other document and MR.

CHULTRIM NORBU as recorded in my Aca-

demic Certificates are the names of the same

person i.e. my natural father.

I do hereby verify and declare that what I have

stated above is true to the best of my knowl-

edge and belief.

I have signed this Affidavit at Gangtok, East

Sikkim on this 4th day of Oct. 2002.

sd/- Deponent

sd/-; Identifier; Wangchuk Bhutia, Nam

Nang, Gangtok

sd/-; Ajay Rathi, Oath Commissioner, Sikkim

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GANGTOK: The fourth and lastModified Leprosy Elimination Pro-gramme (MLEC) was launchedthroughout the State at a functionhere at the health secretariat onOctober 8:

The main aim of this campaignis to help create widespread aware-ness on Leprosy and its early de-tection and prevention.

In her welcome address, Dr. CZangmo, programme officer,MLEC, said that the objective wasto eliminate Leprosy by the year2004 and the State Leprosy Societyhas launched a number of informa-tion, education and communication(IEC) activities at the District aswell as the State level. She also saidthat the support of the local NGOswill be taken to make this campaigna success.

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GANGTOK: The State ElectionCommissioner, DK Gazmer re-vealed that the State Election Com-mission has decided not to postponeelections at Gelling Samsing ZillaPanchayat and Gelling WardPanchayat.

The fate of panchayat electionsin the said constituency had hungon a balance following complaintsfiled with the SEC by PunyaKoirala, secretariat member, CPI(M), State Unit, that CPI (M) par-ty’s candidates, Umesh Bharati and

GANGTOK: Following com-plaints regarding alleged misadmin-istration of SAI Training Centre es-tablished at Namchi in 2000, NOW!decided to get some clarifications.

The said letter accused ShantiSingh, the Coordinator-cum-coach, ofthe Centre of being guilty of takingbribes to ensure recruitment of can-didates at the centre. The letter evenquestioned the motive behind the De-partment of Sports & Youth Affairsopting to remain a silent bystander.

When contacted, Karma

GANGTOK: The outgoing gover-nor, Kidar Nath Sahani, has de-scribed Sikkim as “an island ofpeace” and the people as “most cul-tured and simple and gentle.”

Addressing a gathering of me-dia persons at the Press Club of Sik-kim here on October 3, Mr. Sahanisaid that Sikkim was rich in naturalresources and there was tremendousscope for further development andprogress.

He said that plenty of Centralassistance was coming to the Stateand it has achieved remarkableprogress in every field, but therewas plenty to be done as far as allround development of the State isconcerned. “This depends upon theelected representatives and the bu-reaucrats to push forward the paceof development,” he said.

In this context, Mr. Sahani saidthat the responsibility of the Presswas manifold, as it is the Fourthpillar of democracy.

“The responsibility of the press isnot only praising the government but

also to point out the drawbacks andcreate public opinion on basic issues.The Press in Sikkim has to developitself in this direction,” he said.

Mr. Sahani also said that theinstitution of Panchayati Raj hastaken deep roots in Sikkim. ThePress should play a positive role increating awareness in thePanchayats in the process of mak-ing the Sikkim one of the most de-veloped States in the country, theGovernor said.

The Governor said that the hisstay in Sikkim for about sixteenmonths has been very “happy andfruitful.” He said that the love andaffection that he got from the peo-ple of Sikkim would be his mostvaluable asset.

He described his relation withthe Press in the State as “very in-formal” right from the day he tookthe oath as the Governor.

Mr. Sahani said that his relationwith the chief minister, PawanChamling has been “very cordial”and the various speculations aboutthe soured relationship between thetwo appearing in some section ofthe media was “far from reality”.

Purna Dhakal, had not been allowedto contest in the Panchayat elec-tions.

According to Mr. Koirala, thetwo candidates along with AnjanUpadhaya, another member of CPI(M), had been assaulted by allegedSDF party supporters and were thusprevented from filing their nomina-tions for the said elections.

Mr. Gazmer, while admittingthat the complainants may havebeen assaulted, told NOW! thatthere was no evidence to suggestthat the assault was politically mo-tivated. “They did not even ask forpolice escort to help them file theirnomination papers,” he added. If

they had done so and had the po-lice denied such help then the Elec-tion Commission could have lookedinto their complaint more seriously,he said. As things stand, the episodeis being seen as one of law and or-der and not of political intimidation.

Another factor which wentagainst the complainants was thetiming. “They approached us a dayafter the last date for filing of nomi-nation papers and it was too late.Had they come to our office thesame day, the story would have beendifferent,” Mr. Gazmer said.

He, however, revealed that thecase is still under investigation bythe Police.

ASSAULT MAYBE, INTIMIDATIONDEFINITELY NOT

ELECTION COMMISSION TURNS DOWN CPI (M) COMPLAINTS OF INTIMIDATION

Yougyal, Deputy Director(Namchi), told NOW! that he hadalso “heard” of the going-ons at theSAI Training Centre and had al-ready informed his Secretary of thisparticular case.

Secretary, Sonam Gyamtso, toldNOW! that when the allegationswere first voiced to him some timeback, he had written to the SAI Di-rector, Kolkatta, Dr. G Kishore, ask-ing him to visit Namchi and inves-tigate the matter for himself.

The Director was schedlued tovisit Sikkim in September to lookinto the matter but could reportedlynot do so due to ill health.

Mr. Gyamtso further informed

NOW! that the administration of thesaid Centre lay “solely in the handsof SAI”.

“The Department has done itsduties by informing the SAI Direc-tor in-charge of the case and haseven asked the Coordinator to bereplaced,” the Secretary said.

“Our Department is not to beblamed at all. If there is any guiltyparty here, it is SAI,” said Mr.Gyamtso, “The ball is in their court.We are nothing but watch dogs,”added his Deputy Director, Mr.Yougyal.

When NOW! tried to contact Mr.Singh it was learnt that he had leftfor Kolkata on “official” business.

by TINA RAI

Sports & Youth Affairs not to blamefor unsporting activities of SAI

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Gubernatorial goodbyesto the “island of peace”

Gubernatorial goodbyesto the “island of peace”

5NOW!09-15 Oct, 2002

6 NOW! 09-15 Oct, 2002

GANGTOK 09-15 OCT, 2002

SIKKIM MATTERS

DEEPFOCUS

by RANJIT SINGH

ED-SPACE

LETTERS�

Readers are invited to share their views, opinions and reactions to news-items carried in NOW! Theletters may be edited for language and content and the name of the writer withheld on request. Personalattacks will not be carried, but letters raising pertinent issues will be shared with readers. Please mail allfeedback to NOW, Gairi Gaon, Tadong, Gangtok East Sikkim. email: sikkimnow@rediffmail.com

The first steps towards peacein the Kashmir Valley shouldnot be allowed to go to

waste. The casting of ballots in thestrife-ridden state have been com-pleted and though there have beenincidents of violence the securityforces have managed to keep it un-der reasonable control. Their great-est achievement is they have notbuckled under the combined pres-sures brought on by the intense in-ternational focus on the democraticprocess in state and the Pakistanidesigns to disrupt the process in amajor way.

The people by coming out inlarge numbers have rebuffed theindigenous political patrons of mili-tancy, represented chiefly byHurriyat Conference. It may be re-called that the Hurriyat Conferencehad issued a boycott call for thepolls for fear that a successful pollwould sanctify the state’s accessionto India.

The people of Kashmir havesent out a strong message to theagents of secession and diabolicalcross-border designs with theircredible public mobilization andparticipation under extraordinarycircumstances that their idea of so-lution to the Kashmir problem is not

needed nor solicited. They have sig-nalled the death knell to “militantnationalism”.

There have been some noisesthat the defeat of the National Con-ference in the elections would fur-ther enhance India’s position thatthe elections were free and fair. Theofficial assessment of South Blockis that the results would not be tooencouraging for the National Con-ference which supports the NDAgovernment in the centre. Irrespec-tive of which party comes to power,the installation of a popular govern-ment will see the levels of discon-tent fall and Pakistan vanish as afactor in the state. But India’s com-mitment to dialogue should remainconstant.

Another shot in the arm for theIndian Government in the efforts toproject that the elections in Kash-mir were free and fair has comefrom the US. The US had toldIslamabad that the only way for

early resumption of dialogue be-tween Pakistan and India would bethe former’s acceptance of the re-sults of elections in Jammu andKashmir. The acceptance of the re-sults would be the precondition forthe future engagement of US in theKashmir dispute.

Whether the US is accepted asa mediator by India in the Kashmirdispute is another question and doesnot seem likely at present. What isof significance is that the accept-ance of the election results by Pa-kistan would pave the way for dia-logue between the two countries.This would greatly reduce tensionsof war or whatever limited strikesome people are thinking about es-pecially in the wake of the desecra-tion of the Swaminarayan Templein Gandhinagar.

The badly mauled terroristcamp may well now attempt to un-leash a prolonged spell of violencein the aftermath of by and large suc-cessful polling in the state. We canonly hope that the process initiatedby a free poll reaches its logicalconclusion with the formation of atruly representative government inthe Valley with the dissipation andeventually rejection of “militantnationalism”.

SIKKIM ON TELLY

It was interesting reading aboutLotto’s first Sikkimese face -

Sinora - in your last issue, but thenit was NOW! that was very vocalfrom the very beginning about theneed to include the Sikkim factor.We hope the girls will do us proud.Here’s wishing them the very bestof luck!C. Gurung, Singtam

WHAT KIND OF LAMA?

The capers of the lottery lamamade interesting reading. It was

a real eye opener. One would ex-pect monks to spread truth and com-passion, not try their hand at cheat-ing others and in the process drag-ging the reputation of the religiouscommunity through mud. TheChorten authorities have taken theright stand in condemning the ac-tion of the lottery lama and asking

the authorities to proceed as per thenorms. Cheating does not prosperin any garb.Passang Tshering, Gangtok

NO HARD FEELINGS

Sikkim Rehabilitation Centre hasbeen inaugurated with much

hope and promises and the bless-ings and good wishes of many emi-nent individuals and organizationsand the general public. We do hopeand pray that it will live up to itsexpectations and that all peopleconcerned running it will grow richin experience and skills.

People come to Rehab Centrewith one last hope of recovery. Theneed for abundant hope, patienceand compassion are the least ex-pected elixirs here.

I must acknowledge that themost realistic offer to provide con-venient help to the Sikkimese peo-ple came from Pastor JosephTamang of Baptist Church of Sik-kim in the form of Sikkim Rehabili-tation Centre and a Counselling Cen-tre at his residence at Nimtar and De-velopment Area respectively.

The other significant help camefrom Secretary Health, Dr. TRGyatso by providing the Detoxifi-cation facilities at the Singtam Hos-pital. Dr. PM Pradhan, CMO,Singtam Hospital has been instru-mental in this regard. There arescores of other enthusiastic help tobe tapped from several other indi-viduals and institutions.

Mr. Rajen Dewan, former Pro-gramme Director, please note thatthis title is not to be misinterpretedwith similar designation of authori-ties, left the centre unceremoniously,

as apparently the situation becamevery incompatible, on account of onestory which appeared in your es-teemed paper in good faith.

I do not wish to blame anybodyfor this, as it was only a matter ofinstinctive perception, interpreta-tion and reaction of some individu-als, which obviously was not palat-able to people in general.

Once again I would like to re-peat that we wish Sikkim Rehabili-tation Centre the very best so it maybecome a source of hope and recov-ery to many.

And we would like to extendour heartfelt thanks to your paperNOW for all its concern.PJ Pradhan

CRAMPED SCHOOLS

The problem of the students andparents of Joybells school,

Tadong has been solved for now.But the whole issue raises manyother questions. Schools havesprung up everywhere like mush-rooms. Anyone with two small

rooms thinks they can open up aschool. Unqualified teachers,cramped quarters, and no place toplay- is this the kind of educationwe want for our children.

The government should be verystrict in giving out licenses forschools. It is not a shop, we’re talk-ing about but the future of our chil-dren.Radha Rai, Syari.

VIVA DEEPA

I found your story on cerebral palsyvery interesting. So often we think

that if we look the other way theproblem will just go away. A spe-cial child is the responsibility of thewhole society and not just of the bio-logical parents. And as such a col-lective effort is needed to providerelief and support to these children.

Deepa’s case demonstrates thatif cerebral palsy is diagnosed early,and proper therapy and correctivemeasures taken a child can behelped to lead a ‘normal’ life.Sonam Doma, Gangtok

NOW, FOR SOME

PEACE PLEASEON TURNING EIGHT

The Sikkim Democratic Front should count itself lucky. It com-pletes eight years in continuous power with a clean sweep ofthe panchayats and no visible signs of rebellion in the ranks.Of course, there will always be the odd instance of a disgrun-tled leader blowing off some steam in an embarrassing man-ner, but the SDF, by and large, has had a smooth run thus far.Except the near successful overthrow bid in the wake of theEmployment Exchange Act extension fiasco in 1997, the partyhas not really hit any stumbling blocks as yet. There may havebeen many Intra-party differences, but that’s for the partybosses to know and for them to resolve. On the surface, SDFappears a cohesive unit with sharp political manoeuvring skillsand strong survival instincts. It boasts a reasonably present-able track-record of achievements and the Sikkimese peopleseem in no real hurry to take to the streets in protest. In short,the State is at peace with its leaders.It’s for these very reasons that the present government can-not afford to get complacent. Even Bhandari could pull off acontinuous stretch of eight years when he did not have a se-rious political exigency to tackle. Uneventful times, becausethey demand much fewer political compromises, are times ofreal development in a democracy. These are the brief periods(and SDF is lucky it has eight years) of political inertia whichlend themselves best to some real governance. Strong deci-sions, urgent for Sikkim after 25 years of chalta-hai adminis-tration, can be taken and pulled off. The people have reiter-ated their faith in the government repeatedly and soon willcome the time of taking account. For the present Government,the cushion of blaming all failures to the policy decisions ofthe past regime no longer exists. After eight years, it is itselfthe past regime now. Needless to add, it also lacks the publicsympathy which a government constantly ambushed on allsides could evoke. Now there is no one left to blame. To addin the same breath, it is easy to turn complacent when nowatchdogs exist. The Opposition is too ensnared in its ownnegotiations for survival and the public in Sikkim was nevervocally observant. So, the onus now lies on the powers-that-be to themselves perform, watch and reprimand. Accoladescan be cheaply purchased, but criticisms are so hard to comeby that they should actually be encouraged. The best presentthat the SDF Government could give itself on October 11, wouldbe an Ombudsman - an in-house critic who pulls no punchesand minces no words. The Sikkimese public might not be givento action, but they surely observe. They have placed their fu-tures in the hands of the present government and becausethey have not interfered much with the delivery process, theydeserve results. The SDF regime owes it to them for the pasteight years in the saddle. It needs to justify the confidenceplaced with it if it has any aspirations of getting another run offive years in two years time.

7NOW!09-15 Oct, 2002

”“ON RECORD

Lets face it, in the West (Down Under actually,since she hails from Australia) Chelsea Plumleyis a popular cabaret artist. She is, however, cau-

tious of using the term in an India which has grown upassociating cabaret with the striptease acts of Helensand Bindus of the world. The word “cabaret” actuallysignifies a restaurant or a cafe with live entertainment.Over the years, the name became associated with theperformers at such restaurants and cafes. As a per-forming art, cabaret is a performance where the artiston stage takes the audience through a journey. It couldbe comic, it could be melodramatic, but never ever strip-ping. Guess it will take time for us to accept cabaret forwhat it really means, so Chelsea comes to India just asan entertainer. “Yes, I am cautious about using the termcabaret here. People start thinking that they can pinchbottoms at the show then,” she said (surely with a wink)over the phone from Bangalore, where her show was abig success. NOW! managed an exclusive interviewwith the star who will perform in Gangtok on October21. Excerpts:

Welcome to India. Let’s hear your first impressions of theplace.I’ve been here only a couple of days and this is my first visit,but from what I have seen so far, I am smitten. It’s absolutelywonderful. I’m lucky to be staying at the Leela. The weatherhas been fantastic and the people are simply wonderful. Theyare so helpful and caring. It’s simply fantastic.

Know anything about Sikkim?Actually only from Phil (Phil Bathols, Sikkim’s AustralianJamai and also the producer of the show). He first told meabout the setting up of my concerts in India and also my showin Gangtok. He sent me a list of websites that I could findinformation on Sikkim and since then I have been doing a lotof reading on Sikkim. Also, from the emails from Phil I learntthat Sikkim was a simply amazing place with wonderful scen-ery and people. I am actually looking forward to the changefrom performing in big cities to a smaller town. Yes, I amactually looking forward to being there.

You describe your shows as music accompanied by your“naughty” sense of humour. What’s this naughtiness? Hownaughty can we expect you to get in Sikkim?I have a very mischievous sense of humour in general. As forthe shows, how naughty the humour gets depends on the au-dience. You see I perform a lot for corporate crowds and poli-ticians and they can be very conservative about humour sothe humour gets toned down accordingly. I judge the audi-ence and then see far I can go. I love a good joke and I get mysense of humour from my father. I believe there is nothinglike laughing in this world.

You are a graduate from the Western Australia Academy ofPerforming Arts. What did you specialise in?

of struggle. Tell us about those days.Yes, its a misconception that people become stars overnight.The bright lights that you see sometimes come at the end ofyears of very hard struggle. I, for example, have been per-forming since I was five. I then did several musicals throughschool, did my graduation from WAAPA and had performedall over Australia, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong foreight years before the first big success. The days of strugglewere a wonderful experience. In this line, specially in thebeginning you sometimes hit dry spells when you go monthswithout any work. Fortunately, I also play the piano and ver-satility helps in this trade. So, when I was not doing a concertor a play, I would play the piano. Also, I love teaching and doat times take masters classes and share my experiences ofhaving performed abroad. All this helps.

Your performances are peppered with a lot of family anec-dotes. What was your childhood like?Childhood was fantastic. I’m from a very big family. OK,maybe not very big by Indian standards, but I was the eldestof five children. I was very passionate about music since child-hood and it was more than just a hobby. When I was 14, myparents divorced. Those couple of years were difficult, but Ilearnt a lot from them. I still love my father though. Then,before I knew it, I had finished high school and then therewas WAAPA and my career. I guess it is important to have aroller-coaster side to your life.

At present you are playing Rizzo in the Grease musical tour-ing Australia. What’s that been like?It is exciting because Grease was my favourite musical grow-ing up. John Travolta and Olivia Newton John became iconsat the time because of the movie version. And, even as a kid,my favourite role was that of Rizzo, the bad girl. So, when Iauditioned for the role and bagged it, it was a childhood dreamcome true. Also, the show offered the option to travel allover Australia. Of course, I put in a lot of hard work into myrole. It’s after all, more than just singing and am happy thatmy role was liked by all the critics.(The critics incidentally have singled out Chelsea’s portrayalof Rizzo as “stunning” - ed)

Finally about Sikkim. What can the people planning tomake it for show expect?It’s going to be a wonderful evening of different styles ofmusic. There will be something for everyone. I am accompa-nied by a brilliant pianist Denis Follington. There will besome pop, some musical theatre, some jazz. A lot of differ-ent styles. There will be a lot of humour, lot of laughs, sometears maybe. It is going to be a wonderful sophisticatedevening. A very relaxed evening as well. I have heard somany praises for Sikkim and read such good things about thepeople and the place, that I am really looking forward to per-forming there.

So are we Chelsea, so are we...

A WONDERFUL EVENING WITH A LOT OFLAUGHTER AND MAYBE SOME TEARS

CHELSEA PLUMLEY

I did my Bachelor of Arts in musical theatre. The three yearsI spent there were wonderful. Lot of hard work definitely,but it was for something that I loved and made my career.

Being a performer, I am sure you went through your days

Sikkim, in terms of just physical re-sources alone, has plenty to offer. Butthese resources have to be developed

properly so that maximum benefit can be de-rived from them. Development will have tobe a planned and conscious effort so thatwhile the resources are utilized, they are si-multaneously preserved for future use.

This is where the HR or the Human Re-source factor comes into play. Two countriesthat have more or less the same natural envi-rons differ mainly in the quality of their hu-man resources. While much stress is placedon physical or ‘hard’ quality, which literallymeans conformance to standards, ‘soft’ qual-ity or the quality of the human resource ac-quires growing importance in the face of in-creasingly rapid global changes.

More than a quarter of international tradetoday is in services, in what is termed ‘invis-ible’ trade - trade by way of banking and fi-nancial transactions, tourism, copyrights andtrademarks and the like, a case in point be-ing Switzerland. Production, marketing, op-erations and all other functions that are in-volved in the creation of the tourism prod-uct- tangible goods and intangible services-

would not be possible without the HR factor.Interestingly, the HR needs in the tour-

ism industry will be inextricably linked withthe way the sector evolves. Therefore it be-comes necessary to be able to not only visu-alize the emerging influences that will shapethe tourism industry but to make plans to meetthe new HR needs that these will throw up.

Technological advancements have notonly led to the rapid dissemination of infor-mation worldwide, but are also encompass-ing all spheres of human activity. Today’stourists can scour the Internet for destinationsand book their rooms with just a click of theirmouse. Training needs of HR thus become a

continuous process entailing continuousupgradation of skills as well as refresher train-ing. But sadly, the WTO revealed that one-third of the world’s population have no ac-cess to new technology in which case it be-comes difficult to acquire the competitiveedge that technology entails. Have you real-ized the increasing use of and dependenceon the Net by those in the tourism industryeven in Sikkim? The Net is a great levellerthat way.

Change will continue to be the only con-stant thing. Teaching people how to adapt tochange in order to survive will have to be thepredominant focus of tourism education.

Darwin’s theory of evolution is still relevant,only the jungles have changed to concreteones. While technology is a tool of empow-erment, people will have to comprehend itspower and learn how to use this powerful toolto their advantage. When opportunity doesthe proverbial knocking, people have to knowwhat to do with that opportunity, how to trans-late it into gains.

HR development strategy would have toinclude skill training that can respond to changequickly. Solitary skills are losing their relevancein an increasingly global and networked world,multi-disciplinary skills that cut across functionsare the order of the day. It is a fact that the firstreaction to any crisis, 9/11 for instance, is to cutjobs. What kind of jobs? Those that involve sin-gle skills that are not critical. Organisations re-tain multi-skilled employees to reduce costs somultiple skills are, in effect, a harbinger of jobsecurity as well.

Access to C&S television has made theconsumer more discerning about the qualityof the tourism product, their expectationshave also increased and become holistic inapproach. The new age traveller has been de-

HR Challenges for theTourism industry

TENZIN C. TASHI on the need for Sikkim to equip its human resource

better to be able to deliver the service that every discerning traveller

will demand of the State...

turn to pg 10

8 NOW! 09-15 Oct, 2002DESPATCHES

AMITAVA BANERJEE reports on the

events that followed the murder

of GNLF leader, CK Pradhan in

Kalimpong...

DARJEELING:

The life of one of the most flamboyant Gorkha NationalLiberation Front (GNLF) leaders, CK Pradhan, wassnuffed out on the 3rd October 2002, when he was

shot in broad daylight from the back while he was walkingdown RC Mintry Road in Kalimpong at around 2:10 pm lastThursday. He was immediately rushed to the Kalimpong SubDivisional Hospital where he was declared dead.

According to a hospital source a single bullet was foundin his body during post mortem. His dead body was latertaken to his residence, where thousands turned up to pay theirlast respects. Immediately after this news broke out inKalimpong shopkeepers began downing their shutters. Anangry mob is even reported to have pelted stones at a fewcars. The situation was brought under control by the Policeforce.

Dawa Pakhrin, President, Kalimpong GNLF Branch Com-mittee, vehemently condemned the murder and demandedthe immediate arrest of the culprit. The GNLF KalimpongBranch Committee called for a 72 hour Kalimpong Bandhstarting from 6:00 pm Thursday evening. The DarjeelingGNLF Branch Committee called for an emergency meeting.

“We condemn this dastardly killing, even though we hadsome political differences and demand for immediate arrestof the culprits. Owing to the Pujas at hand and the rush oftourists, we have called a token one-day 24 hour strike forFriday in Darjeeling,” said Deepak Gurung, GNLF DarjeelingBranch Committee, President.

CK was incidentally GNLF supremo, Subash Ghising’ssecond-in-command during the GNLF agitation of the eight-ies. Things took a wrong turn when CK fell out of Ghising’sgood books after an assassination bid on Ghising on Febru-ary 10, 2001 at Saath Ghoomti in the Kurseong Sub-Divi-sion. CK was alleged to be a party to the conspiracy.

From that time began the gradual cornering of Pradhan.First he was removed from the presidentship of the KalimpongGNLF Branch Committee in the first week of April 2001and replaced by Dawa Pakhrin. Next he was removed fromthe post of Councillor-in-charge of Health and given the port-folio of Backward Class Welfare on the February 5, 2002.The slain leader, however, still had a large following inKalimpong but had started maintaining a very low profile oflate. This flamboyant leader in his mid-fifties who used tosport long hair, wear earrings, loved to be in shorts and was aperson who used to socialize a lot, visiting people duringmarriages, death and any social gatherings decided to takethe back seat. Though obviously demoralized, he did not evercomment against the party or oppose it.

CK also had a lot of influence on the Kalimpong Munici-pality. In the last week of May 2001, Maximus Kalikoteywho was at that time the Vice-Chairman of Kalimpong Mu-nicipality and a CK loyalist called for a vote of no confi-dence against the Chairman Karna Hung Subba. 13 mem-bers supported Subba out of 23 (all GNLF) and Kalikoteybecame the Chairman. Barely a day after CK was removedfrom Health Department, Karna Hang Subba moved a voteof no confidence motion against Kalikotey who resigned un-der party pressure on February 26. Subba regained his Chair.

Always mired in controversy, CK had many differenceswith the Chairman. He had, for example, opposed the 6thSchedule issue that the Chairman and some DGHC Council-lors were harping on. He said that he would not settle foranything less than “Gorkhaland.” He also opposed idol wor-ship, clearly contradicting Ghising’s favourite pujas includ-ing the 18 hand Durga, of which the Chairman is an ardentdevotee.

CK is the second sitting DGHC Councillor to be mur-

dered, the first being Rudramani Pradhan who was also mur-dered on March 28, 1999. The 52 year old flamboyant leaderfrom Kalimpong leaves behind his wife, twin daughters anda son. The following day, i.e. 4th October 2002, in a specialreview meeting at Kurseong, the GNLF Kurseong BranchCommittee decided to withdraw the 72 hour bandh call fromOctober 5. “We have done this so that the public of Darjeelingand Kurseong can pay their last respects to the departedleader,” said IN Pradhan, President, Kurseong GNLF BranchCommittee. The Kurseong GNLF Branch Committee hadcalled for a total strike including Tea Gardens and CinchonaPlantations, however essential services were exempted.

On the morning of October 4, a group of CK loyalistscarrying black flags as a mark of protest and chanting slo-gans against the District administration called for a 24 hourextension of the 72 hour bandh. Posters were plastered alongthese lines signed by the “Janta.”

A Kalimpong strike usually affects Sikkim as its onlyapproach road is the National Highway 31A which passesthrough Kalimpong Sub division.

In a poster the GNLF Darjeeling Branch Committee statedthat the 24 hours token strike was confined to 24 hours keep-ing the tourist season and the bonus issue of the Tea Gardensin view. Further the posters declared that the Tea Gardenswould be exempted from the bandh. At Mirik though therewas a total bandh some of the tea gardens functioned nor-mally. Sanjay Chander, Darjeeling Police Super, who wascamping at Kalimpong, said that police patrolling had beenintensified in all the three sub divisions and additional po-lice forces had been rushed to Kalimpong. Meanwhile all theopposition parties of the hills have strongly condemned themurder.

October 5, the day of the funeral, saw many a leader,politician, business man and the common man pay their lastrespect at Mission Compound, Kalimpong, the residence ofCK Pradhan. The GNLF top brass included Dawa Pakhrin,President, GNLF Kalimpong Branch Committee; DeepakGurung, President, GNLF Darjeeling Branch Committee; I.N.Pradhan, President, GNLF Kurseong Branch Committee;Golan Lepcha, Kalimpong MLA and Shanta Chettri,Kurseong MLA. Dawa Pakhrin placed the GNLF party flagon the slain leader’s dead body among chanting of slogans.

However Subhash Ghising, DGHC Chairman did not attendthe funeral but had sent an emissary with a condolence note.The Kalimpong hills echoed with “Long Live CK Pradhan”“As long as the GNLF flag is flown in the hills we will re-member you” as thousands of mourners joined the funeralprocession, sporting black badges of protest and carrying blackflags.

Life came to a standstill in this sleepy hamlet as the peo-ple cried silently seeing off the most popular and flamboyantleader of Kalimpong on his last journey. Emotions could notbe checked and 70 year old Dambar Thami wiping his tearssaid, “Once, when I had no money to fend for my family, CKPradhan had taken off his gold ring from his finger, given itto me and asked me to sustain my family by selling it.”

There was even a local resident working in Murshidabadwho had come all the way “to see his beloved Daju (ElderBrother).” Thousands accompanied the funeral processionwhich passed through Dal Bahadur Giri Path, 10th Mile, R.C.Mintry Road, Wangdee Road, Motor Stand, D.S. Gurung Roadupto Novelty Cinema Hall, on foot.

“Teesta Rangeet Sukhdai Na, Gorkha Kahiley JhukdaiNa (Neither will the Teesta and the Rangeet Rivers dry norwill the Gorkha ever stoop down)” expressed the feelings ofthe mourners.

The mourners also demanded a CBI enquiry on the mur-der of Pradhan and chanted anti-administration slogans. Some300 cars and 150 bikes escorted the funeral procession toLabarbotey in Malli on the banks of the river Teesta, 17 kmsfrom Kalimpong. Kalimpong was enveloped in tight securitywith a contingent of Rapid Action Force brought in fromRaiganj and Special Combat Force of the Darjeeling Police.Though the atmosphere was highly charged police had a tightcontrol over the situation and no untoward incident occurred.The last rites were performed in the picturesque banks of theriver Teesta with the hills in the backdrop, the thing that CKcherished the most.

The massive funeral passing through the NH31A to Malli,caused a traffic jam of the vehicles plying to and fro fromSikkim. Some of the stranded tourists in Kalimpong wereprovided an escort by the Police upto Chittrey, the junctionof Kalimpong Road and NH31 from where they managedvehicles to Siliguri.

Meanwhile, in Darjeeling 5 drunken youth claiming tobe from Kalimpong began a drunken brawl at the vegetablemarket at Chowk Bazar, Darjeeling at around 2 pm on theday of the funeral. They demanded that all the shops be closedas it was the funeral day of the murdered GNLF leader. Theyeven beat up two shop keepers Sujit Singh and Ajit Singh.

The hills were already under a grip of tension owing toPradhan’s murder and when Darjeeling remained open onthe funeral day even as Kalimpong was on strike, the news(rumour) that some CK loyalists had come to Darjeeling toenforce a bandh spread like wild fire. Shop keepers hurriedlybegan downing their shutters. A near stampede situation arose,as the main market was packed with puja shoppers, mainlywomen and children. People ran looking for safe shelters.

THEMURDER& AFTER

turn to pg 12

CK’s body prepared for the final respects (left) andthe mammoth procession which accompanied his last

journey to Laborbhotey, Melli (above)

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GANGTOK: They are queuing upin hundreds at the 5th Mile resi-dence of the Ladakhi family. Somehave waited patiently for close totwo hours just to be treated by a ladyin the most unusual manner.

The lady in question is a“Lhamu” or the one with the Gods,who has the strangest gift of treat-ing all your ailments using meth-ods that would certainly bafflemedical science and prompt the dis-belief of skeptics.

Tsewang Dolma, the Lhamuwho has come all the way fromLadakh, has been treating peoplehere using her special gift. Shesucks out the bad phlegm from theaffected parts of the body, thus cur-ing one of any ailment.

Unbelievable? Believe it.For there are many who swear

by this method of treatment andvouch that the treatment given by theLhamu actually works. And the typesof ailments that she cures range fromyour everyday headaches to severebackaches, arthritis, gastric problemsand even paralysis.

The Lhamu is here at the invi-tation of Gurme Ladakhi and hiswife, Diki Ongmu and has campedat their house since October 27 andalready treated over 500 patients.

Says Mrs. Ongmu, “The mainreason behind inviting the Lhamuto Sikkim was to help poor people,who cannot afford conventionaltreatment. And also, there are vari-ous ailments for which traditionalmedicines have no cure.”

Going by the crowd that throngs

their house every day, all expecta-tions have been surpassed. Peoplefrom all social backgrounds, castesand creed are lining up to be curedby the Lhamu, who is assisted byanother lady, Tshering Choksi, whois also a Lhamu.

The Ladakhis have every rea-son to believe in the healing pow-ers of the Lhamu. The late NTLadakhi, in the eighties, was curedof the skin problem that was trou-bling him for a long time. Mr.Ladakhi, who was diabetic, sufferedskin rashes which even doctors inEurope could not cure. One sessionwith the Lhamu and he was curedat least of his skin problem.

For Mrs. Tsewang Dolma, inher late forties, this amazing powerof healing is a “greatest gift ofGod.” “I do this not for money,name or fame, but as a service tohumanity. If someone benefitsthrough my deeds, I am merely serv-ing God. “Karma hi Dharma hai,”she says in halting Hindi.

Her healing powers are widelyacclaimed and she has toured Ger-many and Denmark and all over thecountry curing people.

This lady from Ladakh is mar-ried with three children and is alsoa proud grandmother. She first re-ceived this divine gift in childhoodwhen she started behaving like a“mad person” and suffered fits.When taken to the highest Rinpochein Ladakh, her family was told thatthe young Tsewang Dolma had beenblessed by a “Lha” or a deity. Soon,she was initiated by another monkand then came to be known as a“Lhamu”.

She says that a deity enters her

FROM THE SPOT

body after she performs a puja duringwhich she invokes the Gods. “TheGods do the healing, not me,” she says.

Incidentally, she does not re-member anything once the deityleaves her body.

“The people of Sikkim are veryfriendly and hospitable. May Godbless this beautiful place and thepeople,” the Lhamu said in goodbye.

Lhamus are regarded highly inLadakh for their healing touch and“divine” powers.

by SARIKAH ATREYA

THE LHAMU’S COME TO TOWN

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Tsewang Dolma works her cure (above) after the deity who gives her the power to heal has pos-sessed her body following an intricate ritual of prayers (right). pix: Guru TL

Ku-Tshe SheguWe, the family members of the late Barmiak Choom Chering Choden

Densapa, are extremely grateful to all friends and well wishers foryour

very kind assistance and condolences.

The KU-TSHE SHEGU or the 49th day prayers will be offered on Satur-

day, the 19th October, 2002 at the family residence in Gangtok. May we

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able to inform each and everyone of you personally despite our best efforts.Barmiak Densapa Family

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scribed as ‘time poor, money rich’.While he makes more trips in a year,these are of shorter duration and hedemands a higher quality of theoverall experience leading to theconcept of ‘experience economy’.So when a tourist comes to Sikkim,he will not recount individually as-pects of stay, food and travel but theoverall Sikkim experience, the to-tality of all travel and tourism serv-ices.

The need to make the Sikkimexperience memorable calls forgreater links between those in thehospitality and travel sector as wellas greater cooperation between thegovernment and the private sector.Fragmented efforts will not suffice,the Sikkim experience calls for allstakeholders to put aside personalgains and work collectively towardsenriching the total experience ofbeing in Sikkim. This partly ex-plains why we at NOW! positionedTravelmate as the ‘guide to the Sik-kim experience’.

Motivation for travel has alsobecome more diverse and paradoxi-cally, focused, like Kerala and thegreat Ayurvedic carrot that makes

it India’s number one destination.Tourism markets are not only highlysegmented but highly individual-ized and complex and service pro-viders would have to cope with thedemands of these segments. Be-sides, pressures of the modernworld make people place a greaterpremium on the time they take outfor holidays. This leaves very littleroom for shortcomings in the tour-ism experience.

Tourism today has become thesingle biggest industry in the worldbut even then it is estimated that noteven 10% of the potential travellersare actually travelling. Meanwhile,the share of the tropical countrieshas plunged from the all time highof 70% to not even a quarter of thatof the temperate world. Tourism istouted to be the best way to redis-tribute global income.

Tourism is tough to nail downby way of definition. It is extremelysensitive to even minuscule changesin social, cultural, political and eco-nomic situations. Then again, itimpacts on culture, ecology andenvironment of a place. Sustainabletourism development calls for a glo-bal code of ethics, the seeds ofwhich must be sown locally lest ero-

sion of cultural and ecological val-ues takes place.

While HR training and devel-opment costs are prohibitive, bytheir very nature of being multi-dis-ciplinary and continuous, the Gov-ernment should continue its orien-tation programmes for different sec-tions of the ‘modifiers’, people likedrivers and front desk managerswho do not have much say in man-agement but have frequent cus-tomer interaction and hence requirerelationship marketing skills. It isalso important to treat customerservice, quality and marketing asthree interrelated forces or spot-lights that mould the Sikkim expe-rience and give them the prioritythat they deserve.

Let me in closing quoteNandcoomar Bodha, Tourism Min-ister, Mauritius, “The sun, the sand,the sea you will find everywhere, butwhat we offer in Mauritius is some-thing special. We don’t want you tojust travel to Mauritius, but to come,stay and strike a bond with the magi-cal island named Mauritius.” Like-wise we have to wake up to the newHR needs if we want to make Sik-kim a happening destination and anexperience to remember.

HR Challenges for theTourism industry

Contd from pg 7

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GANGTOK: With less than a dayleft for the Panchayat polls to be-gin, the State is all geared up forwhat, in all possibilities, would bea SDF taking home the booty.

Elections to 485 GramPanchayat wards out of 903 and 42of the 100 Territorial Constituencieswill be held throughout the State onOctober 9.

Polls officers are already at theirrespective polling stations and somehave travelled on rough and weath-ered roads to reach the remotestcorners of the State.

The State Election Commis-sion has taken all measures to en-sure a “free and fair” elections. Allpossible poll arrangements havebeen completed.

The SDF party has already won687 seats out of the total of 1003Panchayat seats uncontested.

Meanwhile, the State ElectionCommission has announced bye-elections in three Gram PanchayatUnits and four Territorial Constitu-encies, which will be held on Oc-tober 30, 2002. Bye-elections willbe held at 31-Arithang and 33-Burtuk Chandmari and 50-NaveyShotak Gram Panchayat Units and5 Bishalgaon, 1 Upper Burtuk-A, 2Upper Burtuk – B and 4 ShotakTerritorial Constituencies.

Further, the Commission hasapproved the shifting of Polling Sta-tion of 27/43/2 Thangsing Wardfrom Beng Primary School RoomNo. 1 to Budang Primary School inthe East District as per the requestof the voters of the concerned ward.

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GANGTOK: The official websiteof North Sikkim, DistrictAdmnistration designed by NICNorth Sikkim was nominated for CSIe-governance award 2002. A finalpresentation of the website to thepanel of judges was done by DIO,NIC, North Sikkim, LP Sharma, atthe 2nd National IT workshop held

GANGTOK: The Department ofEducation has initiated a training pro-gramme for all primary, graduate andpostgraduate government teachers.The training programme was launchedacross the State on October 3.

The Programme is aimed atraising the standard of education inSikkim and will be provided to alluntrained teachers at government-run schools. According to the Edu-cation Department, the training willbe imparted through the “distancemode of education” of the IndiraGandhi National Open University.

The Department, it is learnt,has, at present, a backlog of about4,000 untrained primary teachersand about 1,600 untrained gradu-ate/postgraduate teachers.

The untrained primary teacherswill be put through a specially de-signed six-month teacher-educationprogramme which will earn them acertificate in primary education.

The Department has identifiedten centres in all four Districts of theState for the training programme.The training will be held in Tadongand Chujachen in East District,Mangan in the North, Namchi andRavangla in the South and Pellingand Soreng in the West District.

About 100 teachers have en-rolled at each of the ten trainingcentres and will be trained inbatches of 100 each. Similarly, alluntrained graduate and postgradu-ate teachers will undergo the two-year B.Ed. course of IGNOU. TheB.Ed. course for 100 graduate andpostgraduate teachers will com-mence from January, 2003.

The entire expenditure of thetraining will be borne by the StateGovernment and the Departmenthas made it compulsory for all un-trained teachers to enrol.

GANGTOK: The State Bank of In-dia, Deorali Bazar Branch, alongwith Green Circle, the environmen-tal group of Sikkim organized anenvironmental awareness pro-gramme here at the Deorali Girls’Senior Secondary School on Sep-tember 30.

The programme was part of theCommunity Services Banking ofthe State Bank of India.

An essay competition on “AnIndividual’s Effort to Curb the Haz-ards of Environmental Pollution”was held, the first prize of whichwas won by Pratikcha Dewan. Thesecond and third prizes were wonby Namrata Pradhan and SabitaJindal, respectively. The consola-

Anthyesti Kriya of Late Shri Bisemberlaji

Lakhotia, son of Late Malchand Lakhotia of

Soreng Bazar, West Sikkim, who left for

heavenly abode on the 1st of October, 2002

falls on 12th of October,2002.

All friends, relatives and well-wishers are

requested to join the members of the be-

reaved family in offering prayers to the de-

part soul at our residence at Soreng Bazar.

We would also like to express our sincere

thanks to all those who extended their help

and co-operation at the time of our bereave-

ment and we also regret our inability to

thank them individually.Hiralal Lakhotia (Brother); Arun Lakhotia, Anil Lakhotia

(Sons); Abhishek Lakhotia (Grandson);

Anthyesti Kriya

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GANGTOK: The Union Ministryof Tourism, has decided on Sikkimto set up an international institutefor adventure and eco-tourism - theIndian Himalayan Centre.

Sikkim was chosen fromamong a host of other contendersfor its “success story” of promotingtourism in the recent past, informofficials.

This Institute would be the firstof its kind in the country and comesto Sikkim with an earmarked budgetof Rs 60 crores. The Institute willhave training facilities for watersports like rafting and kayaking, andaerial sports like motor gliding, paragliding, para-motoring and hanggliding. Training will also be givento HAP (high altitude porters), LAP(low altitude porters) as well as tothe guides, it is learnt.

Sources in the Tourism Depart-ment told NOW! that with the set-ting up of the Institute here, Sikkimwould automatically find itselfplaced on the international tourismmap, since international events inthese fields would be held at the in-stitute.

The Institute will have expertsand trainers from outside the State.

Mountain expedition teams willuse equipment from the Instituteand thus also generate money forthe State, added some Tourism of-ficials.

Sources reveal that come De-cember, experts will be broughtover to commence training coursesfor the HAP and the LAP.

The actual construction of thisInstitute is expect to begin some-time next year.

A meeting of the Committee setup to oversee this project under theChairmanship of the Chief Secre-

tary, SW Tenzing, was last held onSeptember 27 2002.

The meeting was called to de-cide upon the site to set up this in-stitution. The committee membersvisited Rongyek, Ranka andChenchey. Chenchey was chosen asthe ideal spot since it has flat land,is easily accessible with good wa-ter supply system. Its nearness to thesubdivisional town of Ravanglaand the fact that the upcoming 108feet statue of Guru RimpocheSamduptse is barely a half an hourdrive away tilted the balance inChenchey’s favour..

The Committee comprises ofDeputy Director, Union Ministry ofTourism, SK Venkatraman, SudhirSayi, an expert in the field of Inter-national Adventure Tourism, Sec-retary UD&HD, Secretary forBuilding &Housing, Principal Sec-retary Tourism and SK Safaiya, whois the main designer for this project.

a NOW REPORT

Rs. 60 CRORE ADVENTURE TOURISM

INSTITUTE FOR SIKKIM

a NOW REPORT

Edn. Deptt. toclear backlog of

untrainedteachers

tion prizes were awarded to LaxmiShrestha and Deepika Pradhan.

The Green Circle presented sci-ence quiz books to the top-ten es-say writers.

Those who addressed the pro-gramme were DR Prodhan, SystemAdministrator, SBI, Deorali Branchand Usha Lachungpa, Senior Re-search Officer, Wildlife, Depart-ment of Forests, who was represent-ing the Green Circle. They spokeon the “judicious use” of natural re-sources as well as synthetic chemi-cals meant for everyday use.

Earlier, on September 29, a “sitand draw contest” was organized inthe Bank premises in which a largenumber of children from Deoraliarea participated. The Branch Man-ager, L Tshering, gave away theprizes to all the participants.

a NOW REPORT

Banking on theenvironment

CSI nominates NIC websiteon North Sikkim for

e-governance award 2002at Administrative Staff College ofIndia, Bella Vista, Hyderabad.

The website was one among thethree selected by CSI (ComputerSociety of India) for the final pres-entation during the workshop. TheURL of the website is http://sikkim.nic.in/north and it containsdetailed block level Information onNorth District besides other featureslike pictures, flora, fauna, peopletradition etc.

a NOW REPORT

NOW!can be reached at 70949

& emailed atsikkimnow@ rediffmail.com

12 NOW! 09-15 Oct, 2002

Published by Lt. Col. (retd) P. Dorjee and printed at Baba Offset, Tadong. Editor: Pema Wangchuk. Now! Near Ayurvedic Clinic, Gairi Gaon, Tadong. East Sikkim. ph: 03592 70949 email: sikkimnow@rediffmail.com

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An unproclaimed bandh followedand would have continued if thepolice and the GNLF top rung lead-ers had not intervened in time. Po-lice managed to chase away the cul-prits and 1 of them, Binod Tamangof Dali, 4 kms from Darjeeling, wasarrested. It was also established thatthe men were not from Kalimpongbut were from the surrounding ar-eas of Darjeeling.

After the Police made an-nouncements around town statingthat the melee was caused by agroup of drunkards and requestedall to open their shops, normalcyslowly returned and the shops be-gan to reopen. October 7, 2002found people of Kalimpong antici-pating a feud to break out. It wasin relation to posters signed by theJanta having been put up in townproclaiming a strike for the day.This strike would have been an ex-tension of the 72 hour bandh callgiven by the GNLF KalimpongBranch Committee which hadstarted from the October 3 at 6 pm.

Mr. Pakhrin however said, “Wehad called a 72 hour bandh and asthe pujas are just a few days away,we feel that the public should begiven the freedom to continue withtheir daily schedules and their pujashopping. They have already showntheir respect to the dead leader byobserving the 72 hour bandh.”

The GNLF had a “miking”campaign on the October 6, in dif-ferent parts of Kalimpong and itsadjoining areas that the 72 hourbandh would end at 6 pm on thatday. Normalcy crept in on Octo-ber 7, though the atmosphereseemed a bit charged, with peo-ple’s minds undermined with fearof a clash between today’s strike

callers and the GNLF which haddeclared the end of the bandh.Shops, business establishments,educational institutions were openwith vehicles plying as usual.Some nursery schools, however,remained closed.

Mr. Pakhrin further added: “Ifthe State Government cannot han-dle this, they better hand over theHome Department to us.” Thoughpolice are on the case they complainof very little or no cooperation fromthe witnesses. No arrests have yetbeen made. However with the mainlaw and order tension lowered withthe bandh coming to an end, inves-tigations on the case has begun, saida police source. People are beingcalled in for interrogation. An eye-witness reported to have said thatthe murderer was a young man inhis early twenties, wearing jeans,tee shirt and chappals and that hehad a dark complexion. He shot CKfrom the back at point blank rangeand disappeared into the crowd.Maximus Kalikotey formerKalimpong Municipality Chirmanand one of the most ardent CK loy-alist, said: “There is a lot of resent-ment among the public. They arecoming to me and expressing theiranger over the administration’s fail-ure to react. If the administrationstill fails to do something concreteand arrest the culprit, the publicmight start revolting.”

Recently there was talk in townthat CK was forming a new party.Speaking to the press last year afterafter falling out with Ghising, CKPradhan,is reported to have said:“Though I have a father who gavebirth to me, Subash Ghising has al-ways been a father figure to me, mypolitical mentor. I can never betrayhim. Till my last breath I will re-main loyal to the GNLF flag.”

Contd from pg 8

THE MURDERAND AFTER

GANGTOK: For Birka BahadurKarki, this is the time of the yearwhen he anxiously waits for the daywhen he can leave for his home inthe interiors of Nepal to celebrateDasain with friends and family.

After a year of hard work andbackbreaking toil, this 40-year oldnamley puts together the entireyear’s earnings and heads home tohis family that consists of aged par-ents, wife and seven children in theJhapa Zilla of Nepal.

Karki came to Sikkim in the lateeighties, following in the footstepsof hundreds of others like him look-ing for a means of livelihood in adifferent country. Since then, he hasbeen working as a namley, earningas much as Rs. 300 on good daysand as little as Rs. 50 during drierspells. He stays with a group of fel-low villagers, all of whom work ascoolies, in a small, poorly ventilatedshack in Sichey busty.

Karki does not spend much. Heeats at his “Marwari malik’s” house

where he is employed on part timebasis. Still he manages to savebarely enough money to celebratea good Dasain back home. Howmuch, he won’t reveal.

But come Dasain, Karki is allset to make that all-important tripto his ancestral land and spend twoweeks or so in the company of hisfamily, relatives and friends. Tak-ing the entire year’s savings, he,along with four of his friends, willleave for home this week just aheadof Tika.

Karki has been following thisritual since the time he came to Sik-kim. Ask him the reason for thisyearly trip, and pat comes the re-ply: “Dasain is the most importantfestival for us. This is the time whenthe entire family gets together toseek blessings from the elders andindulge in merrymaking and festiv-ity. I also have to bring home moneyand my family expects me to be athome during this time.”

True to tradition, Karki andthousands of Nepalese like himscattered around the world earninga livelihood, return home at least for

Dasain. Karki will not be alone forhe will be joined by hundreds of hiscountrymen from all over the Stateand the Darjeeling Hills in this an-nual journey during the Navratas.

The journey, of course, is notwithout its pitfalls. That the Nepa-lese casual labourers are loadedwith cash during this time of theyear on their way home is commonknowledge. There are many risks.Dacoities along the Highway up toKathmandu are common.

“Sometimes, we are looted inSiliguri itself, but over the years, wehave learnt to be careful,” Karkisays.

For obvious practical reasons,Karki does the Dasain shopping inKathmandu. “It is cheap there andI can pay in my own currency,” hesays.

Karki is, at present, working ata construction site near Nam Nangand hopes to leave for his villageby Friday. The exodus of namleyshas already begun and they are ascarce find these days. The Dasainfestivity at home awaits them.

by SARIKAH ATREYA

HOMEWARD BOUND