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Darjeeling Housie

Bicky October 21, 2019

Darjeeling Everyday: From Jhandi-Makut to Housie – Things we Lived for

Darjeeling Everyday is a delicious feeling. Here in Darjeeling, the festive seasons are almost to end and we are now at the best part of the entire season – the Tihar days. Everything about this time of the year is beautiful – bright sunny days, smiling mountains, milky white clouds (if any), delicious food, selrotis, flowers, vailo, dewsi, vai tika, dakshina, drinks and what not? If you get greeted by pleasant weather mixed with the aroma of saipatris added to a clear view of the mountains, you are here.

Masterpiece

Ira Pradhan October 19, 2019

Not Every Masterpiece Hangs in the Louvre: A Tribute

The painting was so thorough that if you kept one of the flowers side-by-side the art, you’d notice every single line, fold and hue were detailed, and it even had the exact same ‘old man’ look about them. It was oil on canvas. It was a masterpiece. The painting was completed with a sign at the bottom. A name in Nepali – P Kovid. When asked about the unusual name, my mother said that Kovid wasn’t exactly a surname but it meant ‘poet’. I didn’t quite understand it because the person seemed to me, a brilliant artist instead.

Drug Addiction

Bicky October 1, 2019

The Drug Menace

The drug menace has caught hold of our community in its vice-like grip and if we do not wake up today, it may be too late tomorrow. A teary-eyed young lady recently expresses her ordeal to me – “He is young… My brother had been one of the best guys in the neighbourhood. It is since he joined this new school that the problem began. He met some bad influence and since then it has been the same. My parents and I tried everything. We personally talked to all his friends to leave him alone. Even he realises what kind of situation he is into. He wants to get out. He doesn’t want to go to school. He says he won’t stay back in Darjeeling for college. I hope it gets fine. We are still in disbelief, but we have to live with it.”

book spine

Ira Pradhan September 28, 2019

Read the Spine

I grew up in a small community area in Darjeeling where there were and still are, no motorable roads. There were no taps in our houses because there was no water. You could only ‘play with water’ when it rained. I still remember the day I played in the rain for three hours, it was the best day of my life, ever.

Darjeeling

Upendra September 26, 2019

History of Darjeeling Shows We were Never Part of Bengal

On August 17, West Bengal tourism minister Gautam Deb addressed a press conference at Mirik in Darjeeling. Exuding his obvious concern for the Gorkhas and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) issue, he said, “If NRC is implemented in the Darjeeling hills, the hills will become empty, out of 15 Lakh people there will be no one to live there. Most Gorkha brothers and sisters and senior citizens they will be driven out from Darjeeling hills, both Darjeeling and Kalimpong, including Kurseong and this Mirik [sic].”

Hollywood

Ira Pradhan September 18, 2019

A Lesson from Hollywood

Sitting in a place for hours and reading has been my all-time favourite hobby. I love books of all kinds, fiction, non-fiction and everything in…

TMC

Upendra August 29, 2019

Darjeeling Hills: An Indictment of TMC-led Government

I want to begin my indictment of the TMC-led government by sharing a story about Pandit Oroan — a 35-year-old Adivasi man from Baroghoria Gram, which falls under Alipurduar district. In June 2017, Pandit Oroan and his wife were blessed with a baby boy – they named him Abhiraj. Sadly, Abhiraj was born with a birth defect, which prevented him from passing stool normally. All Abhiraj needed to function as a normal child was having a simple procedural operation, which would have cost around Rs 10,000 in a government hospital in Siliguri.

Permanent Political Solution Gorkhaland

Upendra August 15, 2019

Gorkhaland – A Demand whose Time has Come

‘Gorkhaland’ the very name evokes strong sentiments – from a motley crew of passionate supporters to very dedicated gang of opposers, to a vast majority of well-meaning but clueless neutrals who irrespective of their understanding of the issue or absolute lack of it, comment on it passionately.