World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends average eight hours of sleep per night for adults. Two-thirds of adults throughout all developed nations fail to obtain it. This has led to WHO declaring sleep loss epidemic throughout industrialized nations.
There was something about the voice that felt so heavenly the first time I heard it in the National Panasonic tape recorder that my family had recently bought back in the mid 1980s. I was barely 12 then, and I had just started listening to greats like Mohd Rafi and Kishore Kumar, along with new singers like Kumar Sanu and Udit Narayan Jha. However, the Nepali songs like the ones sung by the legendary Kumar Subba were something else, and they swam through my cerebral cortex like a wakeful dream, the lyrics, the voice quality, the music notes, all easy on the ears and relaxing me to the hilt.
Home is where, your heart is and the heart of Kalimpong is in Damber Chowk. If you live in K-Town and have not spend two minutes at the Damber Chowk, believe me, you are missing the zest of the town.
After staying in northern part of the country for some years and reading about societies of different parts of India , one significant thing I have observed is our North-East as a society has developed more than other parts of India (like I said, I have my bias here as I have little understanding of Southern India). I am not talking about the economic aspects here, it’s purely societal.
Tea workers of the region are working below minimum wage, and over the years systematically all of their facilities have been stripped off. In order to support and sustain their family, they are forced to do small scale animal husbandry and horticulture. This is in addition to 12-14 hours of back-breaking labour every day.
When I discovered a remarkably unique species having a claw resembling the Gorkha machete ‘khukuri’, my professor Dr. Karmakar immediately told me to name this species after this traditional Gorkha weapon. Besides, we found our way to tribute the Gorkha people for their hospitality and hence the species was named “Floridotarsonemus kukri Karmakar & Mondal 2021”.
Dashain is all about catching up with family members, relatives, and friends and of course, eating scrumptious meals.
Forget politics, forget sloganeering, forget worries. Folks! Dashain is near! leave the worries to the Khasi(Goat), “Sungur”(Pig), “Goru”(Bull), and “Ranga”(Buff). It’s close and Judgement day for them- “Maar” looming, making them worried! only the cat and dog are in a jovial mood, though later they too have to deal with gastric problems.
People around the world create fences, walls, and boundaries, not so long ago in our villages of Darjeeling and Kalimpong we did it too, although naturally!
Just got done with another round of online training under the “School Innovation Ambassador Training Program.’
Completely exhausted today, since my mischievous niece managed to get a silver ring, stuck on her little finger, had to rush her to the hospital where she is advised to use calamine solution, but the ring remains on her swollen, bluish finger so we headed to the goldsmith where her agony finally comes to a dramatic end. I breathe calmly again and thank the three-eyed divine whose name I chanted continuously.