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.
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].”
I remember when I was five years old, my dad, a doctor with the Sikkim Government was to travel to the US for an official…
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…
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.
‘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.
Before you even start reading the article, let me be clear that I am a 4th generation Gorkha settled in Manipur. And I will accept criticism if you at any point feel that the article is a little biased. I am a confused person right now. Suddenly, after having lived for 31 good years of my life, my belongingness and loyalty towards my motherland are being questioned.
There is a famous story about this king Satyavrata, who wanted to ascend heaven in his human form. He found a willing partner in Sage Viswamitra – who through his immense powers managed to send Satyavrata to heaven without dying, but Indra, the king of heaven, refused to permit a human to enter the realms of heaven, alive – for it was against the law of nature. Amid Indra’s refusal, and Viswamitra’s iron will — Satyavrata by now known as Trishank, hung upside down between heaven and earth and there he has remained ever since – in a state of limbo.
In a very tragic incident that occurred yesterday, more than 12 patients in the Male Surgical Ward of Kalimpong Hospital, were allegedly subjected to a…
In her maiden speech as an MP, Mahua Moitra stood as one of the fiercest orators in recent times in the Parliament. She rose the…